Photo by Ronnie Garrison

The crappie is one of the Hawkeye State's most popular fish. Every spring thousands of anglers hit the water in earnest to enjoy some of the best fishing Iowa offers.

According to Scott Gritters, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist, the crappie ranks third in popularity behind catfish and bass but rises to second place when it comes to the dinner table.

And there will be plenty of crappies to go around again this year, according to Gritters. "Seven or 8 million crappies are caught in Iowa every year, and statewide, the crappie is doing well," he said.

But crappie populations explode and then recede even on the best of waters. A lake that's full of fish one year can be left high and dry the next, and then in a few years anglers are taking them out by the bucketful again.

"Crappie populations are cyclical in nature," said Gritters. "The crappie spawns on nests during May when the water temperatures are between 50 and 60 degrees and the spawning period only lasts a couple of weeks. Weather fronts and water level fluctuations seem to play a critical role in the success of the hatch. Fish like bluegills spawn over a longer period of time, and at some point perfect spawning conditions are likely to exist. Not so with crappies. Crappies seem to disappear for awhile and then -- bang! They're back."

A number of factors probably play into the up-and-down nature of crappie populations. Food, angling pressure and environmental conditions all take a part. "Crappies tend to have very successful spawns following a high-water period," said Chris Larson, a fisheries biologist in Lewis. "Once a large year-class is established, they can dominate the fishery for the next several years. These cyclic population swings typically last five years or so."

The increase in the number of crappies in any given body of water isn't nearly as difficult to explain as their decline, according to biologists. Both blacks and whites multiply full bore, with a single female able to produce from 20,000 to 60,000 eggs; at times, a particularly fertile female can produce upwards of a 100,000 eggs. If only the smallest fraction of eggs are successfully fertilized, hatch and survive, a single pair of crappies can repopulate a small lake by themselves.

Here's a look at waters whose crappie populations should be on the upswing this year and whose fishing should be excellent.

PRAIRIE ROSE LAKE
"Prairie Rose should produce some very good crappie fishing in 2007," said biologist Larson. "In the spring of 2006 we saw incredible numbers of 7- to 8-inch black crappies in both our fyke netting and electrofishing surveys. If these fish grew even a little, anglers should be able to catch buckets full this year. The best time for crappies is during the spring spawning season, which usually occurs the during the first three weeks of May, but colder spring temperatures can push it back a week or two."

A proven technique that works well during the crappie spawn is to fish with small leadhead jigs in the 1/16- to 1/32-ounce sizes, said Larson. Using light line in the 4-pound test range, fish near the shoreline in some woody structure that juts out into the water or along large riprap. Another approach on Prairie Rose is to fish the shallower bays first in early May, starting in the upper reaches of the lake. Move down the lake to deeper drop-offs as spring progresses.

Prairie Rose covers 204 acres in Shelby County and is part of Prairie Rose State Park.