Photo by Scott Maloch

Crappie are one of Georgia's bread-and-butter species. Legions of anglers consider partaking of the spring crappie run a sacred duty. Crappie, which thrive best in large reservoirs with a strong shad forage base, do well in Georgia because of the abundance of lakes in our state and our temperate climate. Long growing seasons and plenty of small shad lead to slab crappie aplenty.

Not all lakes are created equal, though, and crappie populations are notoriously cyclic. Numbers often fluctuate up and down on a three- to five-year basis, leading to some years being better than others on any given lake. Fishing may be down a little bit on your favorite lake, but just down the road anglers are likely to be enjoying their best success in recent memory. Mother Nature has a way of maintaining balance when it comes to papermouths, and as long as the forage is there, the crappie are there too.

The key to any predator management is forage management, and reservoir managers actively work to maintain strong, dynamic baitfish populations. A dynamic forage base producing an abundance of shad fry is one of the key ingredients in keeping a crappie population healthy. Add in efforts to improve habitat and keep spring reservoir water levels conducive to successful crappie spawning, and you have all the necessary elements for good crappie fishing.

All across the Peach State, April is a prime month for crappie angling. While these tasty members of the sunfish family are distributed all across Georgia, a few lakes stand out for crappie-catching potential. Let's take a tour of some of Georgia's premier crappie holes.

Starting in the northwest corner of the state, Allatoona Lake, a 12,010-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment on the Etowah River, offers fine crappie fishing. A deep lake nearly devoid of cover, Allatoona can present some tough fishing, which has led to its unfair nickname, "The Dead Sea." Deep lakes with barren bottoms are always tough to fish. There may be plenty of fish available, but finding and catching them is the hard part. During certain periods, though, the odds even up a little.

For Allatoona crappie anglers, April is one of these times. The fish are shallow, concentrated around what little woody cover can be found, and ready to bite minnows or jigs.

Preliminary site work on this reservoir began in 1941, but the project was put on hold with the outbreak of World War II and was not completed until 1950. At the time of construction, it was common practice to completely clear the lake basin. The result is an impoundment with very few stumps or other offshore cover. Shoreline cover is not abundant, but between boat docks and blown-down trees, crappie anglers can find some targets.

To help out both the fish and the fishermen, the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, the Corps of Engineers, and local angler groups are working on an aggressive program to improve the lake's habitat by the construction and placement of fish attractors. These structures made of PVC pipes are situated in the mid-depths and are ideal for attracting crappie.

To date, 36 attractors have been placed. For more information on the program, including a downloadable map and GPS coordinates, visit www.gofishgeorgia.com or call the WRD Summerville office at (706) 857-3394.

The reason April is such a great month for Allatoona crappie is that the fishing just doesn't get any easier. Crappie spend most of the year in deep water. With the first hints of spring, though, water temperatures start to climb and the fish move shallow, looking for suitable places to spawn. Crappie love to bed around wood, and that trait has led to the demise of many papermouths. Find shallow wood in early spring, and it's almost guaranteed that there will be at least a few crappie around.