"It has some surprisingly good crappie fishing and I've caught some 'pounders' on there," he said.

North and South Big Pine lakes are also good locations, according to Hugill, because of their quality crappie populations.

"They cycle on a five- to six-year cycle, so the younger crappies are small but prevalent, while the older fish are few but very large," Hugill said.

The access to North and South Big Pine lakes are located off Highway 23. The channel between the two lakes is navigable. There also is a public landing off County Road 18 on the north end of the lake.

"These are not the only lakes in this area that have good crappie fishing, but they are the ones with a more sustainable fishery," Hugill said.

Additional area information can be obtained from the Hinckley Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-952-4282 or < ahref="http://www.hinckleymn.com/" target=_blank">Hinckley.com

BEMIDJI AREA
Bryan Sathre of First Choice Guide Service lives in the Bemidji area and spends a lot of time looking for massive crappies. He said he always fishes on Red Lake and some of the other big lakes known for having a good crappie bite, but he thinks the best action comes on the little lakes in the area.

"Most of the little lakes are too good to mention because I want to keep them for myself, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which lakes are good," Sathre said. "Just drop a line in one and you'd be surprised what you catch."

Steve Ladany also lives in the area and at one time owned a resort on big Turtle Lake for 18 years. He fished Turtle a lot during that time, and also put plenty of his guests on a hearty spring crappie bite.

"That lake is really good in the springtime with tube jigs, twistertails and Slurpies," Ladany said.

Ladany still manages to do plenty of fishing these days, although now it is even more job related than when he owned a resort. His duties as the promotions coordinator for Northland Tackle put him on the water a lot, either testing products out or showing people around.

Diedrich said an annual crappie contest held each year on Clearwater produces a number of slabs over a pound each. He also said as the largest lake in the area, Clearwater offers plenty of locations to fish even when the pressure is heavy.

Turtle Lake is just north of Bemidji and is close to two other similarly named lakes, both with a strong crappie bite -- Turtle River Lake and Little Turtle Lake. Little Turtle is located off Highway 71 on Irvine Avenue north of town, while Turtle River is located east of Highway 71 on Turtle River Lake Road.

Another one of Ladany's favorite area lakes is Beltrami. Ladany said Beltrami has a great crappie population, but only if you know where to look for them.