That is spring break week and every year I usually do several days at Barkley with my family during that week. It is a good time for crappie with many bedding and staging fish. I do best when the water is still low (they raise it around the first of April) and if you hit it still down 2 or 3 feet key on gravel banks that transition into deeper water in the bays. We usually catch them on 1/8 oz road runners with curly tails or 1/16 crappie tubes just casting the banks in 3 to 5 feet of water. It is a fun family bite in that throwing small baits like that you catch not only crappie but bass, sunfish, bluegill, yellow bass, drum, etc. -- lots of action especially on a sunny warm day up on these gravel flats.

I also make a small 1/4 oz #2 colorado blade bass spinner that I will fish slow rolled in that time frame and catch bass and crappie both on. I have also caught crappie on a small suspending crank bait fished very slowly and erratically at that time of the year. If they seem like they don't want to bite jigs that can be a good choice to trigger them to bite. Also a good way to catch a few wayward bass too.

If the water is up to summer pool (or beyond like last year) the crappie will spawn in the bushes (or tree tops last year!) on gravel flats which makes casting jigs kind of tricky. Most guys fish minnows on floats around the bushes. Once again I have caught some on that small spinner fished slow around the bushes but that is not one of my favorite bites.

kc