Why Arkansans love crappie fishing

The oxbow lakes of southeast Arkansas’ White River National Wildlife Refuge are among The Natural State waters that provide scenic settings for the adventurous angler in search of crappie.
The oxbow lakes of southeast Arkansas’ White River National Wildlife Refuge are among The Natural State waters that provide scenic settings for the adventurous angler in search of crappie.

Spring is upon us. The dogwoods have started blooming, and crappie are biting in the shoreline shallows of many lakes here in Arkansas. It’s a season many anglers anticipate with great joy — me included. So recently, I visited one of my favorite crappie lakes to see if I could get a bite.

I was fishing with my son Josh and our friend Todd Huckabee. We had been fishing just minutes when Josh, working a jig beside the bank under a blooming dogwood, hoisted a huge crappie into the boat — a fish that weighed more than 2 pounds. Todd quickly followed with another dandy slab. I got snagged in a brush pile but soon landed a crappie, too — a 1-pound-plus black crappie full of fight.

Crappie are the third most popular sportfish in Arkansas, behind largemouth bass and catfish. Crappie are very prolific and grow quickly. In many good lakes, the average size is about 12 inches long and 1 pound, but in better waters, anglers also catch quite a few from 14 to 16 inches that weigh from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. Sometimes, a skilled or lucky fisherman will catch a crappie that tips the scales at 2 1/2 to 3 pounds or more. Fishermen call those “barn doors,” and they are caught only rarely, except in blue-ribbon waters. No matter where we fish, however, when crappie are found and a fishing pattern develops, it doesn’t take long to catch enough 1- to 2-pounders for supper, and usually enough to share with friends and neighbors, too.

When my fun day of fishing with Josh and Todd was over, I took home 40 fillets from 20 fat crappie that filled three quart-size freezer bags to the brim. I was happier than a dog with two tails.

When I told a catfishing buddy about my trip, he said, “I don’t understand why you enjoy crappie fishing so much. Crappie don’t hit very hard, they don’t put up much of a fight, and they don’t get very big. They’re hard as the dickens to figure out sometimes — hot one day and cold the next. I’d trade a hundred of ’em for one good-sized channel cat.”

Many Arkansas anglers like my narrow-minded friend don’t give a tinker’s hoot about crappie fishing. Many others, however, love crappie fishing, and for good reasons.

Consider, for example, that in many states, including Arkansas, crappie are found in nearly every lake, and many streams and ponds, too. In-the-know anglers haul crappie in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Anything these sunfish lack in size, they compensate for with sheer numbers and the typical ease with which they are caught.

Sure, trout are bedazzling jumpers. Catfish reach huge sizes. Bass are brutal battlers. For many anglers, however, crappie are the favorites because the certainty of some kind of fishing action is far better than promised battles that never come.

Fancy equipment? No need. It doesn’t matter if you use an old cane pole or a $200 ultralight rig. Both catch crappie.

The crappie is also a beautiful fish. Its scales are flakes of polished silver assembled like a delicate mosaic that sparkles jewellike in the water. The eyes have golden inlays. Showy,

oversize fins impart subtle grace.

All these characteristics blend to make the crappie an extremely beloved character. At least 6.1 million U.S. anglers 16 years old and older fish for crappie, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The two species of crappie — black crappie and white crappie — have always been found in waters throughout Arkansas, but this is not necessarily the case elsewhere. The growth of the crappies’ range in other parts of the country during the past century shows how very popular crappie are.

Black crappie were originally found only in the eastern half of the United States, except for the northeastern seaboard. The range of this popular panfish was greatly expanded, however, by introductions into eastern sections of the country where the crappie wasn’t found originally, and throughout much of the West and Midwest. Washington received its first stockings of crappie in 1890, California in 1891, Idaho in 1892 and Oregon in 1893.

The original range of the white crappie extended from eastern South Dakota to New York, then south to Alabama and Texas. This species has also been widely introduced into new waters as well and, like the black crappie, is now found in all lower 48 states. The white crappie tends to be more at home in the oxbows, large lakes and sluggish rivers of the South, while the black crappie, which thrives best in colder, clearer water, can be found as far north as southern Canada.

Crappie have also been stocked in Mexico and Panama, with populations thriving in both countries.

Another indication that people love crappie is the fact that several places lay claim to the title “Crappie Capital of the World.” Among these are Weiss Lake, Alabama; Kentucky Lake in Kentucky and Tennessee; Grand Lake, Oklahoma; and Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Folks in Louisiana have gone a step further and designated the white crappie as their official state fish.

Crappie have, indeed, won the hearts of millions. But some, like my catfishing buddy, will never be swayed. To them, crappie will always be “kids’ fish” — too small, too easy and too wimpy to be worthy of attention. For the rest of us, however, crappie will always be special. We love being on the water where they live. We love fishing for them. And we love eating them.

Now I find myself about to savor that last and best part of the crappie-fishing experience — the eating. The sweet aroma of hot peanut oil fills my kitchen as I dredge the fillets from some jumbo crappie in seasoned cornmeal. When each piece is ready, I drop it into the skillet. The fillets sizzle as

they cook.

“He has a lot to recommend him,” beloved author Havilah Babcock wrote of this extraordinary panfish. “When a sizable crappie is cleaned immediately and dropped for a few scant minutes into a pan of sizzling fat, he is a fillip for the most jaded appetite.”

I’m not sure what a fillip is, but as I watch the crappie fillets sizzling in the skillet, I feel like a hungry cat watching a crippled bird. My gastric juices churn. I salivate like a wolf smelling blood.

I bite into one of the hot, golden fillets, and in a sudden moment of clarity, I realize: This is why I love crappie fishing.

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