The South's finest crappie fishing!
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| Alabama’s Weiss Lake Crappie
Interest A
huge favorite of Alabama fisherman, the Crappie exists all over the state. Game and Fish Magazine has reported that if
there's any one lake in Alabama that's consistently the best place to go for
spring crappie, it's Weiss Lake, according to Dan Catchings, District 2
fisheries supervisor. See: http://gameandfish.about.com/library/weekly/aa040101b.htm "Lake Weiss is a 30,200 acre reservoir that's
relatively shallow," he says. "It has a mean depth of about 10 feet
overall, and is the first major impoundment on the Coosa River system in
Alabama. There are some other impoundments on the tributaries upstream in
Georgia, but Weiss is the first one on the Coosa itself." Lake Weiss has a lot of structure on the bottom in the form
of timber. It's snaggy enough that you need to know where you're going before
you take a boat out on it. "You can't really see the timber from topside,"
Catching says, "but it's there. If you've never been out on it before, you
need to get familiar with the main channel. "It would be helpful for a new angler to go out with a
guide the first time, if possible. You want to be sure you have a good lake map
that shows the contours so you don't get into dangerous water where you can
bust a prop real easily." "The Little River arm is probably one of the clearer
parts of the reservoir," Catching states. "But there's not a lot of
retention time in the lakes -- the water flows through fairly quickly and
doesn't stand for a long period of time. It's not a riverine system, but it
does have a fairly high turnover due to the volume of water coming down the
Coosa, Chatooga and Little rivers feeding it." In
addition, to the wonderful remarks of Dan Catchings to the Game and Fish
Magazine, the Alabama District IV Fisheries Supervisor, Jim McHugh has written
an informative article that even further expands on Alabama’s crappie, with
some mention of Weiss Lake. Due to
locality and accuracy, his information serves as the primary source for this
article as well. See: http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/agfd/fish/fnacrappie.html Species There are two species of crappie, black
and white. Crappies belong to the sunfish family Centrarchidae. They
constitute the genus Pomoxis. White crappies are classified as Pomoxis
annularis. Black crappies are classified as Pomoxis nigromaculatus. The
white crappie can handle muddier waters, while the black crappie seem to
appreciate the clear. It’s hard to say
which species dominate in the state, but the murky rivers are good for white
crappie, whereas Alabama’s lakes are a favorite of the black. Identification
Photos
from the Iowa State Department of Natural Resources: http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/iafish/sunfish/card/whc-card.htm The
crappie’s mottling, or markings, helps in identifying the species. While color may sometimes seem to point the
way, mistakes are often made. The Black
crappie’s dark spots are randomly disbursed on its sides. The White crappie’s spots, on the other
hand, form between seven and nine sometimes hard-to-see, vertical bands. The
most accurate identification is in the number of dorsal fin spines. White
crappie has five or six spines and black crappie have seven or eight spines. Spawning “During
spring some crappies are very dark on the head and throat. That is the breeding
coloration of male crappie and occurs in both species in the spring. Females do
not exhibit that coloration. Knowing this provides a useful fishing tip. During
spring, if you are catching crappie with the dark throat coloration, you are
catching nesting males. Take some time to look around for the females, which
are often larger than the males. They will be holding offshore, but nearby, at
about the same depth as the nesting males.” During late
March and early April, the crappie are moving into shallow water in Weiss
Lake. White crappie spawning activity
occurs when the water temperature reaches 56 degrees F. The male crappie fans
out a depression in the bottom, usually in a cove or small embayment that is protected
from wave action. Many nests may be located in a cove at depths usually ranging
from 3 to 10 feet. Female white crappie enter the spawning area and deposit
their eggs in one or more of the nests, which are immediately fertilized by the
male fish. The number of eggs in a crappie nest is variable, but a nest can
hold up to 20,000. Spawning requirements for black
crappie are nearly the same as those of white crappie, but the nest size is
slightly more shallow. The nest is usually constructed in 3 to 8 feet of water.
Black crappie spawn at water temperatures of 58 to 64 degrees F. Fecundity of
female black crappie may range up to 150,000 eggs, but 20,000 to 60,000 eggs
are more the rule. Nests of both crappie species usually contain similar-sized
egg masses. "They start getting shallow and the fishery starts
picking up," Catchings says. "The fishery is at its best in late
March and into April. You may find some early spawners in March, but the peak
of the spawn is usually about the second week in April. By late May it's on the
downside." During this period, anglers should look for crappie in
shallow water between 5 and 10 feet deep.
"Some may be shallower, depending on the warming temperature,"
Catchings continues, "and as you get into April they may be real shallow.
At that point, the two primary things are the old standbys that people use
everywhere. Jigs work real well there, and there's a large minnow fishery
contingent there, too. Either one is real effective." Other
aspects of crappie reproductive behavior should be of interest to anglers,
since most crappie are caught in the spring. Black and white crappie are
members of the sunfish family, along with bass and bream. In all species of
this family, the males hollow out nests and guard the eggs and young fish. Some
species, like bream, construct their nests close together in large beds, while
other species, such as bass, construct individual nests. Crappie build their
nests close together but usually in smaller groups than bream. Crappie also nest
earlier than other members of the sunfish family. In the Fall As
the water cools and fall begins, crappie bunch up into tight schools again and
find a particular level of water that they like best for whatever reason. They
will be found near good cover all around the lake at this same level. Anglers
should learn how to drop their line to the same level, using count-down
techniques, measured back-reeling, marking the line, or even stopping the line
with a rubber band around the reel. Feeding Adult
black crappie are more willing to eat aquatic insects than white crappie,
though minnows are their favorite food. Like white crappie, they will also eat
crayfish, worms and other invertebrates.
Young crappie feed on insects. As crappie grow, they feed more and more
on baitfish, and particularly minnows, until baitfish comprise nearly their
whole diet. Crappie will also eat worms, maggots and crustaceans, and adult
black crappie will still eat aquatic insects. Technique Anglers
using natural baits tend to prefer medium to small minnows or other baitfish,
crayfish, worms, maggots, crickets or grasshoppers. Crappie lures include
medium to very small grubs, micro-tubes, chenille or marabou mini-jigs or micro-jigs,
Mylar mini-jigs or micro-jigs, small spinnerbaits or in-line spinners, and
small poppers. Crappie flies include poppers and streamers, and black crappie
in particular will hit dry flies, nymphs and emergers. Size and Creel Limits There
is a 9-inch minimum size limit on crappie in most Alabama public waters
(10-inches in Weiss Lake with a Creel limit of 30). This size limit was instituted in October 1993 and has been very
well received by anglers. In fact, many crappie anglers have asked why the size
limit is not higher because, at about 10-inches crappie really start to put on
weight. When the size limit was established, the age and growth rates of
crappie were taken into consideration. Anglers cannot see how old a fish is,
but Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division biologists determine fish age on
a regular basis. In almost all Alabama waters, crappie reach nine inches by the
time they are three years old. However, in most waters 10-inch crappie are four
years old. Because crappie are not very long lived fish, it was deemed
appropriate to allow their legal harvest at age three. Any benefits of
protecting them to age four would be offset by natural mortality. In the few
public waters where crappie fail to reach nine inches at age three, no minimum
length limit has been established. Therefore, the crappie size limit, as with
any fish limit, is as much an age limit as a size limit. More Information Now
you’re ready. But if you still want
more great information, visit the following sites: http://www.crappieusa.com/library/Article_Detail.cfm?Article_ID=361 http://members.tripod.com/~RendLakeSportingGood/CrappieFishing.html
http://www.tracker-outdoors.com/crappiefishing.htm
http://www.tier.net/crappiederby/about.htm
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