Photo by Phillip Gentry.

The status of crappie fishing? It’s changed. For generations, to talk of the pursuit of the species would conjure up images of some good old country boys dunking “minners” under a willow tree from an old johnboat with a cane pole on a warm spring day. Today, the view of the crappie fishing industry is a little bit different. This sport long enjoyed by country boys has a lot of fans among country girls, too -- and city boys and girls as well.

Mississippi’s crappie waters are a bona fide tourist attraction; anglers travel from all over the country to avail themselves of this unparalleled fishery. Live bait is still a top choice, with specialized bait tanks employed to keep the minnows lively in order to catch more fish. Choices in artificial baits range anywhere from tiny tube jigs to 3-inch crankbaits in styles that number in the hundreds.

While old johnboats still claim their share of papermouths, boat manufacturers have stocked the market with specially produced models designed by professional crappie anglers and powered by large horsepower motors. High tech electronics show the way to offshore structure that holds large schools of crappie.

Finally, poles, rods, reels, line, and other tackle have been engineered not just for crappie fishing, but specific crappie tactics such as trolling, jigging, or casting for slabs.

With all that said, one still has to pick a place to go fishing in the Magnolia State. Here are some options to consider this year.

FLOOD-CONTROL
RESERVOIRS
The flagships of North Mississippi’s crappie fishery are Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid, and Grenada lakes. These four flood-control reservoirs make up the majority of locations for local and regional crappie tournaments.

Because of the widespread appeal of crappie fishing in not only Mississippi but across the country, fisheries managers have to be on their toes to make sure the renewable resource has the chance to renew.

“The big news for this season is the quality regulations that took effect on the four flood control lakes last year” said Ron Garavelli, chief of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Those quality regulations refer to changes in creel, size and pole limits that have been instituted over the last couple of years and finalized in August of 2006.

“Raising the minimum size limits on Sardis, Grenada, Arkabutla, and Enid to 12 inches will be a great boost to recruitment on these heavily-pressured fisheries,” Garavelli emphasized. “In addition, the creel limit has been reduced to 20 per day on these reservoirs. At first look this might seem like a reduction, but anglers will soon realize that they have just as much, if not more, total weight of fish with 20 of the 12-plus-inch crappie than they had with 30 fish at 10 inches.”

The new regulations, however, are not just about putting filets in the cooler. “Protecting the 10-inch year-class will provide an additional spawning season for that class,” Garavelli noted. “It takes 4 to 5 months in Mississippi waters for a year class to go from 10 inches to 12 inches, which means that a 10 to 12 inch fish gets to participate in one more spawn before being removed from the fishery.”

Fisheries managers hope that the quality regulations allow these lakes that have become magnets for anglers seeking big crappie to keep their appeal. However, instituting size and creel limits are not the only challenges faced by the MDWFP.