Chris Curtis of Crappie Masters Guide Service and Donald Smith with a nice stringer of crappie that were caught in Stumpy Pond. Photo by Bennett Kirkpatrick.

Although some of South Carolina's crappie waters are falling on hard times, there are many lakes -- especially in the mid-state and Piedmont -- that are brimming with crappie and begging to be fished.

REGION I
Officer Dan Rankin is the Region 1 coordinator for the SCDNR. The main lakes in this region are the Savannah, Jocassee, Keowee, Clarks Hill, Russell, Hartwell, Greenwood and Lake Secession. Not surprisingly, some of these lakes are better for crappie than others.

Russell, Hartwell, Clarks Hill and Lake Greenwood seem to rise to the top with respect to how local fishermen rate these lakes. Essentially, in these top lakes, the growth rate for crappie is outstanding because the lakes each have a rich forage base. All this translates into big fish fast!

Rankin said that within Region I, crappie populations have not changed dramatically since last year. Angling exploitation of crappie (that is, mortality of crappie caused by anglers taking home the fish they catch) in Southeastern reservoirs is typically thought to be at levels where it is compensatory to natural mortality. This means angling exploitation is not at high enough levels to influence abundance or quality (average size) of crappie.

However, Lake Greenwood may be an exception. Primary findings from an exploitation study on this lake indicate angling exploitation does exceed natural mortality in Lake Greenwood. Therefore, the Lake Greenwood crappie population could be enhanced (that is, the average size and perhaps abundance could be increased) through more restrictive harvest regulations. DNR biologists will be modeling existing growth and mortality data for crappie in coming years to provide likely outcomes based on a range of management/ regulation scenarios for Lake Greenwood crappie.

Small crappie jigs in the 1/32- and 1/16-ounce sizes seem to get the nod here, with small minnows coming in a close second. Many of the anglers here hedge their bets by lip hooking a minnow on a jig when the fishing gets tough. As far as jig color goes, almost every fisherman has his own favorite, but anything with red, white or chartreuse in it seems to be a good choice. There are days, though, that crappie seem to prefer jigs with a green and blue combination.

Public landings dot each of these lakes. Once you decide which lake you want to fish, just stop at a country store and ask directions to the closest boat ramp. It usually won't be too far away. If that store sells fishing supplies, ask what is hot now and you can kill two birds with one stone: directions and the current jig color combinations.

REGION II
Officer Elizabeth Osier is the Region 2 coordinator for the SCDNR, and is responsible for the Catawba chain of lakes. She told me that they had some new data on Lake Wylie, but she hadn't gotten a chance to review it as of the time of this writing.

I personally fish Lake Wylie for crappie often because I have in excess of 200 brushpiles that I have installed in the lake. Lake Wylie used to be one of the premier crappie lakes in South Carolina; this is no longer true. In my opinion, the population of Lake Wylie's crappie is down more than 75 percent of what it was back just five years ago. Just what has happened? When I put this question to the regulars I know that fish Wylie several times a week, the answer is generally the same: The fish aren't there in the numbers we have had in the past.