Mar 13, 2020 4 min read

Most anglers here in Western Pennsylvania consider the opening of trout fishing season to be the first day to wet a line.

Over the long period of my life, I disagree with that thinking. The reality is that the fishing season comes with the thawing of the waters combined with the crappies movement toward the shoreline. I am no biologist but this seems to coincide with the rise in water temperature. This can be tricky for many times the water can be warmer than the air, the sun hitting the water makes this so.

If ever there was a fun fish to catch it is the crappie. First of all, when they are hitting well they come in high numbers. It is nothing to spend time on a lake and land more than 30 crappies when present. Secondly, they are excellent at the dinner table. I prefer to eat freshly caught panfish as a snack. A bunch of thumb-sized and breaded crappie or bluegill fillets makes a wonderful snack while watching television and are better for you than potatoes and such.

One of my favorite places to catch a limit of crappie was No. 4 water dam but it has been drawn down so low that one would have to cross 60 yards of mud flats to reach the water. Most of my hotspots are now nothing but mud flats. I guess one could safely say that again money has won another battle against environmental considerations. We have so few recreational spots on the water. We miss each one when its is gone.

Fortunately, we do have a quality crappie fishing water near Avella and that, of course, is Cross Creek Lake. What makes this a special fishing water is that it can be fished from shore or a boat. The lake is fished harder because it is one of a very few good waters in the county. It can be casually fished from its open shoreline without the need for a boat. When the temperature gets a little higher a crappie fishing jaunt can be combined with a family outing.

When the conditions are right, crappie can be caught on almost every cast and I have had days when one fish hit but wasn’t hooked and immediately another struck the lure. On the other side of the coin, the crappie can be tricky. For one thing, if they are in one of their moods they won’t move far to strike any lure. Not only must the lure pass close to them but the depth must also be right. That is why many crappie anglers move from spot to spot when trying to locate a school. Locate them and you should have a good fishing trip or, on the other hand, another fisherman can be a few yards away landing fish after fish while you are fishing the Dead Sea.

One of the world’s greatest baits for fishing is the reliable old earthworm but not so for this fish. The No. 1 bait for crappie is the minnow, and that is what most anglers have success with. The problem with minnows is they are a pain to keep alive and to carry while trying to locate the fish. I much prefer to use small lures, and jigs seem to work best for me. Of course, there will be another angler nearby using small spinners with success. When things are slow some people will add a maggot to their spinner or lure.

I have often stressed it is more important to match your hook size to the size of the fish’s mouth than to the size of the fish. After all, if your hook is too large for the fish to get in its mouth, then you can hardly hook it. I prefer about a No. 6 hook for crappie for they do have a large mouth for their size. This creates a problem for on the other side of the coin as the bluegill, whichy might be hitting, have small mouths and that size 6 is way too big.

Keep in mind there is a size limit and a numbers limit at this lake, so check the rules. Cross Creek has a nine-inch size limit on crappie and a total panfish limit of 20. I plan to start getting ready today. As soon as the water warms, you will find me there.