Crappie guide Jerry Blake of Action Fishing Trips helps Michelle Sutton of Wynne with a big spring crappie caught in west Arkansas' Lake Greeson. Photo by Keith Sutton.

To be certain, 2008 was an up-and-down year for Arkansas crappie anglers. Heavy rains kept the water in Natural State lakes and rivers unusually high throughout much of the year, with two hurricanes -- Gustav and Ike -- dumping more than a dozen inches on parts of the state in late summer. When this article was written, almost all the state's top crappie waters still were brimming and in places -- particularly the eastern Delta -- big rivers continued overflowing their banks.

This is a good-news, bad-news situation for crappie-fishing enthusiasts. While high water created unfavorable conditions for crappie fishing throughout much of 2008, the flooding experienced in much of the state during spring and summer inundated thousands of square miles of shallow spawning habitat for crappie and provided excellent nursery habitat for crappie fry. In most areas, the 2008 spawn was one of the best in years, producing a new year-class of fish that will continue growing and providing great angling opportunities for years to come.

High water also released tons of nutrients into the water, which led to massive plankton blooms in many waters. Shad, an important food for adult crappie, feed heavily on plankton -- a fact that led to a superb shad spawn last year as well. The young shad were easy pickings for hungry crappie, which gorged on the bounty and thus headed into autumn and winter in excellent physical condition.

As a result of all this, given proper conditions, we also can expect to see an incredible crappie spawn in 2009, as big healthy slabs lay better-than-average clutches of eggs that will hatch and generate yet another superb year-class of fish. And while anglers are likely to see lots of small crappie in 2009, this year should begin several years of outstanding crappie fishing in many Arkansas waters, not only for numbers of fish, but for fat trophy-class slabs as well.

Here's what you can expect in different regions of the state this year.

DELTA REGION
The Delta Region encompasses much of the flat, low terrain in eastern Arkansas, including the state's biggest river floodplains along the Mississippi, White, St. Francis, Cache and other rivers. Without a doubt, this is one of the state's most popular crappie-fishing areas.

The northern half of this region is where most of 2008's floodwater collected and lingered longest, especially adjacent the streams just mentioned. This created ideal spawning conditions for crappie, allowing fish to nest in vast areas that have been dry two years in a row and creating conditions conducive to the survival of many more crappie fry, which found sanctuary from predators in the dense cover inundated by floodwater.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fisheries biologist Jeff Farwick reported that northern Delta waters produced an incredible year-class of crappie just three years ago, and the fish that hatched then are now reaching trophy size, just as another wave of newly hatched crappie is about to join them. (Continued)

"This area had an outstanding spawn and excellent growth because all that terrestrial area was inundated," he said. "Shad had a wonderful spawn as well."