Photo by Keith Sutton

If any time’s right for catching crappie in Arkansas, early spring has to be about as right as it gets. Romance stirring in their blood, big slabs move shallow then, and it’s there that anglers will find them.

But even the best lakes have cyclical crappie populations. Lakes go through a few years of relatively low yields only to bounce back with strong year-classes of fish. It’s boom or bust when it comes to crappie, and a lake full of fish one year can offer only poor prospects the next.

Predicting a good crappie bite is challenging -- but it can be done. Here’s a look at the Natural State’s best crappie waters for 2008.

NIMROD LAKE
“Nimrod is a spring fishery and a highly fertile lake, so the crappie grow fast,” said Bob Limbird, a fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. “There’s a lot of crappie in the lake, and anglers are doing pretty well.”

Nimrod’s crappie are both numerous and big. Fish topping 2 pounds are present in the lake, with a lot of 1-pounders also available for the stringer.

The lake may be one of the state’s premier crappie waters, though its crappie population is always in a state of flux. Nimrod is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impoundment on the Fourche LaFave River adjacent to state routes 7 and 60 in Yell and Perry counties. The lake has 11 boat ramps and plenty of room to spread out on thousands of acres of water.

A map of the lake’s fish attractors is available via the AGFC Web site at www.agfc.com For additional information, contact the AGFC’s Northwest Region office, 1-877-967-7577, or the Corps, (479) 272-4234.

BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE
Blue Mountain Lake is another of Limbird’s top picks for crappie action this spring. The lake doesn’t have the numbers that Nimrod carries, but the fish can be larger.

“Blue Mountain hasn’t had the high water over the last couple of years (that) it normally gets,” said Limbird. “The crappie are averaging from three-quarters of a pound to a pound and a half, some of them going up to 2 1/2 pounds.”

The lake has had good crappie year-classes recently but wasn’t regarded as a good fishery until a few years ago. Limbird believes that the stable water levels of a few years ago contributed to a highly successful spawn that’s now being tapped by anglers. High water is usually an encouragement to good crappie spawns, so the lack of it on Blue Mountain made the present year-class a pleasant surprise. According to Limbird, this year-class is carrying the fishery, and anglers are reaping the benefit.

The lake is windswept and less fertile than Nimrod, which means finding the fish may be a challenge for some anglers.

Blue Mountain Lake is located off state Route 309 near Havana in Logan and Yell counties in the Blue Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Contact the AGFC’s Northwest Region office at 1-877-967-7577 for more information.