Crappie fishing on Lake Oconee is no doubt the biggest kept fishing secret in the state. Oconee crappie populations are tremendously healthy and beginning around Thanksgiving each year the huge crappie start their migration from deep water to pre spawn. The madness continues all the way to the wild days of March when the spawn is in full swing and anglers fill their ice chest with these huge slabs.Many people have never actually seen a 2 pound crappie, but during these months it is a normal occurrence to boat many of these size fish during a regular trip. About 3 or 4 times each season I even manage to catch fish over the 3 pound mark!However there is a myth which needs to be rebutted. If you wait “until the dogwoods start to bloom” you will have missed the best time to catch huge crappie. The largest fish are always caught in the winter, and if you dress properly it can be a real enjoyable day.We crappie fish using the spider rigged method. Two anglers sit on the front of my Ranger boat and I place 10 rods, 16 foot long directly in front of them. We slowly troll over the points and channels watching the rods for a strike. In December and January we fish in deeper water and the strike can be very subtle. In February and March we are in shallow water and these huge fish will bend our Wally Marshall Graphite Rods down under the boat! I can comfortably fish 2 anglers out of the front and one angler off the back. I only book full days for crappie fishing, which usually run about 6 -7 hours. I have found that when the crappie feeding it can be non stop action, and then when they stop, it is over! I want to give my customers every opportunity to load their coolers, which means we have to be there when the fish are biting!