“Sure, we’ve got low lake levels in places,” said Bruce Hysmith, a TPWD inland fisheries biologist stationed at Lake Texoma. “But we’ve also got concentrated populations of fish too. That means that the mamas and the papas are closer together and they are closer to their food. That means that they will eat really well and come into spawning season fat and healthy. That will result in more eggs and bigger ovaries for the females.”

What will that mean? A spring spawn that produces healthier crappie fry, according to Hysmith. And it would seem, by extension, that healthier fry would stand a better chance of recruitment success into adulthood.

Now keep in mind that the TPWD biologist isn’t making light of low-water conditions. In fact, concerns about low water levels in Hysmith’s management district in North Texas are certainly on his mind, And justly so: Lake Bridgeport was more than 17 feet low, Lake Lavon 14, and Lake Ray Roberts 8. Happily, other water bodies in his region including Moss Lake, Bonham City Lake, Davy Crockett Lake, Coffee Mill Lake and Lake Texoma aren’t quite as low, and were still having pretty good levels when we talked.

Low water or not, Hysmith is expecting good things this spring in terms of both North Texas’ crappie angling opportunities and the crappie spawn itself.

“We’re in a win-win situation,” he said. “If the low water persists to spring, that will still allow the fish to be concentrated with their forage, so they will eat well all winter long, albeit with their metabolism slowed up a bit. That means they’ll break into the spawning season healthy.

“If the lakes do come up, that probably means a bigger spawn and better survival of the offspring.”

The TPWD biologist says that if the waters do come up for 2007, that could make angling success a little bit tougher. Even so, a good spawn should be ensured.

“If things stay this way and we don’t have any late, extended springs with cold snaps back and forth, I think the crappie ought to have a bumper spawn,” Hysmith said. “And the ones that are going to be harvestable in 2007 ought to be exceptional.”

While East Texas lakes often get all of the crappie fishing press in Texas, several exceptional slab lakes lie in Hysmith’s North Texas region.

“Coffee Mill is No. 1 in my district, but right now we just finished up trap-netting at Lavon,” Hysmith said. “Hey, Lavon is hot; Lavon is going to be a source to be reckoned with. Coffee Mill, Bonham City, Lavon, and Bridgeport would be my top choices.”

The TPWD biologist offered that Lake Bridgeport, while very low, is still what he characterized as “a dandy.” He added that Lake Mineral Wells can be another good crappie fishing spot.

We are going to go down there and trap-net the next few weeks, but I’d say that Mineral Wells can be a boon or a bane,” Hysmith reported. “Sometimes, we get a lot of crappie; the big ones are 7 inches long. At other times, we have some hubcap-sized crappie. It’s generally a tradeoff between numbers and size anyway.”