After experiencing a drought in 2002 followed by three years of above-average rainfall, Virginia crappie anglers might feel as though they might have to settle for less-than-desirable fishing conditions until some stability in the weather returned. The good news is that despite a horrible drought that impacted much of the outdoor world three years ago, the crappie fishing has rebounded and is in good shape across the state. These scrappy fish will not let you down this spring if you plan ahead and do a bit of research. We have done the grunt work for you by highlighting the top destinations in each region this year.

TIDEWATER REGION
Chad Boyce is the fisheries guru for Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) in the Chesapeake office near Virginia Beach.

Lake Cohoon is one of Boyce's top picks for crappie fishing. The lake is part of the Portsmouth city water supply.

"Cohoon has both good numbers and decent-sized crappie thriving in its 510 acres of water. There are a number of 8- to 11-inch crappie in the lake as evident by our sampling last spring," Boyce pointed out. "We even turned up a fish at 16 inches during our sampling!"

The upper lake has many arms and points and "S" curves where trees have fallen and now provide crappie habitat. These are great locations for anglers to target as they wind their way uplake.

The slightly stained water in Cohoon is perfect for fishing. The forage of gizzard shad, alewives and golden shiners helps keep the crappie population strong. Boyce noted that 3-year-old fish currently dominate the fishery.

Anglers visiting Cohoon will find that there is some shoreline fishing available, although the better opportunities await those with a small boat launched from the ramp.

Farther north in the region, Scott Herrmann is Boyce's counterpart for the VDGIF. Herrmann gives the nod to the Chickahominy as his springtime choice for crappie angling. Last spring, Herrmann trap netted the 1,230-acre impoundment to determine what the fishery looked like.

According to Herrmann's notes, this shallow reservoir gave up most of its April fish in 3 to 5 feet of water.

During late March, most of the black crappie can be found near the stream channels and the numerous flats. Herrman noted that the first night he trap netted the lake he caught 104 black crappie.

"This respectable average of more than 10 black crappie per net was much better than the other reservoirs sampled, including Lee Hall, Harwoods Mill and Waller Mill reservoirs."

Herrmann pointed out that crappie were consistently caught in tributaries. Two notable tributaries were Lacey Creek and Johnson Creek. Anglers are encouraged to target flats and shallows of the creeks where the pre-spawn fish are looking for food and scout out spawning sites. Anglers might also check the area around the small islands of the southern shoreline across from Lacey Creek.