Crappie Fishing in Kansas

From its great water reservoirs, down to its packed lakes, Kansas can certainly boast about its year-round crappie fishing grounds. More than just the Sunflower State, Kansas is definitely crappie territory. State Fishing Lakes like Bourbon, Crawford, Meade, and Ottawa are chockfull of white crappie; and so do smaller lakes like those in New Sedan City, Osage City, and Plainville. Wyandotte County Lake also carries an abundance of black paper mouths.

But definitely, the best black crappie hotspots are those in major water reservoirs that dot the expanse of the state. Council Grove Reservoir, La Cygne, Melvern, and Toronto have paper mouths growing large and in great abundance. Fall River, although not generally known as crappie habitat, is surprisingly one of the best places to scope this fish year round. Smaller lakes and rivers are also hotspots for anglers who want to stray away from the major fishing sites, and competition. These waters include Council Grove, Kanopolis, Lovewell, Perry and Pomona.

Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and white crappie (Poxomis annularis) are also known by a host of names like bridge perch, goggleye, paper mouth, and speckled perch. Crappie is from the sunfish family. It breeds prolifically across the state of Kansas, and other lakes in the US. Both black and white crappie can grow to over five pounds. Its white meat is sweetish and tender, perfect for broiling or pan frying.

The key to catching crappie is temperature – water temperature, that is. The warmest waters usually bring an abundance of this fish. Spring is spawning season, and crappie tend to favor shallow recesses, especially the larger, heavily pregnant females. During this time, crappie favors live bait, as this would help packing on protein needed for breeding.

Another key to a successful catch is variety. This fish is known to be somewhat finicky in nature, and seasoned anglers usually resort to an assortment of arsenal, usually shifting from live baits (insects, minnows, small crustaceans) to small plastic jigs to lure; or they try shifting in technique - from casting, drifting, trolling or even by still-fishing.

The final key to crappie fishing is to fish year-round. Although during the summer season, crappies go to the deeper part of the waters, they still remain prolific in number. The larger fish do, however, tend to shy away from very loud noises, and so a quiet lake with little or no competition from fellow anglers can give you a good, if not, a great catch at the end of the day.