Jordan meets reputation as trophy crappie lake

Jordan Lake has been known for the past several years as the No. 1 trophy crappie lake in North Carolina.

During March the lake has lived up to its reputation.

Crappie expert Rod King of Durham has been fishing Jordan the last few weeks and said he’d been catching black and white crappie that average from 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds “with some 2-pounders thrown in the mix.”

“Right now crappies are headed out of the deep water and going toward shallow water that’s 5- to 7-feet deep,” he said. “There’s lots of big ones that have moved toward the shallows.

“The main thing (anglers) have to watch for is the weather. The crappie are battling cold fronts and moving in and out.”

King said the upper reaches of Jordan Lake, such as Bush and White Oak creeks, are good spots to try for crappie “but fish are in all of the lake’s feeder creeks.”

King said most Jordan crappie anglers use minnow-tipped jigs in 1/16- to 1/32-ounce sizes “but I prefer the 1/8-ounce Cabelas jigs because they’re bigger and bulker and draw strikes from bigger fish. They actually fish bigger than their size (weight), and that’s what I like.”

If the water is clear and cold, King said he likes to use pink jigs, but if the water’s dingy he’ll use black jigs.

“But that’s only until the sun comes out,” he said. “Then I’ll switch to chartreuse. The sun seems to illuminate chartreuse jigs better in stained water.”

As an extra bonus, King said crappie anglers also are catching large female bass at Jordan that have moved to shallow water in preparation for spawning.

King’s church, Ridgecrest Baptist of Durham, has held one crappie tournament at Jordan this spring and is planning another March 19 at the Farrington Ramp.

“We have registration from 5 to 6 a.m. and anyone’s welcome to come and fish with us,” he said. “We’ll have a word of prayer, then we go fishing at 6:30 a.m.”

Instead of being a total-weight or big-fish event, at the end of the tournament, each angler puts his entry number into a box and prize money is given out after a drawing. That format prevents King from winning first prize all the time.

“That’s all right with me,” he said. “We’re just out there to have fun and fellowship.”