When the fishing is good, you can catch plenty of crappies quickly. Remember to keep count because even our state's generous limit of 25 per angler can be filled in a hurry. Photo by Terry Madewell

The record for the largest crappie ever caught in Indiana is 4 pounds, 11 ounces. Now that's a crappie! Willis Halcomb put this behemoth papermouth into the record books back in 1994. Obviously, a crappie that weighs almost 5 pounds is not going to be your everyday occurrence. Yet, crappies in the 1-pound range are pretty common in Indiana.

Last year was very typical of what can be expected from crappie fishing in Hoosierland. "Fishing has been normal in most respects," said District 1 fisheries biologist Bob Robertson. Robertson also noted that there wasn't much winterkill, and that there was little summer kill due to algae bloom.

Crappies are fairly prolific throughout Hoosierland, and they consist of two subspecies: white and black. Black and white crappies are often found in the same body of water, but what they prefer in terms of a water habitat is quite different.

Black crappies are most often found in clear lakes or rivers with plenty of weedy cover. In terms of a significant factor that differentiates the two subspecies, black crappies cannot stand as much turbidity as the white crappies. Turbidity is a characteristic of water that defines how clear it is. If a body of water is muddy or loaded with suspended particles, it has a lot of turbidity. Conversely, if it's clear, it has low or very little turbidity.

Crappies tend to school together, which is a good thing for anglers because where you find one crappie you're likely to find many more. Moreover, crappies (as a general rule of thumb) are not found very far from some form of heavy cover.

"Find heavy cover like a tree that's fallen in the water with lots of branches and chances are you'll find crappies," said longtime crappie angler Ed Lewandowski of Valparaiso.

Lewandowski noted that it is wise to use a slip-bobber rig when fishing around cover that holds crappies, so that you can get your bait down to them without becoming snagged.

The type of cover that crappies use is very diverse. It can be weeds, sunken Christmas trees, sunken brushpiles, submerged logs and trees. Papermouths prefer forage fish like minnows more so than other types of panfish like bluegills. This is why one of the main live baits for crappies is a minnow.

Let's now take a look at several fisheries in Hoosierland where the crappie fishing has been historically good, and where it is predicted to put smiles on the faces of those who seek out these tasty game fish this season.

BRUSH CREEK RESERVOIR
Located in Jennings County at the Brush Creek Fish and Wildlife (FWA) area, Brush Creek Reservoir is a relatively small 149-acre impoundment where the crappie fishing can be pretty darned good.