“When I started crappie fishing I had a 15-foot cane pole, nylon line, a gold hook and a bobber,” crappie pro Curt Harvey said. “I still find myself going back to this basic setup with some new wrinkles. My cane pole is now a telescopic 16-foot lightweight fiberglass pole with 10-pound Fireline.”

Look for typical blowdowns, emergent vegetation and protected backwater along the shoreline. The water can be turbid, a fact to keep in mind when selecting jig colors. Bright and flashy can sometimes put more fish on the stringer.

Holloway covers 954 acres in Gennessee and Lapeer counties. Boat access is below the dam on the southwestern end of the lake.

For additional information, call the Lapeer State Game Area DNR office at (810) 245-1250.

Lake Hudson
“Our fisheries in southeastern Michigan aren’t tremendous, perhaps due to the fairly intensive angling pressure we have,” Gary Towns, supervisor with the Lake Erie Management Unit, said. “This lake has a very large population of smaller fish and a very few huge ones. Some of these crappies are up to 18 inches plus.

“This is a brood-stock muskie lake and I’ll bet the muskies and anglers keep the crappie population cropped off at about 7 inches. That means there are tons of small crappies but only a few big ones. Every so often, a few of those big crappies get past the muskies. Some of these crappies are larger than any I have surveyed in my 25-year career with the DNR.”

The bigger crappies will often be a few feet deeper than their younger counterparts. Whether the larger fish earned the right to pick the prime feeding spots or are just naturally warier is anyone’s guess. But while reaching down past the smaller fish to tangle with the larger ones can be a challenge, hooking a huge crappie will make it all worthwhile.

Larger minnows may be the ticket to avoiding smaller fish. A minnow too large may result in a bite-off from one of the cruising muskies.

Lake Hudson covers 502 acres in Lenawee County. It’s one of the state’s top muskie waters, so crappies slid under the popularity rating.

For more information, call the Lake Erie Management Unit at (248) 359-9046.

* * * To find downloadable lake maps, visit www.michigan.gov/dnr and select “Inland Lake Maps.”

For information on lodging, contact the Michigan Travel Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at (888) 784-7328 or online at www.travel.michigan.org