Pulling up to a submerged point we quickly began casting jig and cork rigs in a pop and reel technique.

Ken Murphy didn’t wait long before he nailed a succulent crappie on his jig and cork rig. I followed suit with a crappie of my own and our day was off to a good start. Unfortunately, the water surface temperature had fallen about 6 to 8 degrees due to the cold, wind and rain.

At the same time they were sucking the bottom out of the lake and the area we’d caught them the previous weekend was about a foot and a half lower leaving them high and dry.

Even a local angler got caught in the drawdown, probably overnight as his boat was left on bare ground, high and dry.

We braved the 25 mph winds and made our way out to a spawning flat and began fishing. I’d marked a spot that I’ve fished for about 40 years with my Hummingbird Helix unit earlier, so we started fishing the submerged stumps.

Nathan Hodgins cast near a stump and nailed his first crappie, a nice slab, that put up a good fight and more importantly served as the young Crappie Master’s first fish of the day. He went into the supper well and was later filleted for a good meal to be held very soon.

The only way we could fish was to anchor down with two large anchors and work the jig and cork rigs by fan casting the areas around the boat. Our best spot was an area that had several stumps within a cast of the boat.

Our technique was somewhat unusual in that we caught most of the crappie by hopping the jigs up onto the top of the large stumps that were cut near ground level some 60 plus years ago. The stumps were well preserved and actually serve as spawning areas for the crappie.

Murphy pitched his jig near a stump and worked it back towards the boat and when he hopped it onto the stump the cork laid flat on the water surface. As soon as he jumped it off a slab perch sucked it in and the cork never stopped, disappearing in a flash. Murphy snapped the rod back and drove the hook deep into the jaws of the crappie.

Ken Murphy has won more than his fair share of bass tournaments around the country and is one of the best anglers to ever wet a hook in this part of the world, but each spring he puts down his bass tackle for a few trips and enjoys some relaxing fun filled stress relief thanks to the many thousand crappie heading to the shallows to spawn.

Murphy prefers the jig and cork rig no matter where the fish are spawning. When the water is high, he’ll employ an 11-foot graphite crappie pole and pitch the jig and cork rig in the grass or brush and pluck those succulent slabs out of the salad patch.

With the up and down nature of flood control lakes like Okatibbee Lake, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with the crappie as they head to the shallows to spawn, the water levels are falling many times to make room for more flooding and heavy rainfall. Due to this scenario it’s hard for most people to stay up with the crappie.

But if Murphy has three or four hours, he can find the crappie, if they are to be found anywhere in shallow water. Murphy likes to start shallow in the grass or weeds and then head to the offshore ditches, ledges or spawning flats if the fish are not doing it in shallow water.

The last couple of Saturdays we’ve braved freezing cold, gale force winds and falling water levels. but still managed to catch a pile of white perch. Last Saturday there was yet another bass tournament on the lake but just a few boats showed up. When you work during the week you can pick the best times to fish, you just have to go when you can.

If you want to catch crappie, then now is the time to go. Make sure you have a power pole or anchors, and plenty of jigs or minnows and head to the lake now. The crappie won’t wait until the weather’s better. They’re full of eggs and hungry for your offerings so head to the lake and experience some of the most exciting fishing action of the year.