"There are a few islands that are good, and if you go from the public access to the west, there are a few bays that have sharp weedlines with dropoffs, making it a great staging area for crappies," he said.

Crappies are not spawning during the early spring, as many people believe, but rather they are merely staging off the shallow areas or moving up into the warmer water of the shallows to feed on minnows. "They'll move up into the reeds in 2 to 3 feet of water and then back into 25 to 30 feet of water," Ladany said.

The early-season bite is great, but Ladany suggested crappie anglers stick around into early June when the pre-spawn bite picks up big-time.

Leech Lake is known for its walleyes and muskies, but the crappies are underfished on these big waters.

"There are so many different bays around the Shingobee area, White Bay and the Federal Dam area up in the early-forming rice beds," Ladany noted.

On Leech Lake, your best bet is to use a small jighead or tube jig, or a slip-bobber with an ice jig underneath the float.

"When you use those tactics on Leech or any other body of water, make sure you have small enough tackle so that it allows the minnow to swim around, which the crappies love to chase," Ladany said.

For more information on the Bemidji area, go online to www.visitbemidji.com, or call 1-800-458-2223. For more information on the Leech Lake area, visit www.leechlake.org or call 1-800-735-3297. To contact First Choice Guide Service, visit its Web site at FirstChoiceGuide.com, or by calling (612) 730-9620.

CLEARWATER LAKE
Nestled just north of Annandale is beautiful Clearwater Lake, which is a largemouth bass angler's dream. A number of bass tournaments are held here each year, and the lake continues to produce a ton of big bucketmouths. Why am I talking about bass? Because the bassin' is so good that the great crappie fishing gets overlooked by many people.

"It's a really good lake to fish for crappies, especially in the early part of the season around the little bays and the channel on the south side of the lake," said Jim Segner, owner of Little Jim's Bait in Annandale.

The area right in front of the boat landing is also good early on. Later in the spring, Segner said to try a few locations on the north side just off the highway and on the east end in a little bay. Segner said to use a white Flu-Flu Jig with a head in the 1/32- or 1/64-ounce range, and tipped with a crappie minnow.

DNR area fisheries supervisor Paul Diedrich in Montrose agreed with Segner.

"The crappie population has declined a little in recent years, but the quality is good, and anglers can expect to catch fish in the 10-inch range," Diedrich said.

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.