By Keith Sutton

I'm starting to get the itch - the crappie fishing itch, that is - and I'm betting a lot of you are, too. Popularity polls show that crappie are the third most popular sportfish in the Natural State (only largemouth bass and catfish rank higher), with hundreds of thousands of anglers pursuing them throughout the year. When the redbuds and dogwoods begin to bloom in a few weeks, those of us who love catching these sporty, good-eating panfish will be looking for some honeyholes where we can hook some slabs.

Fortunately, there are scores of phenomenal fisheries from which to choose in Arkansas. Except for our cold tailrace trout streams, nearly every body of water in the state has healthy populations of black and/or white crappie. The question is, which of these many waters are most worthy of our attention?

I'm certainly no Nostradamus, but if you're savvy to the ways of crappie, if you visit during the right conditions and if you employ the proper tactics, I'd bet my next paycheck that the lakes I'm about to describe will produce excellent fishing for you this year. These are the places I plan to fish. I'll be looking for you there.

Walcott Lake is the smallest and northernmost of these lakes. Located in Greene County north of Jonesboro, the lake is part of a family fishing and fun vacation spot called Crowley's Ridge State Park. Nearly a quarter-million people visit this 270-acre park each year. but even though the park has many visitors, Walcott Lake remains one of the most overlooked fishing spots in northeast Arkansas. Size, if nothing else, has allowed it to remain obscure. The lake barely covers 30 acres, but any angler worth his weight in fish scales knows that good stringers of big crappie often come out of small, little-known lakes. Walcott Lake is one of these.

Author Keith Sutton poses with a nice string of Arkansas crappie. Photo by Matt Sutton

The lake's shores are open and frequently mowed, so bring a lawn chair and a cooler of drinks to make your bank-fishing more enjoyable. Or launch a small boat and scull yourself about as you search for crappie around the lake's submerged treetops and artificial reefs of tires and cedar trees. You're likely to catch dozens of crappie up to a pound, with a few slabs in the 1 1/2- to 2-pound range to keep things exciting. Several times I've seen honest-to-goodness 3-pounders taken here.

Anglers can reach Walcott Lake along three main routes. From U.S. 67 at Walnut Ridge, go 16 miles east on Arkansas 25 and then two miles south on Arkansas 141; from Paragould, go 10 miles west on Arkansas 25 and then two miles south on Arkansas 168; and from Jonesboro, travel 15 miles north on Arkansas 141. All roads lead to the friendly rural town of Walcott, for which the lake is named. The daily crappie limit is 30. Phone (870) 573-6751 for more information, or visit the Parks and Tourism Web site at www.arkansas. com.

Lakes Dunn and Austell are two gems in Village Creek State Park near Wynne. These are small lakes as well - 70 acres and 85 acres, respectively. But like Walcott Lake, these, too, are crappie bonanzas. On a good day during the spring spawn, it's a cinch to fill a stringer with 1/2- to 3/4-pound fish, along with the occasional slab. Fishing is good the rest of the year, too, but you'll need a sonar unit to pinpoint schools that usually hold around submerged cover near underwater points, dropoffs and creek channels. You can launch a boat at ramps on each lake and use a trolling motor to get around, or fish from one of several good bank-fishing areas and docks.

Village Creek State Park is on Arkansas 284, 12 miles north of Interstate 40 near Forrest City, and five miles south of U.S. 64 near Wynne. The park is open year 'round with 104 fully equipped campsites. Other facilities include boat launching ramps, a visitor information center, cabins, grocery store, picnic areas, hiking trails and family cabins. The daily crappie limit on lakes Dunn and Austell is 30. For additional information, call (870) 238-9406, or visit www.arkansas.com.

At 1,000 acres, Midway Lake is one of Arkansas's largest oxbows. Cypress trees, buckbrush and willows line the shore, and big crappies are plentiful. Prime crappie areas: the Big Killdee and Little Killdee, two buckbrush-infested points on the east side; the stands of cypress trees near the south end; and the deep-water run passing through the middle of the lake in open water. February, March and April are considered the best crappie months by most local anglers, but fishing is excellent year 'round.

Midway is accessible from U.S. Highway 79 between Marianna and Hughes. Turn off 79 onto state Highway 334 and then follow the signs to Fowler's Boat Dock.

Whitehall Lake, or Old Walnut Bend, is just south and west of Midway in Lee County. It's reached off the Mississippi River levee road from county roads branching off Arkansas Highway 131 near Raggio. This four-mile-long oxbow offers some of Arkansas' best fishing for giant crappie, particularly around fallen treetops near a gallery of big willows on the lake's east side. Buckbrush, which is abundant in the lake, also harbors big slabs. On a good spring day, it's not unusual to fill an ice-chest with crappie a pound and up.

Old Town Lake, southwest of West Helena, also is considered one of southeast Arkansas' top lakes for jumbo crappie. This old Mississippi oxbow is separated from the Father of Waters by a levee and drains into Big Creek in the White River drainage. Fishing conditions are not highly influenced by any river, however, and water levels are generally quite stable - a definite advantage for visiting crappie anglers. The lake is at the town of Lakeview on state Highway 44 in Phillips County.

Old Town offers excellent fishing year 'round, but fishing during the spawn is extraordinary. As the water warms in April, crappie fishing gets hot. It's not uncommon to take a limit of crappie that weighs 40 pounds or more. The lake is extremely shallow, less than 6 feet throughout, and most fish are taken on minnows and jigs around the bases of big cypress trees and in brush and treetops. Yo-yoing for crappie is popular here, with plenty of low-hanging cypress branches on which to these auto-fishing rigs.

The daily crappie limit between the main levees of the Mississippi River, an area that includes Midway and Whitehall lakes, is 50. The limit on Old Town Lake is 30 daily. For addition info, contact the AGFC regional office in Brinkley by phoning toll-free 1-877-734-4581.