REGION III
Good news is always welcome in any fishing report and John Mayer of TWRA's Crossville office had some to relate.

"According to recent verbal reports from our people who do the collection surveys, we have crappie showing up in the bass collection studies," Mayer said. "That means a crop that should rank from good to excellent is on the way for all of our Tennessee River reservoirs. There's still a lot of data to go through and we'll need reports from the creel surveys this coming year, but based on these initial reports I feel that things are looking good for the future. When it comes to crappie, one good year balances a series of marginal ones."

It is indeed good news because Watts Bar has a history of being one of the state's best crappie fisheries in terms of angler catch rates. Recent concerns about overall population densities have, however, seen the creel limit dropped to 15 fish per angler per day. The story on Chickamauga is the same: A great history of crappie fishing, but according to Mike Jolley of the TWRA Region III office, the lowering of the creel limit has been a popular one with most area anglers.

"On some of our bodies of water it was probably necessary since stocking has been a part of the overall process. It carried over to other non-stocked lakes like the main-river ones which were getting by on natural reproduction. Anglers just need to be aware of the 15-crappie limit."

While the Tennessee River lakes were "getting by," the upland lakes like Dale Hollow and Center Hill were starting to make a showing with the introduction of black-nosed crappie, which have done well in both reservoirs. Jolley is quick to note that although the fish have been in Center Hill longer, they are doing even better on Dale Hollow. Fish weighing a pound are commonplace and bigger ones not that unusual.

In terms of where to start looking this spring, here are some ideas to get you started. On Chickamauga, head for the coves, sloughs and bays as the water level and temperature rise. Drift-fishing with live minnows at depths ranging from 3 to 6 feet over and around cover is a popular angling technique.

On Watts Bar, you can go with a similar conventional approach or do as some professional guides in the area do and troll jigs and jig-and-minnow combos in relatively shallow water running 10 feet and less. Both of these lakes have what must be a bazillion tributaries, arms and pockets, so there is no worry about finding all of the fishing holes crowded.

For crappie on Dale Hollow and Center Hill, success may be more likely to involve fishing contour breaks, especially those along the shallower tributary streams. In both cases, the upper, shallower ends of the lake start holding fish first.

REGION IV
East Tennessee is noted primarily for its trout fishing and other "cold-water" fisheries, but it has one reservoir, 36,600-acre Douglas Lake, a main-river lake, that proves that there is indeed an exception to every rule. Don't look for browns and rainbows here, but it would seem that it sure pays to look for crappie.