"Places to target crappie are Ish Creek, Gallaher Creek, the Concord Park and I.C. King Park areas. Access is good in these waters as well as throughout the reservoir," Peterson said.

After the initial flurry of early-spring activity, crappie begin migrating back into the depths, at times holding out over open water and as deep as 20 feet or more. Boone and Fort Loudoun can both begin to stratify as early as April, but more commonly in May or later on in the summer. Look for crappie just above the thermocline. Oxygen is depleted below the thermocline and crappie won't be found below it.

This is the time to mount your electronic fish-finder. Suspended fish move in schools through the depths with no indication above water as to their whereabouts. They still relate to cover, though they are often stationary in the water column a short way from it.

The bite can be hot after spawning is finished and the fish have moved back onto deeper structure. Bridge pilings and bottom features you'll find with sonar can attract concentrations of crappie that are both huge and readily catchable.

"On Boone, I've caught white crappie anywhere between 7 and 17 inches," said Kenneth Harville, owner of Kenny's Tackle in Kingsport.

"The white crappie are usually the biggest and we're catching some big ones. I've had three that weighed in together at 5 1/2 pounds."

Harville recommends targeting spawning crappies in the back of the bays when they're spawning in mid-April and May.

However, at times, it's a hard bite on Boone, Harville said.

"The reason Boone can be a hard lake to fish in the spring is because the water fluctuates so much in depth. It's a mountain lake. We sometimes have a drawdown of up to 40 or 50 feet. Spawning crappie are shallow, and during rising water, they have to move up into shallower water again, and sometimes they just swim away and don't spawn at all."

When the water levels rise this much in a short time, anglers need to adjust their locations accordingly. High water floods new brush and creates spawning areas where there weren't any before. The downside is that a productive spot yesterday won't hold a single fish today.

Finding spring crappie is one thing. Tempting these careful, sometimes-paranoid fish into biting is another.

"It's hard to beat a live natural bait for spring crappie," Harville said.