Truman Lake Crappie 3/27

[Ryan Miloshewski]

Went to Truman yesterday to do some social distancing. Didn't work as I ended up seeing my buddies Jeff Faulkenberry and Tyler Schwartze at Bucksaw! Jeff is a stellar guide and Tyler is the ED of the Conservation Federation of Missouri. We chatted and decided to hit The Bob in the afternoon.

Crappie are everywhere in almost any creek arm right now. You don't need a graph, but if you turn it on, you will honestly see fish 8-12-ft down everywhere. My buddy Jim and I were in one boat and Tyler and his crew fished with Jeff. They caught a lot more fish spider rigging with minnows. We caught a lot of fish but not nearly as many, but man they were big. 14-15-inch white crappie and close to 2-pounds. We did our best just putting the trolling motor on low and trolling around the open areas with a 1/16-oz or 1/8-oz jighead and a red/chartreuse Slab Slay'r (2 or 3-inch). Depended on how far back you went and how windy as to what size we used. Windier/deeper=heavier head.

I also went old school and tied on a roadrunner and slow rolled it. I caught some slabs doing this. It was a 1/16-oz head and a chartreuse body. The water is high and fairly muddy so I just tied it on, on a whim, thinking the spinner may help. It did. I caught the biggest of the day on it. When it hit, it took drag. I thought for sure it was a white or a hybrid. Nope, just a slab!

If you are a spider rigger, you should have no trouble getting your limit of crappie. Most were 10-12-ft down in literally any water depth. It could be 35-ft or 15-ft and they were in that 10-12-ft range. If you do not spider rig, you can scratch out a limit by trolling as we did I believe. I suspect they will start getting shallower in the coming weeks, but with the high water it's hard to say. And I am no Truman expert by any means.

Hope this helps! Stay safe and get outdoors.