Slab crappies hot at Triangle lakes

March is the time to catch slab crappie at most Piedmont lakes, according to veteran tournament angler Jay Garrard of Durham.

“Crappie are like most (freshwater) fish and will be feeding up for the spawn in March,” said Garrard, 38 (Garrard’s Guide Service, 919.477.3621, helpmerhonda14@gmail.com). “You can catch more crappie during April when the spawn is in full swing, but you’ll catch bigger ones during March.”

“These are prespawn fish and they’re hungry. And they’ll usually stage in a little deeper water, getting ready to go on wood to spawn.”

The prespawn water temperature that usually triggers the crappie bite just off spawning areas is 60 degrees.

“The thing about fishing Jordan and Falls, though, is the weather,” Garrard said. “This time of year, it might change and be snowing or sleeting one day and 70 degrees two days later. If you get a lot of cold water put into lakes that changes what depths crappie will be, plus (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is pulling water now (March 7) following that big rain and snow we had last week. When they pull water, it screws things up a little.”

One of Garrard’s favorite tactics, when he’s not tournament bass fishing with girlfriend Rhonda Reid, is to go about one-third of the way back into a cove and set out rods of different lengths in rod holders (three on each side of the boat), six at the bow and six at the stern, then work his way toward deeper water until he finds the fish. He operates his trolling motor from the bow while watching those rods, as Rhonda keeps an eye on the back rods.

“On each side I use an 8-foot rod first, then a 10-, then a 12-footer,” he said.

Garrard prefers B&M graphite Jigging Poles “because they’re so sensitive and will jump when crappie looks at a minnow hard.”

He tracks toward deeper water about 1/2 to 1 mph with his Minn-Kota Auto-pilot trolling motor, which keeps the boat on straight course and leaves Garrard free to attend his rods.

He prefers crappie-minnow-tipped  1/16- to 1/32-ounce jigs in March. “I like pink jigs, but the color you use depends on the water color,” he said. “Use light colors for clear water and dark colors for dingy water. I also like the flat-sided triangle-shaped jigheads. They run a truer course than the ones with round heads.”

Jordan Lake probably produces the most large crappie of the three Triangle Lakes (Jordan, Falls of the Neuse and Shearon Harris), although Falls also has some monster fish.

“When I get bites, I’ll just circle around and come back through the same area because the crappie usually will be stacked at the same level,” he said.

He staggers his jig-and-minnow depths from 2- to 6-feet deep with his 12-rod spider rig.

“Sometimes it can get crazy,” he said. “You’ll go across a big school and have every rod go off.”

Best Jordan places for March crappie fishing are White Oak and Big Beaver creeks.