Where is the best place to fish for crappies in Iowa in 2005? It all depends on what you consider a good day of crappie fishing.

Some crappie anglers aren’t happy unless they take home a fish basket full of crappies — even if the catch consists of nothing but little 7-inchers that yield silver dollar-sized fillets. Others consider it a great day if they bring home only a dozen crappies — as long as those fish are superslabs so big that they won’t fit sideways in a 5-gallon bucket.

With those extremes in mind, here’s a run-down of our best crappie lakes. Once you decide which sort of crappie fishing makes you happy, and there’ll be a crappie lake in Iowa waiting for you.

WESTERN IOWA

West Lake Okoboji, in far northwest Iowa, has a strong run of crappies from ice-out through the spawn in the canals and harbors at the northwest end of the lake. On the west side of the lake, another series of canals running around the backside of Gull Point State Park and connecting Emersons Bay with Millers Bay, is a prime location for spawning crappies. Most of the canal fishing is available only from boats, because much of the land in those areas is private property.

Shorebound anglers in western Iowa will have better luck in the southwest corner of the state. A number of small lakes, especially in Adair County, posted impressive numbers for crappie populations in recent surveys conducted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Mormon Trail Lake is a 35-acre county conservation board lake located southeast of Bridgewater. Mark Boucher, IDNR fisheries technician, called Mormon Trail a sleeper for crappies.

“There’s a real strong year-class of 8- to 10-inch crappies in there,” Boucher said. “It had a bad reputation a couple years ago, but we did some research and found out that we had too many grass carp in the lake. The grass carp had wiped out all the vegetation, and there was no place for young fish to hide from predators.” The IDNR acted to reduce the number of grass carp in Mormon Trail, plant life reappeared, and crappie numbers exploded.

Local anglers report that the face of the dam is the hotspot for crappies during the spawn, along with areas around rock fishing jetties. Shallow water in the far east end also attracts crappies during the spawn, especially around brushpiles that have been placed in that area.

Meadow Lake, north of Greenfield, also draws Boucher’s attention when he wants to catch crappies, although he admits that it’s a tough lake to figure out. “When we’re electrofishing at Meadow Lake, we park on top of any of the brushpiles and roll up tons of crappies,” he reported. “There are a lot of 10- and 12-inch crappies in there. The problem is that it’s either hot or cold when you’re fishing with a rod and reel, and I have never been able to figure out why. It’s a good lake to check out for a half-hour — and if they’re biting, stay and clobber them. But if they’re biting slow, move on to another lake, because when they’re off at Meadow Lake, they’re really off.”

If Meadow Lake is in one of it’s off moods, Boucher suggests that anglers head a few miles down the road to Greenfield Lake, at the southwest corner of the town of Greenfield. Surveys showed a strong year-class of 8-inch crappies in Greenfield Lake last year, with a secondary year-class of 12- to 14-inch slabs. Anglers will catch them off the dam and along the shallow bay on the east side, south of the dam, during the spawn. Unmarked cedar brushpiles have been added to the lake. Those brushpiles hold crappies and provide anglers good fishing throughout the year.

Littlefield Lake, north of Anita and Interstate 80, near County Road F58, is a 70-acre lake that Boucher listed as his top crappie lake for 2005.

“There were two year classes when we surveyed it – one in the 8- to 10-inch range and another up around 12 inches,” he said. “The size and numbers of crappies in Littlefield really surprised us. During the spawn, the dam and fishing jetties are good spots. It’s a really good lake to catch crappies after the spawn, too. Guys do really, really well drifting the main lake, just working a jig and minnow under a boat.”