I live in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” but I don’t have a clue which lake to fish to catch Croppies. Dan, can you please give me some ideas? I live in St. Paul, MN. Thank. Trenece Bonner

The Leech Lake area is loaded with some large Crappie as are many of the lakes surrounding Brainerd. Perhaps the best Crappie lake in all of Minnesota is Pelican Lake in Orr. This area in Northeast Minnesota is excellent for all kinds of pan fish including Crappie. I also like North Star Lake in the Grand Rapids area for excellent Crappie fishing. Minnesota Crappie fishing is much different that fishing for Crappie in the southern water they traditionally inhabit. For starts it is a night oriented adventure. You can and will catch Crappie during the day but they really explode at night. The best fishing begins an hour before sunset and is best when the wind is calm. In the spring and fall months you will be fishing somewhat shallow water – six to eight feet deep. You can scan the water and tell where the Crappie are located by looking for small boils on top of the water. When you notice this activity you can cast into that area and be ready for a great deal of action. I like to use a pink jig head with a white jig body when fishing for Crappie in the state of Minnesota. If the fishing is slow and Crappie inactive I will often tip the jig with a small Crappie Minnow. Use a slow retrieve for Crappie and keep your rod tip high so the bait is closer to the surface. Crappies prefer to attack while moving towards the surface of the water.