Spring is in the air and crappie are on the beds, much to the delight of Georgia anglers. The old saying that "If the dogwoods are blooming, the crappie are biting" rings true in the Peach State, as the weather conditions needed for both the dogwood bloom and the crappie spawn are similar.

"A lot of people view crappie fishing in the springtime like opening day of trout season," says Kevin Dallmier, a senior fisheries biologist for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. "Crappie are easy to catch when they're on the beds, and for some anglers it's the only time of year they go fishing."

From the North Georgia mountains to the Florida border, Georgia boasts a wealth of opportunities to hook a few "slabs." In general, crappie populations are highest in large reservoirs, though it's not unheard of for crappie to be caught in farm ponds or other smaller bodies of water.

The state-record white crappie was caught in 1984 by Theresa Kemp in a Bibb County pond. The fish weighed in at 5 pounds! There's a two-way tie for the state-record black crappie held by Shirley Lavendar and Steve Cheek. Both anglers reeled in 4-pound, 4-ounce crappie. Lavendar's fish was caught in June of 1971 in Acree's Lake, and Cheek's fish was hooked in Lake Spivey in March 1975.

Regardless of whether you're looking for a new state record, or just some good tasting fish to put on the table, Georgia has some great waters for catching this tasty species.

The WRD monitors crappie populations through annual surveys, al-though the species is somewhat difficult to sample. During the spring spawn, some crappie are caught when biologists are electrofishing. Gill nets can also work, but they tend to be size-selective, capturing only the larger fish. Probably the best survey technique is trap-netting, says Dallmier, but many of Georgia's reservoirs are not suited for this type of sampling.

As far as management goes, the WRD and other reservoir management agencies put out fish attractors made of used Christmas trees and other materials that provide good cover for crappie. They also manage the forage species -- usually shad -- that crappie eat.

"If you manage the forage fish, the crappie pretty much manage themselves," Dallmier notes.

Crappie populations are on a 3- to 5-year cycle in most reservoirs. At the peak of their life cycle, there are lots of fish, but they're not as big because of competition for food. While the population is rising or falling, it's the best of both worlds, Dallmier points out, because you have good numbers of fish and they're pretty good-sized too. At the bottom of the cycle, there may be fewer fish, but they're all nice-sized because there's less competition for food.

As noted earlier, there are two species of crappie in Georgia: white and black. However, they're both found in the same areas and are so similar that most anglers don't tend to distinguish one from the other. There are some physical differences between the two species, the most obvious being that white crappie have six dorsal spines, while black crappie have seven or eight.

Depending on the time of year, a variety of fishing techniques can be used to catch these fish. In March or April, crappie move into shallow waters underneath tree branches and other cover to spawn. During this time, they are easily caught by casting jigs or bait-fishing near their spawning areas.