Barnett Reservoir giving up big crappie as spawn approaches
Barnett Reservoir is already giving up quality crappie and plenty of them, but as the spawn gets closer, it should only get better.
“It’s going to be a great year,” said B&M Fishing pro staff member Hugh Krutz of Brandon. “The lake’s in great shape. We’re catching tons of 1 1/2pound fish.”
Barnett may not have the reputation of being a producer of giant crappie like Enid, Grenada and Sardis lakes have at times, but it’s a steady producer. That’s at least in part due to a consistently strong forage base. Krutz said this year is the best he has seen.
“The lake is in good shape,” Krutz said. “The lake has more shad than I’ve ever seen before. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
And big numbers of shad mean big fish.
“Lots of big fish,” Krutz said. “I’m catching lots of 2-pounders to 2 1/2pounders.”
Weather, however, has presented challenges. Cold fronts bringing wind and rain have limited where anglers can pursue crappie.
“We need the current to slow down,” Krutz said. “There’s lots of muddy water. We need the lake to settle down.”
How to catch crappie on Barnett Reservoir right now
Krutz said most of his crappie are being caught suspended at about 8 feet in 20 feet of water and his methods vary.
“I’ve been spider-rigging double minnow rigs,” Krutz said. “When I’m LiveScoping, I’m using a small bait, a Crappie Magnet, that matches the shad in the lake. It’s about 2 inches.”
Rabbit Rogers of Fannin, a Barnett Reservoir veteran who’s been fishing the lake for 60 years, is reporting much the same.
Quality crappie at Barnett
Reservoir and even better days ahead
“They’ll average 1 1/2 pounds,” Rogers said. “The other day I had 22 that weighed over 30 pounds in a creel check.
“That’s about 1 1/2 pounds each. That’s good fish.”
But he is managing to catch bigger fish, too.
“You’ll catch some 2-pounders,” Rogers said. “I weighed one the other day that went 2 1/4.”
Like Krutz, Rogers is finding them suspended in deep water in areas with less current.
“If you can get in the old lakes, they don’t have much current,” Rogers said. “They’re normally at 10 to 12 feet (deep). You get any deeper than that and you get into catfish.”
While the weather has been challenging, it is expected to improve and Krutz said that should put spawning activity right on time for arguably the best crappie action of the year.
“I think we’re on track for April 15 (for the peak of the spawn),” Krutz said. “I saw a few people trying spawning areas, but I didn’t see them catching any. We need a week of temperatures in the 50s at night and 70s in the daytime.”
As luck would have it, that’s what is in store. According to timeanddate.com, temperatures will fluctuate for the next few days, but from March 25-April 2, high temperatures will be in the 70s and 80s with lows in the 50s at night.
Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.