Catching March and April Crappie with Guide Jackie Wayne Van Cleave
Day 2: When Black Crappie Go to Deep Water the White Crappie Move to Shallow Water with Jackie Wayne Van Cleave
Editor’s Note: Jackie Wayne Van Cleave (731-431-9700) of Samburg, Tennessee, has every fisherman’s dream job. He’s a touring pro on the Crappie Master’s National Crappie Tournament Circuit, and he’s a crappie guide on Reelfoot Lake. When he’s not fishing tournaments or guiding crappie fishermen, he catches crappie for his table. Van Cleave gives us weekly reports on where the crappie are and how to catch them at almost any time of the year at www.reelfoot.com/vancleave/. Too, because he’s a tournament crappie fisherman, he can report on the newest and best techniques that are being developed to catch crappie at the highest level of crappie fishing.
  As I’ve mentioned yesterday (see Day 1), the black crappie are in shallow water spawning at Reelfoot Lake in late March and April. If the weather stays the way it has been, we’ll continue to catch black crappie until about mid-April. Then, the white crappie will come into the shallow water to spawn. The white crappie usually will spawn in the same places as the black crappie.
Some crappie fishermen have the misguided notion that black crappie are smaller than white crappie, but that’s not true. Currently, we’re catching black crappie that will weigh more than 2-3/4-pounds. The average crappie will weigh from 1 pound or more. When we find a good school of black crappie in shallow water, we can really have a good time. The day before I did this interview in mid-March, we caught 30 black crappie in the same spot without moving the boat. We’ve caught as many as 30 -100 in one place without moving the boat, in the past. The real secret to catching good numbers of crappie from one site is to be quiet, and don’t spook the crappie. Anglers can’t drop the fish in the bottom of the boat, jump up and down in the boat or bang up against the side of the boat, because if you spook the crappie, they’ll move away. Here’s the good news. Once you find that honey spot, often, you can catch good numbers of crappie out of that same location day after day after day, because new waves of crappie will be moving from deep water into shallow water to spawn in the spring.
  The places where we’ll find black crappie right now, are where we’ll continue to catch black crappie until the middle of April, when the white crappie start coming to the bank to spawn. We hardly ever catch black crappie and white crappie in the same places when they’re moving into shallow water to spawn. The black crappie will come in first. They’ll leave after they finish spawning. Then, the white crappie will move in and spawn in the same locations as the black crappie.
For more crappie fishing tips, get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks “Crappie: How to Catch Them Fall & Winter,” “Crappie: How to Catch Them Spring and Summer,” “Catch Cold Water Crappie Now,” and “Reelfoot Lake: How to Fish for Crappie, Bass, Bluegills and Catfish & Hunt for Ducks” Click on each, or go to www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the name of the book, and download it to your Kindle, and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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