Outdoors: Gone fishin'

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — It was a cold day on 7,000-acre Lake Greeson near Kirby. Think Antarctica. In winter. At night.

My fishing companions reflected the state of the February chill. Fishing guide Jerry Blake (www.actionfishingtrips.com) had on a heavy camo outfit that might be worn by someone hunting musk oxen on the Arctic tundra. My friends Alex Hinson and Lewis Peeler were garbed in enough insulation to warm a glacier. My son Josh was dressed like he’d be running sled dogs at the Iditarod. It was hard to see their eyes peering out through layers and layers of toboggans, neck warmers and hoods - and in the case of Mr. Peeler, a warm-as-toast (so he said) Elmer Fudd ear-flap hat.

If we held our fishing poles still for very long, ice formed in the line guides. Our minnow baits were trying to jump back into the boat to get warm. And we were shivering on what had started out to be a gray, overcast day.

Funny thing was, no one seemed to care much that it was barely warmer than the shady side of an Alaskan glacier. Jerry Blake had invited us over to experience the extraordinary winter crappie fishing on Lake Greeson, and true to form, he put us on some fish. Who cared that it was cold? We were catching crappie.

This wasn’t one of those fish-a-minute days you often have during the spring spawning season. It was simply too icy out to expect that. But as we moved from brush pile to brush pile in the lake, we picked up a crappie here and a crappie there. And these were no ordinary crappie. Here in Arkansas, we call crappie this size “barn doors.” And at least half the fish we caught justified that description. These were huge panfish (an oxymoron, I know) that measured in multiple inches across the back! You’ve never seen fillets so thick as the ones on these slabs.

Jerry Blake guides folks on Lake Greeson year-round, even when it’s so cold your teeth are chattering while you try to fish. And while fewer clients join him this time of year, those who do experience trophy crappie fishing at its best.

Many folks believe crappie fishing isn’t much good inFebruary and March before the panfish start moving shallow to spawn, but that’s not the case at all. Crappie bite yearround, if you know where to find them and how to catch them like Jerry does. And not only is the fishing extraor-dinary; this is a time of year when you can truly find some peace and quiet on the water. No boats. No personal watercraft. No people. No sounds but the breeze in the trees and the occasional honks of Canada geese passing overhead.

In my mind, there’s no better time of year to fish for crappie, here or anywhere, if you’re willing to bundle up in some warm clothes and brave the cold.

Jerry Blake’s clients usually catch crappie on slip-bobber rigs baited with live minnows. The bobbers are set so the bait just bumps the tops of Lake Greeson’s many manmade fish attractors, or brush piles, with most fish being caught in fairly deep water.

Winter crappie can also be enticed with a variety of other lures such as jigs (the best artificial lures by far), small spinners, crankbaits and spoons. In cold water, the fish usually bite very lightly, so it helps to use lightweight, sensitive equipment. Use an ultralight spinning outfit or graphite jigging pole with a soft, sensitive tip. This allows you to lift slightly and watch for a slight bend in the tip that indicates a fish on the line.

Jerry is on the pro staff for B’n’M Poles (www.bnmpoles. com) in West Point, Miss., and the five of us put some of B’n’M’s best to the test whilefishing that day. Their lightweight, sensitive graphite poles were ideal for feeling the subtle hits of winter’s light-biting crappie. Not only did we catch some monster crappie on these rigs; Jerry battled in a chain pickerel that would be a trophy in any angler’s book, and I followed up with a hardfighting largemouth that really put the strain on one of Buck’s Best Ultra Light poles. Jerry and I both won our battles and the war.

If you decide to fish with minnows under a bobber, and crappie seem persnickety, here’s a trick to try. Do away with your float and fish the outer edges of winter cover. Without any weight except that of the hook and a smallsplit shot, a minnow sinks very slowly, twisting and darting as it does. Crappie find such baits irresistible. You’ll have to watch your line very closely as the bait sinks, looking for any slight movement, indicating a hit. But when regular live-bait tactics fail, this one can save the day.

The ultimate key to catching winter crappie is establishing a pattern. Do they want jigs or minnows? If jigs, what color? Should you jig the lure or hold it stationary? Will spoons or spinners work better? Are crappie near creek channels or tributary mouths? Questions such as these must constantly be considered.

You can be the best crappie angler in the world and go outand not catch a fish. On the same day at the same place, a novice may go out and load his boat with fish.

The difference is, the novice was able to establish a pattern. You’ve got to find that pattern. That’s the key to crappie fishing, regardless of the season.

Despite my icy fingers and toes, this day with Jerry, Josh, Alex and Lewis was one of the most fun fishing trips I’ve enjoyed in a very long time. Go to www.actionfishingtrips.com to see what Jerry and his clients have been catching lately. When you get a gander of some of the boss crappie they have been putting in the boat lately, you’re sure to get a hankering for a day on the water, cold weather or not.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 140 on 02/28/2010

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