Hooked Up Designs Magazine May/June 2017 | 页面 40

Anglers looking for a chance to land really big crappie may want to head to Grenada Lake , perennially one of the best lakes in the nation for producing big black and white crappie .

“ The nickname for Grenada Lake is ‘ the home of the 3-pound crappie ,’” remarked Jarad Roper , a professional crappie angler ( roperoutdoors . com ) from Forrest City , Ark . who usually teams up with his father , Tommie . “ It does produce bigger than average fish every year . It can produce more 4-pounders than any other lake I know .”

One of the “ Big Four ” U . S . Army Corps of Engineers flood control reservoirs in northern Mississippi , Grenada Lake produced at least one crappie weighing 4 pounds , 13 ounces . In some professional crappie tournaments , anglers might bring in 30 to 40 3-pounders a day . In one tournament , the winners landed seven fish weighing more than 27 pounds for nearly a 4-pound average .

“ Grenada Lake is probably one of the better lakes in the country to catch a big crappie ,” said Keith Meals , a Mississippi Department of Wildlife , Fisheries and Parks biologist . “ It produces many 2- to 2.5-pound fish with the biggest crappie in many tournaments often coming in around 3.5 pounds or better .”

Impounded on the Yalobusha River , the principal tributary to the Yazoo River , Grenada Lake dates to 1954 . Built to control flooding along the Yazoo River Basin , the lake about three miles northeast of the town of Grenada fluctuates wildly throughout the year . The Yalobusha River , named for the Choctaw word “ yalooboshi ,” meaning “ little tadpole ,” runs 165 miles through north-central Mississippi .

The Skuna River flows into the northern end of Grenada Lake , creating the second main arm of the reservoir . The Skuna River flows 75 miles through Mississippi and originally fed into the Yalobusha about six miles north of the town of Grenada . In all , the largest lake entirely within Mississippi spreads across about 35,000 acres at pool stage . Relatively shallow , some holes in the old river channels drop to more than 30 feet deep . A few better places to score with big crappie include Turkey Creek , the Choctaw area , Carver Point , Gibbs Creek and Wolf Creek .

“ Either side of the lake has some pretty good fishing ,” commented Sonny Sipes , a professional crappie angler , guide and lure maker ( crappieslastbite . com ) from Moody , Ala . “ At any time , someone could catch a 3-pound crappie anywhere on the lake . My biggest was a 3.59-pounder , but I ’ ve probably caught more than 500 others over three pounds in Grenada Lake . I ’ ve heard of some 4-pounders and at least one in the spring of 2015 .”

Although anglers can catch big crappie all year long at Grenada Lake , the best fishing for monster crappie typically occurs in the spring when big females swollen with roe move up shallow to spawn . Many pros and other serious crappie anglers use spider rigs , which can deploy as many as eight rods dangling from holders on the boat bow creating a fan-shaped pattern reminiscent of a spider web . With such a rig , anglers often deploy rods 16 to 18 feet long to plow a wide swath through prime areas while fishing multiple baits at varied depths . Many anglers fish with black and chartreuse , lime and chartreuse or orange and chartreuse jigs .

“ If I could only fish Grenada Lake once a year , I ’ d fish the first three weeks of March ,” Roper recommended . “ In the spring , I fish the Yalobusha side . The water in the Yalobusha side is a little more stained to muddy . In the spring , I focus on little ditches , creek channels and backwater areas . In the fall , I

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