"Priest is a numbers game," Duckworth added. "I caught one fish over 12 inches last year." As a matter of fact, he said an 11-inch crappie is a good fish on Priest, but you can claim a limit every day. Duckworth is simply excited about what 2005 holds. With the high numbers of crappie just over the 10-inch keeper mark caught last year, he's counting on boating a bunch of crappie over 11 inches this year.

From March through April, he'll be fishing exclusively around stakebeds in 5 to 7 feet of water. Duckworth said a 63-degree water temperature will send them into shallow stakebeds and near the shoreline. A 70-degree temperature will push them back away from the banks.

Duckworth works his stakebed pattern with an old but consistent technique. He puts a minnow on a No. 2 Tru-Turn blood red crappie hook under a bobber. You'll want to put on a BB-sized split shot about 6 inches above the bait and hook, and you'll want the float set at the 3-foot mark around those shallow stakebeds.

LAKE BARKLEY
The waters of Lake Barkley found on the Tennessee side of the border are on their way to being as respectable as those in the Bluegrass State. Veteran guide Malcolm Lane said some of the best fishing might just be the most overlooked. The spring fishing is good, but the opportunities in late winter may often be better.

Around Valentine's Day, the lake often offers, for the first time each year, warmer water after cold weather. That increasing water temperature puts crappie in a biting mode. Lane said the very next cold front puts you dead in the water again until early March. That's when he catches them just coming back into deep creeks.

The east side of Lake Barkley is where he concentrates his early-season efforts around the Donaldson and Linton areas. Lane said the Donaldson area has some good drops and Linton has a good creek channel. He likes to see water temperatures in the upper 40s and if it breaks 50 degrees, then things get better in a hurry.

Lane also said the face of Barkley crappie fishing has changed. After 25 years on the water, he's changed the way he looks at it. A few years back, he would tell you the best day to be on the water for sure would be April 15; now, however, he said it's April 1. The reason for the date prediction change has to do with clearer waters making the crappie spawn at deeper depths.

Anglers shouldn't expect a limit every time out on Barkley, and Lane said a good trip in the late winter or early spring means boating 25 to 30 crappie. He said you won't turn a lot of heads with a crappie weighing 1 1/2 pounds, but those over 2 pounds get some serious looks.

His top baits include a 2-inch Mister Twister curly-tailed grub on a 1/16-ounce jighead or a Mister Twister Tiger Bug for vertical jigging situations. In clear water, he uses a chartreuse and black grub, but will switch to an orange and black bait in dingy water.

CRAPPIE GUIDE CONTACT INFORMATION
Kentucky Lake -- Call Garry Mason at (731) 593-5429, or by e-mail at grmason@aeneas.net.

Reelfoot Lake -- Call Jackie Van Cleave at (731) 538-2547 or at Bleu Bank Resort at (731) 538-2112.

Percy Priest -- Call Jim Duckworth at (615) 444-2283; or look him up at www.jimduckworth.com where you can order his five videos on crappie fishing.

Lake Barkley -- Call Malcolm Lane at Hook, Line and Sinker Guide Service at (270) 395-7932.