Arkabutla Lake Crappie Fishing Hot Spots

This article revealing a few crappie fishing hotspots is for my readers and I will catch heck from all my fishing buddies for getting this on the streets.

Keep Reading and I will put you on some of the best tasting fish in my books, Crappie Fish.

Eric Rodgers recently used my contact form to ask me about giving him suggestions for crappie fishing Arkabutla Lake that he plans to visit soon.

Can You Catch Crappie There?

Arkabutla Lake is located less than 30 minutes south of Tennessee state line straight down Interstate 55 in Mississippi. The lake formed back in 1943 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sees at least 2 million folks every year and they are after the large crappie that this lake can produce. It is not uncommon to see a boat load of several crappie in excess of 3 pounds.

Two Favorite Crappie Hotspots

On the map below are two very hot spots that I fish everytime I go and I usually start the end of March. I want the water level to be at 216 to 218.

Yellow Arrow

The Yellow arrow points to a cove behind Hernando Point;
it is behind the campground. There are about four coves that run off the main cove and you want to stay to the left.

Look for the stake beds on the left, there should be just the tips of the stake beds out of the water against the bank, unless the water is really up, but you can trust me. The stake beds are there and so are the fish.

Work your way to the back of the cove and there should be some grass sticking out of the water. Make sure that you do not skip the grass, I have caught some great big crappie out of the grass, and trees that are laying in the water.

Pink Arrow

The pink arrow is another very good spot if the water is at 218, it does get shallow so be careful. There is a creek channel that runs back to the duck hole, so if the weather snaps and the crappie pull out, they will not go far.

Drift the channel if the weather turns real cold. You will also see a lot of standing timber as you approach the Duck Hole and you might want to check out each tree. The fish will be holding right next to the wood.

What Crappie Jigs Do I Use?

I have also showed you the two crappie jigs in the picture above that I use tipped with a live minnow especially during the early pre-spawn.

Hook the live minnow through the lips and that should produce some nice slabs.

To make it easy and save you time too, you can use the links on my website to order crappie jigs, from Bass Pro Shops especially my favorite, Crappie Thunder Road Runner.

Later in the spawn, I switch to Gulp Alive or PowerBait Crappie Nibbles as additional baits to fill the cooler for the fish fry.

Remember, Fish Wood/Grass/Rocks

If you are a regular visitor of my sites, you will notice that I always tell everyone to fish the wood/grass/rocks. As you see in this article, I tell you to fish the grass and wood at these two crappie hotspots and you will not come up empty handed.

I have put my reputation on the line, Eric. Don't let me down!

Make sure that you come back and tell everyone how great the trip was and how many fish that you caught. Don't be one of those folks that get on the fish and not let out the secret...lol

Crappi Candle Work Great in "Big Muddy"

One other tip is to make sure that you have the Crappi Candle rigged up as another great tool to use especially in dark and murky water. Arkabutla Lake is also called BIG MUDDY because it stays muddy year round.

Yes, you can get the Crappi Candles right here on my site. I want you to be loaded and ready for some great big slabs and do not be surprised if you see this blonde hair guy with a blue and white boat in one of the two spots I have showed you.

Last thing is to all my fishing friends; do not blame me for passing along a few hot spots so my readers can catch a few, there is plenty of crappie in Arkabutla.

GOOD LUCK!

Keep the Hooks Wet!

Steve McGoldrick