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Alamo
& Roosevelt Are Crappie Hot Spots
By
Rory Aikens
Arizona
Game and Fish
The word is out – during the middle
of the week there were 37 boats full of winter crappie anglers on
the upper end of Alamo Lake.
A hundred and fifty or so miles east
– as the crow flies – a similar crappie-fishing scenario was
playing out on Roosevelt Lake. The latest reports from Roosevelt
show that there have been 35 to 40 boats per weekday vying for
crappie, and maybe a hundred or so on weekends. At least, that’s
the case when the weather is nice. The fishing at both lakes
cooled down over the weekend when the weather front came through.
Stewart Kohnke (pictured above), the
Arizona Game and Fish Department’s wildlife manager for Alamo,
said the crappies are already up shallow – eight to 10 feet deep
in 18 feet of water – like they are staging for the spawn.
“Alamo is typically about a month
ahead when it comes to spawning activity compared to the other
warm water lakes in the state. But if a cold front moves through,
the crappies will go back deep again.”
But at either lake, don’t expect to
come back with an ice chest full of the speckled beauties on your
first trip.
“At Roosevelt, the experienced
anglers that spend a lot of days on the water are often catching
good numbers of crappie, but the average anglers are typically
catching a handful or so a day,” said Ty Gray, Mesa regional
fisheries specialist.
Gray explained that Roosevelt is in the typical winter
pattern where a few continuous days of nice weather often trigger
a bite, whereas a cold front will often shut it down for a while.
The same holds true for Alamo – the
bite is very weather-dependent this time of year. Some anglers may
hit crappie bonanzas occasionally, but most anglers are getting a
few here and there.
But a handful can be a good meal.
Good-sized crappies are predominating. Crappies in the 1.5 to
2-pound range are fairly common at Roosevelt, while Alamo crappies
are averaging around one-pound-plus range, with some plate-sized
fish tipping the scales at two or three pounds.
“Crappies at Roosevelt have been
hitting well on trolled two-inch black/blue/chartreuse Kalin grubs
around Windy Hill. Most crappies have been found in 18 to 24 feet.
However, anglers should not be afraid to stray from the ‘crappie
armada.’ Some anglers have been finding crappies in others
areas, including around the marina,” Gray said.
Live minnows on light lines are working
at both lakes. A popular bait at Alamo are a white or chartreuse
Stumpjumpers.
Kohnke had his own variation – a
Stumpjumper with a live minnow on the line about 14 inches above
the lure. Kohnke caught four crappies while his other two boat
mates (including this writer) caught one crappie between them.
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