open water crappies

[jighead 3]

My wife and I are walleye fisherman. We are looking forward to this spring to catch some crapies. We live in the east metro what are some good crappie lakes just of us.

[tunrevir]

Why wait till spring to catch crappies? Some of the best fishing of the year is coming up in the next few months. From Hugo I'd look west to Peltier and Centerville, north, Forest lake gets the nod for numbers and then the lakes around the Chisago area all hold healthy populations of crappies. Northwest, Coon and Linwood lakes and to the south Bald eagle and White Bear get the nod. Good luck!

Tunrevir~

[JBMasterAngler]

I wish I had more to add, but tunrevir pretty much summed it all up.

[jighead 3]

isn't the size in these lake only 9 inches!

[JBMasterAngler]

What are you expecting them to be? If you want big ones you'll have to work for them.

[tunrevir]

Green lake there is a 9" minimum so there are some larger fish in there. The twin lakes near centerville can hold some nicer average sized crappies and lakes like Bald eagle, Forest, Big Marine can all put out some large fish but you have to wade through the little ones to get to them.

Tunrevir~

[New2TheFly]

isn't the size in these lake only 9 inches!

If you want slabs I suggest heading somewhere far from the metro area.

[JBMasterAngler]

The croix would probably be your best chance at the biggest crappies, but it's also your best chance of getting skunked as well

[Sonicrunch]

If you want slabs I suggest heading somewhere far from the metro area.

this

[Fever]

West metro lake less than 200 literal acres.

16 inch crappie. Personal best from this past friday.

[CrappieAttack]

West metro lake less than 200 literal acres.

16 inch crappie. Personal best from this past friday.

Did you happen to weigh it? I caught a couple 15+ inchers this season and they were all just around 2 pounds.

[FutbolGuru]

Nice fish

[Irish]

Yeah, the average crappie in the metro is probably a little bit under 10". But bigger ones are out there! I caught a 15" crappie on a lake of only about 200 acres. All I hear about is guys complaining about all the small crappies in this lake. So you never know when you will set the hook on the giant!

[toomanyjigs]

so you made it to francis i see nice crappie my pb is 17" 3/4 from red

[mr_jman]

That is really a nice looking crappie. I'd have her on the wall I think! Love the color some of them get!

I would also say that big crappies can be found in the cities and you don't have to hit the big popular lakes to get them. I visit my gf in the cities and have only really looked at a few lakes but I've been surprised by what I've got so far. Still waiting to get some bigger ones but she caught a 12" crappie and a nice fat 9.5" gill. Same lake and same day!

Doesn't compare to the good old days of the Bemidji and Ely area catching 14"+ fish but those are around too!