Several members of the Magnolia Crappie Club spend a considerable amount of time on Ross Barnett. According to those anglers, February is the best time of the year to catch crappie on the big reservoir.

When pressed, those fishermen point to Pelahatchie Bay as the first area to start producing good catches in February. Other sites include Rose's Bluff; Big Lake, which is located just out from Browns Landing on the Natchez Trace side at Madisonville; and the Welfare Hole, just southeast of the SR 43 bridge near channel markers 50 and 52. These sites have all produced good catches in February. But don't overlook the obvious: The tailrace below the dam is an excellent site for taking your limit of cold-water crappie.

Live minnows and jigs are both popular baits, but in cold water the nod usually goes to the baitfish. During cold weather, crappie fishing generally requires a slower presentation in deeper water. However, if that deep, slow presentation isn't working, don't be afraid to move the bait faster and shallower.

Most slab crappie caught at Chotard in February are in the 15- to 20-foot depths.

Sometimes a warm-up of only a few degrees in February results in crappie becoming more aggressive and moving closer to the surface. The key is to always be ready and willing to change your tactics, especially if the game plan you started with isn't producing.

LAKE WASHINGTON
Unlike Lake Chotard, which is attached at times to the Mississippi River, the Magnolia State is blessed with other outstanding oxbows that are separated from the big river by the levee or simply distance. Of these non-connected oxbows, Lake Washington is fast gaining a reputation as a premier February crappie lake. Some of the largest slabs caught in recent years came from Washington in the winter.

As is the case with most oxbow lakes in February, live minnows fished deep tend to produce the most fish. The biggest of those slabs are consistently caught on larger sized minnows.

One dubious indicator of how good the crappie fishing stacked up leading into the winter was the numerous citations for exceeding the creel limit that MDWFP conservation officers wrote during the fall! The creel limit for Lake Washington is 30 crappie per person per day, with no more than five of those fish less than 10 inches long.

Located at Glen Allan, just 20 miles south of Greenville on SR 1, 5,000-acre Lake Washington features easy access from seven boat ramps.

PICKWICK LAKE
Located near Iuka in the far reaches of northeast Mississippi, this 50,000-acre impoundment on the Tennessee River floods portions of Alabama and Tennessee, as well as the Magnolia State. Primarily known for its giant smallmouth bass, Pickwick Lake is fast becoming a crappie hotspot as well, due to its prime papermouth habitat.

According to the MDWFP, 70 percent of Pickwick anglers target crappie. Also, their catch rate from last year was the highest reported since 2001.

For pre-spawn crappie in February, Yellow, Mills and Indian creeks are the hotspots on Pickwick. Live minnows, tube jigs and hair jigs are the most popular lure choices for this time of year.

With the majority of the lake in Alabama, an Alabama fishing license allows an angler to fish from the Wilson Dam downstream to the Pickwick Dam. Anglers possessing a Mississippi or Tennessee fishing license are allowed to fish only smaller portions of the lake. The exact boundaries are explained in Public Notice 3255, which is posted on the MDWFP Web site at www.mdwfp.com.

Anglers are allowed to keep 30 crappie per day while fishing Pickwick, but the fish must be at least 9 inches in length to be legal.