For folks who call Chattanooga home, it couldn't get much more convenient, as Chickamauga Dam is located just northeast of the city and several big creeks and major bays, such as Dallas and Harrison, are just a short drive from town. While good spring crappie fishing can be found in creeks, coves and bays in all parts of the lake, quality crappie habitat is more abundant in the lower lake, closer to Chattanooga.

Similar to Watts Bar, Chickamauga is very riverine in its upper end and much more open farther down the lake. During the spring, most crappie will be in the creeks, coves and bays, and during April, they will generally be quite shallow. Casting jigs around riprap, laydowns and other shoreline cover works well if the fish have moved extremely shallow. An alternative though much of spring is to drift the bays' open waters with minnows or jigs under floats.

Access to Lake Chickamauga is very good, with boat ramps at more than 30 parks, marinas and Tennessee Valley Authority access areas.

CLARKSVILLE
Kentucky Lake
"If you asked anyone in Clarksville where to go crappie fishing, they'd point toward Kentucky Lake," said Markham, who can state that with authority because he calls Clarksville home. "The fact is that Kentucky Lake is one of the finest crappie lakes in the world, and it produces well year after year."

Beyond producing big numbers of crappie, Kentucky Lake yields more than its share of genuine slabs, and it is second only to Chickamauga in TARP crappie production. Kentucky Lake supports both black and white crappie, and both species grow to large sizes, but whites are more abundant in the Tennessee portion of the lake. Spring is prime time for the average angler to get in on the best fishing because the fish move up the creek arms and stack up on cover.

Markham suggested the Big Sandy River would be a good area for anglers to try, noting that an angler could easily spend all day (or all week) fishing that big arm of the lake. However, he was quick to note that creeks all along Kentucky Lake and on both sides of the river offer good spring opportunities

Markham suggested that anglers look for brushpiles and stakebeds, of which other anglers have put out thousands, and to experiment with a variety of depths until they hone in on the fish. "Cover isn't difficult to find because there is so much, but if an angler does have trouble, TWRA fish attractor sites, which are well marked, offer good fishing during the spring," he said.

A reciprocal agreement between Tennessee and Kentucky allows anglers to fish anywhere South of the U.S. Highway 68 bridge in Kentucky with a Tennessee fishing license. The crappie limit on Kentucky Lake is 30 fish, with a 10-inch minimum size.