I'll agree on the hard to fish part. The wind was blowing like crazy, and the waves were churning, making flipping a tiny 1/32-ounce jig difficult. But the crappie were in there so thick that it didn't really matter. If we pitched the jig near the brush, it was hit.

Bacon said anglers not familiar with brushpile locations could cruise the lake with a good pair of polarized sunglasses, looking for the markers.

Bacon, a stickler for details, says that the best way to ensure a successful crappie trip is to pay strict attention to all aspects of the fishing process. "Pay special attention to your electronics," he stated. "When you run around some of these markers you may come across a smallish brushpile right off, but there are usually bigger ones around it, and they are the ones that hold most of the fish. Also, there are a lot of peripheral fish -- ones that hang on the outside of the big school. You can catch some of these peripheral fish, but you'll have much better luck working over the major concentration of fish.

"Rayburn is so well know for its big bass that many people overlook the great crappie fishing. That is a shame because the fishing here can be tremendous. It's just a matter of getting over here and trying it out."

TOLEDO BEND
The crappie fishing is world-class, especially in the famous "Chicken Coop" area -- a spot on the old river channel in which anglers fish shiners deep to catch tons of slabs each winter.

Anglers hoping to get in on some of the intense crappie fishing action should be aware of a special regulation for that body of water.

Between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28, anglers fishing for crappie on the Texas side of Toledo Bend are required to keep the first 50 crappie they catch, regardless of the fish's size. Length limits are waived during this period.

"This regulation was put into place several years ago to help reduce the overall mortality of crappie in Toledo Bend," said Todd Driscoll, who's with the TPWD in Jasper. "Many times the crappie on Toledo Bend are caught in deep water, and they are damaged from being brought to the surface so quickly. Many of these fish will die even if released immediately. The regulation is in place to stop the culling of crappie." In other words, an angler catching crappie in 40 feet of water might catch as many as 100 crappie, keep out 25 or so, and leave most of the rest to die. The mandate is designed to put a stop to such needless waste.

Anglers should enjoy this regulation, since it's probably the only rule they'll ever be subject to that requires them to keep fish.

LAKE CORPUS CHRISTI
This lake has been on again, off again for largemouth bass but consistent for crappie during the last few years, and it should stay that way in 2005. Much of the crappie fishing done there is from lighted boat docks, where anglers tend to use live shiners. However, small jigs can outproduce live bait in the hands of a skilled crappie angler.

The lake typically runs off-color. During summer months, when anglers can find patches of clear water over brush, those are good places to seek crappie with small jigs in clear, pearl or chartreuse colors.

This is also a popular place for anglers to use green lights at night to lure in baitfish and, in turn, to lure in crappie. This is a great time to give small luminescent jigs a try, or simply to go with that old standard, live shiners. When the crappie are hitting around the lights, they're not too fussy.