April Is Prime Time For Lake of the Ozarks Crappie

[John Neporadny Jr.]

    Dogwood trees blooming in April   usually signals the prime time
of the crappie spawn at the Lake of the Ozarks.

    The diverse waters of Lake of the Ozarks nearly guarantees  you can
find crappie spawning somewhere in this impoundment during April.  
 By fishing the different arms of the lake throughout April  you can
continue to catch  spawning crappie for more than a month.   Most
crappie on this lake begin spawning when  the water temperature climbs
into the 60-degree range, but you can also catch lots of fish in  
the pre-spawn stage. During this time, the water temperature is in
the 50-degree range and the crappie are staging in brush piles at
depths of 8 to 10 feet.

    In early April, the first areas crappie attempt to spawn are in the
upper ends of tributaries and major feeder creeks such as the upper
Osage, Niangua and Little Niangua  rivers or the Grand Glaize and
Gravois creeks.    These  riverine sections of the lake contain shallow,
off-color water which warms quicker than the deep, clearer water on
the main lake. Sometimes crappie in these sections start spawning
one to two weeks earlier than their counterparts on the main channel.  
The last spawners on the Lake of the Ozarks can be found usually during
May in the main lake pockets near Bagnell Dam.

    The ideal spots to find spawning crappie are pea-gravel banks in
coves, but I have also taken them  along  rock ledges in main-lake
pockets or cuts in bluff walls.  Locating deep water nearby is the
key to finding the best spawning banks for crappie. Even though the
fish  spawn  in less than 2 feet of water on the flat, gravel banks.
they still prefer areas near  deeper structure, such as spots where
the bottom contour drops  10 to 15 feet deep into a ravine or creek
channel.   The depth crappie spawn depends on water clarity. In the
 stained to murky waters of the upper Osage and some of the feeder
creeks, crappie spawn as shallow as 1 1/2 feet, but the fish in the
 clearer  waters of the dam area and lower Gravois   build nests as
deep as 6 feet.

    Lay-down logs and sunken brush piles are prime cover for spawning
crappie, but anything that sticks up off the  bottom  holds  fish.
I have even caught them around  a  submerged patio chair that had
fallen off a dock.  Concrete pilings  and metal posts on dock walkways
are also  favorite nesting areas for crappie.

    A  variety of lures  catch crappie during the spawn, but the bait
that produces best for me is the   plastic tube jig.  
The best  skirt  colors  for fishing the clearer sections of the
lake include purple-and-white, black-and-chartreuse,  red-and-chartreuse,
 hot pink,  red-and-white or  yellow-and-white. My favorite hues for
stained to murky water include chartreuse,  blue-and-clear or white-and-chartreuse.  
 I prefer throwing these lures on an ultra-light spinning rod and
a spinning reel filled with  4-pound test green monofilament for fishing
in clear water or 6-pound  clear line for  dirtier water.

    When  crappie have moved into the shallows, I attach the plastic
tube body to a 1/32-ounce jighead.  This lightweight jighead allows
the lure to fall slowly and  stay off the bottom, which is a key to
catching crappie in shallow water.

    Once  I've located a good spawning bank, I cast to any  visible cover
and  retrieve the jig in a slow and steady fashion.  Watch  for any
slight twitch in your line during the retrieve, because this signals
a crappie  bite.  Water clarity determines how far you need to cast
to the shallow cover. If  you're fishing the clear waters on the North
Shore and in the Gravois, you need to make longer casts to prevent
spooking crappie in the shallows.  In the off-color water in the mid-lake
area, you can  make short   pitches to the cover without spooking
 crappie on the beds.    One of the most effective techniques for
inactive crappie during this time is a "dead-fall"  retrieve. After
pitching to a target, I let  the lure fall back towards the boat on
a tight line without imparting any action to  the jig. Crappie usually
hit the jig as it falls down through the cover.  In addition to watching
my line as the jig falls, I also wrap my index finger around the monofilament
which helps me feel the light tap  of a crappie hitting the lure.

    When I guided, I  found the easiest way for my clients to
catch spawning crappie was to  set them up with a jig-and-bobber rig.  
 Attaching a  small bobber above the jig prevents the lure from falling
to the bottom and constantly keeps it in the crappie's strike zone
while working the lure in the shallows. The bobber also makes it easier
to detect a strike, which  is indicated by the cork diving under the
water or popping up and  turning on its side.  In off-color water
 I usually set the bobber about 12 to 18 inches above the lure, but
will move it up the line 2 to 3 feet when  fishing in clearer water.  
This technique requires a simple retrieve of twitching the rod tip
 to make the bobber  roll in the water. The rolling action moves the
jig just enough to attract a crappie's attention.  When a strike occurs,
set the hook harder than usual, because the bobber has a tendency
to absorb  some of the  force from  your hook-set, which results  
in lost fish.

    If a cold front has swept through the area and dropped the water
temperature 4 or 5 degrees, I pull off the bank and look for brush
piles 8 to 10 feet   in front of the spawning area.  The crappie usually
pull back  into the deeper cover where they suspend over the brush
or burrow  down into the wood.  I switch to 1/16-ounce jigheads during
 these conditions an either cast to the brush for suspending crappie
or present my jig vertically  when the fish are holding tight to the
cover.

    If you visit Lake of the Ozarks  in April and see the dogwood trees
blooming, you know it's time to go fishing because the crappie are
spawning.   For  information on lodging and other facilities   at
the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free  vacation guide,
call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE
 or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web
site at funlake.com.

 

 

[shrapnel]

Great article, and grandpa would agree.