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Crappie Hotspot Series – Enid Lake

An ad on the back page of a magazine touted a particular brand of crankbait as “the newest and hottest tactic on the water.” In the ad, a young crappie-fishing guide wearing a NASCAR-style fishing jersey emblazoned with sponsors displays a slab crappie while the images of the crankbait in hot pink and neon chartreuse colors fills the background. All the “new” hype over catching crappie on crankbaits makes Ken Franklin just smile. […]

Crappie/Bream

Crappie Hotspot Series – Pickwick Lake

In the early 1970s, a young bass angler by the name of Bill Dance, hosting his own TV show on national television, brought Pickwick Lake to the forefront of American anglers’ attention. Each week, his television audience tuned in to watch Dance battle huge smallmouth bass from the high-bluffed reservoir. Quickly […]

Crappie/Bream

Crappie tactics defined

Maybe more so than any other species of fish, crappie anglers have a language all their own when it comes to how they fish for their favorite quarry. In fact, some tactics go by different names depending on what part of the state or what part of the country you’re standing in. […]

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Crappie Hotspot Series – Pickwick Lake

In the early 1970s, a young bass angler by the name of Bill Dance, hosting his own TV show on national television, brought Pickwick Lake to the forefront of American anglers’ attention.

Each week, his television audience tuned in to watch Dance battle huge smallmouth bass from the high-bluffed reservoir. Quickly becoming the authority on fishing instruction, Dance couldn’t wait to introduce the country to Pickwick guide Roger Gant, a man he called “the best crappie fishing guide in the country.”

Several years later, the combined influence of these two fishing icons found their mark, leaving a lasting impression on a part-time fishing guide. […]

Freshwater Fishing

Bay Springs Site Office

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Site Office is located on the east side of Bay Springs Lake just off of MS Highway 4 in Tishomingo County. The staff from this office is responsible for the operation of the navigation, recreation and natural resources along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway from Amory to Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River. […]

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Crappie hotspot: Bay Springs Lake

Bay Springs Lake, also known as the Jamie L. Whitten Lock and Dam, is the northernmost lake on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Located off Highway 4 near the town of Dennis in Mississippi’s Hill Region, the 6,700 acres of water and 133 miles of shoreline that make up Bay Springs provide crappie anglers with loads of slab crappie that are often overlooked by anglers on their way to bigger lakes.

Our guide this month is the owner/operator of Honey Hole Guide Service, Charlie Kent. Born and raised in Baldwyn, Kent has been fishing the crappie-infested waters of Bay Springs since the lake was created by the Corps of Engineers in 1979. […]

Crappie/Bream

Crappie under cover

Veteran guide John Harrison looks forward to fishing Grenada during the spring spawn more than any other time of the year. The spawn is a time when he can catch fish on their own turf, going hand-to-hand with the monster crappie that are home to the lake. […]

Freshwater Fishing

Crappie fishing notes

Veteran angler Jimmy Chambers of Hollandale grew up fishing Lake Washington for bream and crappie and jug fishing for catfish. Deemed a closed-off oxbow, Washington differs from most open-end oxbows like Chotard and Albemarle that directly fluctuate with the Mississippi River. Chambers says that to understand crappie fishing on Washington, you need to understand two things — water levels and cypress trees. […]

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Crappie Hotspot Series: Lake Washington

The next stop on the Mississippi Sportsman Crappie Hotspot Series tour is Lake Washington. Located approximately 25 miles south of Greenville on Highway 1, Washington is a closed-off oxbow of the Mississippi River; as such, fluctuations in the river don’t affect the lake in the same way as other oxbows, making it a unique fishery among Delta lakes. […]