Set tube baits of several colors at various depths, held vertical with a large split shot. Ease along the edge of flats or over sunken brushpiles. A pattern should soon emerge, and you may find yourself hooking more crappies than you can handle. With a pole, though, fish usually remain hooked against the steady pressure of the pole, and you can pull in one fish after another when action gets hot.

When fishing an old favorite crappie lake in spring, you already know what type of cover to expect, based on years of trying various patterns. But don’t take the fish for granted. In some years, crappies don’t enter certain bays with cabbage, for instance—or they may enter briefly and then leave, not to return. The length and severity of winter, water temperature regimes, water color, or other factors may play a role in movement patterns.

Keep trying likely spots, even if they haven’t produced lately. A spot may finally yield the mother lode of slab crappies, often so elusive this time of year. In unfamiliar waters, local anglers can provide pointers on what’s worked for them—cover type, depth, popular bays, and so on. But again, don’t take that as the final story. The encyclopedia on spring crappie behavior is still being written. Add your own chapter next spring.