Veteran guide Garry Mason does most of his spring fishing at Kentucky Lake by casting Slider Crappie Grubs over submerged stakebeds and brushpiles. Photo courtesy of Garry Mason.

When Garry Mason talks about Kentucky Lake crappie, people listen.

A veteran of four decades of fishing this vast Tennessee River impoundment and one of the lake's best known and most respected guides, Mason has learned the ways of the Kentucky Lake crappie. He has sought and caught crappie using many different techniques through the years and has figured out the methods and the types of areas that produce the most fish for him.

Kentucky Lake produces so many fish that any angler who gives the crappie a serious shot during the spring is apt to put at least a few fish in the boat. That said, the lake is huge, covering 160,000 acres (110,000 in Tennessee), so narrowing the focus can be a real advantage to any angler. By following the straightforward advice of a lake veteran, an angler can severely shorten the learning curve and jump right into catching crappie.

Mason said that Kentucky Lake's crappie population is in the best shape that he recalls for a long time, and he believes the 10-inch minimum size has really increased the stability of the crappie population on the lake. "We are looking at a really good spring, with good catches and plenty of quality crappie," he said.

Vast and productive, Kentucky Lake always yields some slab-sized crappie. However, the current population includes larger-than-normal numbers of heavyweight fish because of very strong year-classes through the first half of the 2000s.

Kentucky Lake's crappie population contains both black and white crappie. Early in the spring, Mason and his clients catch white crappie almost exclusively. As the season progresses, black crappie become a more significant part of the mix, and by late spring, he catches roughly equal numbers of both species.

Mason does most of his crappie fishing with a casting approach. Using a 7-foot B'n'M crappie rod and a spinning reel, he casts a Charlie Brewer Slider Crappie Grub rigged on a 1/8-ounce Slider head, counts the bait down to the depth he wants to fish and then reels slowly and steadily. Time has taught Mason that a Slider Crappie Grub on a 1/8-ounce head falls through the water column at roughly 1 foot per second, so if he thinks the fish will be 8 feet deep, he'll count to eight before he begins his retrieve.

Mason's overall favorite Slider color combination is White/Char­treuse. Other effective colors include Chartreuse Multi-Glitter, June Bug/ Chartreuse, Baby Bass and Trout. Generally speaking, he favors light colors for bright days and dark colors for dark days, but he has found that White/Chartreuse produces crappie under all conditions.

Mason doesn't consider his bait quite ready to fish until he sprays it with Garry Mason's White Lightning Fish Formula Scent. "It really makes a big difference," he said, "especially on those days when the bite is a little bit slow."

The depth ranges and types of areas that Mason probes vary according to conditions, which can run the gamut during the month of March. Beyond the obvious variables of wonderfully warm to very cold spells that occur during early spring, the lake level impacts both crappie movements and the amount of cover that's inundated. Typically, the lake will remain at winter pool at the beginning of March, but often it will rise a couple of feet during the course of the month. It normally reaches full pool by the middle of April.

Through most of March, Mason usually will begin looking for fish over stakebeds and brushpiles in 8 to 12 feet of water, counting his baits down to just over the top of the cover. Ideally, he wants to tick the cover from time to time with his presentations. If he doesn't find fish at his starting depth, he'll explore cover that's a little bit shallower or deeper.