Pickwick is clear and deep; Aliceville is muddier, with lots of stumps, weeds and brushtops. Thus, effective fishing techniques for the two bodies of water can be totally opposite as well.

The angler has also noticed something unusual during his patrols on the lake as a conservation officer. "I'm seeing people from other parts of Mississippi that have better crappie fishing than we do come here to fish a week just because they want to experience something different from what they're used to fishing," he remarked.

Biologist Larry Pugh noted that anglers visiting Aliceville can expect to find a lot of crappie in the 1- to 1 1/4-pound range, with an occasional 2-pounder.

The lake is mostly shallow, so deep water for crappie fishing here is 6 to 10 feet, the biologist added. Those depths are mostly found in the bends of the river channel itself, which makes them good places to look for crappie early in the spring.

"Aliceville is the classic shallow water crappie fishery," Pugh said. "To find the fish after they come off the deep channels, look for stumps, laydowns and aquatic vegetation."

The action here is almost all jig-fishing, and most anglers fish with old-fashioned jig poles. "There's just not much need to cast here," stated Pugh, who went on to suggest that, in the spring, targeting backwaters and fishing around structure are the keys.

The challenge of this crappie lake lies in figuring out what depth the fish are at and what kind of structure they're holding on. Pugh recommended putting baits beside anything that looks like it should hold fish. "It's a matter of time and patience," he noted, "but it becomes fairly easy once you figure them out."

Like Higginbotham, Pugh has found that as the fishing can change from one day to the next, staying on top of things is critical for success. "You may go one day and limit out," the biologist said. "Then the next day you fish for half a day until you find them."

Crappie anglers at Aliceville should generally give themselves at least that half a day to figure out just what the crappie are doing at any given moment. "You don't have to use your electronics on this lake, especially when you're fishing with a jig pole in 5 feet of water," Pugh noted.