Hayes' personal preference when he goes crappie fishing in April is Lake Thurmond (Clarks Hill); he targets the Long Cane Creek, Soap Creek, Mill Creek, Little River and Russell Creek areas.

Hayes said that Dan Rankin, Region 1 Fisheries Coordinator, fished Lake Greenwood when he crappie fished.

Crappie fishermen in Region I, Hayes said, seem to have the best "luck" with small to medium shiners, mini-jigs in chartreuse, white, blue and red (depending on water conditions), and white No-Alibis.

REGION 2
Local fisherman Donald Smith and Crappie Masters professional guide Chris Curtis both fish lake Wateree, and have some predictions for the 2005 crappie fishing season.

Smith, who hails from Winnsboro (803/635-3858), said he had the best fall season in 2004 that he has had in several years. He was catching hand-sized crappie at that time, and these fish will be quality crappie when the 2005 season rolls around.

A friend of Smith's fished the pilings under the Taylors Creek Bridge in late summer, and had a field day using a green and chartreuse jig; most of these crappie were the hand-sized variety.

During the fall, yellow-and-white along with orange-and-white jigs were what the fish wanted; these lures were fished tight-lined with spinning gear over brush in 12 feet of water in the mouths of Dutchmans Creek, Singleton Creek and June Creek.

Many of the crappie caught in the fall weighed close to 1 pound, which qualifies as "nice" in any South Carolina lake.

In April 2005, Smith will start fishing the upper part of the lake around the "Big Gun" in the mouth of Wateree Creek. The "Big Gun" is where the U.S. Navy fired test lots of ammunition in WW II.

One of the reasons Smith starts there is that the upper end of Lake Wateree warms up faster than the lower end. Smith will cast to the banks using a chartreuse jig 2 feet under a small float until he locates crappie. Strikes will be subtle; quite often the float will only bounce slightly, or move sideways. Set the hook as soon as a strike is sensed for a high hookup rate.

Smith expects the 2005 Wateree crappie season to be above average.

Chris Curtis lives in Lancaster (803/285-1730) and he owns and operates Crappie Masters Guide Service. Curtis is intimately familiar with Fishing Creek Reservoir, Stumpy Pond and Lake Wateree.

"Wateree runs in four- to five-year cycles; we are due for a heavy cycle in 2005," he said. "From Beaver Creek on up to Wateree Creek would be where crappie should be found in April. Start fishing shallow, and follow the fish out to deeper water as the month progresses; this system of fishing should be followed in all the waters I guide in.

"Fishing Creek deserves an excellent rating for 2005. Start the month of April fishing the shallows of Bear Creek and Wildcat Creek, and work out. Stumpy Pond should also be excellent for crappie this year. April will find me fishing the stumps in the flats. This lake experiences very little fishing pressure, and has always been a good producer for me. I have caught crappie on just about every color combination of jig you can think of, but my 'go-to' favorite is black and chartreuse."

Lake Wylie is another favorite Piedmont crappie-fishing destination. James Covington from Rock Hill (803/329-1417) plies these waters on a regular basis; he had this to say.

Covington mentioned that when he was a young man, the easiest way to catch crappie was to fish shallow. While there are still some shallow fish in April, he's found that "the volume of crappie I catch now is in deep water."