Crappies hold a special place in the hearts of many Ohio anglers. Every year, they’re one of the first fish to start biting in spring and one of the last to shut down in fall.
Both black and white crappies inhabit lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams all over the Buckeye state. They especially thrive in Ohio’s large reservoirs, which offer an abundance of forage and prime spawning habitat.
There are also, it must be said, some truly giant crappies in Ohio. Crappies in the 9- to 12-inch range are the norm, but almost all the lakes listed below at times produce crappies measuring 15 inches and weighing 2 pounds or more.
Spring and fall are the best seasons for crappie fishing in Ohio, but these excellent crappie lakes offer opportunities to catch these fish year-round.
Mosquito Creek Lake
Mosquito Creek Lake is one of the largest lakes in Ohio, which offers 7,199 acres of water in Northeast Ohio’s Trumbull County. It’s a broad, mostly shallow lake that averages about 15 feet deep. Anglers will find it filled with prime shallow cover along its 40 miles of shoreline.
Crappies are consistently caught in 7 feet of water or less from pre-spawn right up through early summer, making this a great spring season lake. Many anglers load up on crappies right from the bank or don a pair of waders to reach more water.
Small coves and creek mouths along the eastern shore of the lake offer some of the best opportunities. A simple setup with a small soft plastic jig beneath a float is usually all one needs.
Most years, smaller crappies start biting earliest, and anglers will catch a few during the last weeks of March. Then, as April gets underway, more and bigger crappies move into the shallows.
White and black crappie are both abundant in Mosquito Creek Lake. When the spring bite is strong, there are days an angler can catch dozens of fish in the 12- to 15-inch range from shallow brush and flooded willows.
The upper end of Mosquito Creek Lake is mostly broad flats, which serve as spawning grounds for various fish species, including crappies. That end is an excellent area for wading or kayak fishing.
Mosquito Creek Lake is divided into upper and lower basins by the Route 88 causeway, which crosses the middle of the lake and creates a bottleneck. The area right around the causeway is one of the best spots for late spring and early summer crappies.
Fishing access to the lake is available through Mosquito Lake State Park, which includes boat ramps above and below the causeway and several angler access sites along the eastern shore.
Alum Creek Lake
Just a few miles north of Columbus in Central Ohio, Alum Creek Lake is a long, meandering reservoir that spans 3,330 acres and offers more than 68 miles of shoreline.
Almost the entire shoreline is within Alum Creek State Park, which offers great angler access.
Crappies are very abundant here. While true giants may not be quite as common as in Mosquito Creek Lake, Alum puts up great numbers, with plenty of fish crossing the 12-inch mark.
You’ll find numerous long, creek-like coves all along the shoreline of Alum Creek Lake. Almost all of them can hold crappies in spring. The coves on the east side of the lake adjacent to the Galena and Cheshire Road boat launches are especially productive.
Cheshire Road crosses Alum Creek Lake over a long causeway near the lake’s midpoint. The causeway and the adjacent boat ramp offer some of the best crappie water in all seasons.
Crappies are caught along the causeway riprap and nearby coves throughout spring in just a few feet of water. During summer, crappie are harder to pin down, but they often appear around the edges of the channel above and below the causeway at dusk.
Look for crappies at 10- to 25-foot depths in summer. Fishing a minnow beneath a slip bobber is a great tactic this time of year because it allows you to stay mobile and easily adjust the depth of your bait.
Farther up toward the upper end of Alum Creek Lake, the area around the 36/37 bridge is another good spot for crappies. Parking and bank access are available at either end of the bridge.
More: Complete Guide to Alum Creek Lake Fishing
Indian Lake
Logan County’s Indian Lake is one of the most reliable crappie lakes in Western Ohio, regularly turning out incredible numbers. Anglers pull plenty of 12+ inch crappies from this shallow, 5,157-acre reservoir. White and black crappies are both present.
Indian Lake is unique in that it was created by flooding a chain of preexisting glacial lakes. The footprint of the original lakes is clearly visible on a depth map, and the present-day reservoir offers numerous islands, channels, and backwaters that harbor panfish.
Target crappies around nearshore brush, docks, and other shallow cover throughout April and May. Indian Lake is often muddy during the spawn, so try a flashy lure like a Roadrunner Jig or Beetle Spin.
As in many lakes, crappies in Indian Lake tend to scatter by summer. The best way to find them in July and August is to stay mobile and fish deep weed edges with a minnow or soft plastic under a float.
Indian Lake has experienced a proliferation of weed growth in recent years, making summer fishing tricky. However, identifying shade is often the ticket to locating late summer crappies.
By fall, crappies will once again congregate around more easily identifiable cover. Shaded boat docks, marina slips, and docked pontoon boats tend to be some of the best spots to target heading into fall.
One of the best areas to find crappies on Indian Lake is the Moundwood area of Indian Lake State Park. The bridge right next to the Moundwood Boat Ramp is a great spot, especially when there’s a bit of wind.
The nearby Lucy’s Pond area can also be excellent.
Indian Lake also rated high on our list of best saugeye fishing lakes in Ohio.
More: Complete Guide to Indian Lake Fishing
Hoover Reservoir
Central Ohio’s 2,884-acre Hoover Reservoir is another crappie powerhouse in the Columbus area. It’s just a few miles from Alum Creek Lake. The lakes have much in common, including an abundance of prime crappie habitat.
Early in spring, look for crappies along the edges of the creek channel. The channel is easy to pick out on a depth map, and any place where it swings close to the bank near the mouth of a cove or creek is a prime target.
Crappies start to invade Hoover Reservoir’s shallows in good numbers by mid-April most years. Target docks, riprap, and shallow woody cover in the coves in the lower end of the lake.
There’s excellent shallow spawning habitat in the upper end of Hoover Reservoir. Bays and islands above the Sunbury Road Boat Ramp can be productive throughout spring, offering plentiful brush and timber in less than 10 feet of water.
The spawn usually happens around the time April turns to May. The shallow bite should continue into June, when crappies seek deeper, cooler waters.
In summer, fish drop-offs and weed edges near the Smothers Road and Sunbury Road bridges in 15- to 20-foot depths.
Hoover Reservoir is a numbers lake when it comes to crappie. Giants are rare, but filling a cooler with keepers is easy when the bite is on.
Anglers will find easy access all along the lakeshore within the City of Columbus’ Hoover Reservoir Park.
Hoover Lake also is home to some excellent Ohio catfish fishing.
Sandusky Bay (Lake Erie)
Lake Erie might not be the first place that springs to mind when it comes to crappie fishing in Ohio. But bays and harbors along the lake’s southern shoreline have seen a crappie boom in recent years.
There are a lot of great spots to catch crappie along the lakeshore, but none better than Sandusky Bay. The bay essentially acts as a natural hatchery for crappie, and lots of fish head this way to spawn in springtime. Plus, resident crappies roam the bay year-round.
The bite often gets going as soon as Sandusky Bay is free of ice in late March and early April. This time of year, sheltered harbors and boat docks are prime targets.
You’ll catch many 8- to 12-inch crappies early in the season, with bigger fish appearing as the waters warm and the spawn approaches. Sandusky Bay grows some serious crappies, including quite a few measuring over 15 inches.
Crappie spawn in brush-filled shallows farther back in the bay in early May. Live minnows, especially emerald shiners, are the bait of choice. But a wide variety of small jigs can be effective, and many anglers also throw downsized spinners, spoons and crankbaits.
As is so often the case, crappies become harder to locate in summer. But there’s often a brief flurry of activity around sundown in summer and early fall.
Many anglers also catch them from the Meigs Street Pier in Sandusky at dusk.
Expect to catch some smallmouth or largemouth bass while working lures around good cover in the bay.
Pymatuning Reservoir
An expansive 16,349-lake on the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio, Pymatuning Reservoir is one of the best crappie fisheries in either state. It’s also one of the first crappie lakes to really get cooking in early spring.
Most years, anglers start catching crappies on Pymatuning as soon as the ice recedes. The shallow, muck-bottomed bays of the lake’s upper basin are the first places to warm up this time of year, and they draw crappies like a magnet.
The first good stretch of warm, sunny spring days will trigger a great crappie bite. Early on, search for crappies around the dead stems of the previous year’s lily pads.
Some of the best early-season fishing is at night.
As spring progresses, crappies are also attracted to woody cover. A ton of flooded stumps were left in the upper basin when the lake was flooded. Look for crappies among the stumps behind Harris Island and Clark Island.
Crappies are characteristically hard to find in summer, and most local anglers focus on other species during the hottest part of the year, as the lake also is famous for bass and walleye fishing.
Crappies return to their spring haunts in September, and usually bite well in shallow water until the lake freezes.
Schools of both black and white crappies roam Pymatuning Reservoir, but black crappies are larger and more abundant. Expect good numbers of 12 to 14-inch fish.
Pymatuning State Park provides all the access you’ll need.
Besides tasty perch, Pymatuning Reservoir has plenty of scrappy crappies that are similarly good-eating, and also is known for some of the largest freshwater game fish in Ohio, including muskellunge.
More: Complete Guide to Pymatuning Lake Fishing
Berlin Lake
Berlin Lake is another excellent crappie fishery in Northeast Ohio. The reservoir spans 3,341 acres at the intersection of Stark, Mahoning and Portage Counties.
Anglers who can follow crappies’ seasonal movements often catch them from early spring right through fall.
The shallow spring crappie bite gets going gradually during the month of April. Most fish are caught in deeper water during the first half of the month.
By the beginning of May, or earlier, the bite will be around brush and trees in 2 to 5 feet of water in Berlin Lake’s coves.
Wood and brush are abundant in this lake, including fish-holding structures anglers put there. Berlin Lake is drawn down in winter, which offers an opportunity to scout the lake and see where the cover is.
The Route 224 bridge is one of the best spots on the lake. Crappies are caught around and below the bridge from post-spawn into fall. The channel beneath the bridge is 34 feet deep, providing year-round habitat. The Route 14 crossing farther up the lake can also be great.
Soft plastics are known to out-produce live bait here at times. Some more successful local anglers favor Panfish Assassins and Bobby Garland’s Baby Shad. When crappies are being picky, try a tiny jighead tipped with maggots.
Crappie populations in Berlin Lake can be cyclical, as in many crappie fisheries. The crappie numbers at Berlin Lake are almost always excellent, but sizes vary quite a bit. Some years, slabs are common. In other years, it’s rare to catch crappies bigger than 10 inches.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains multiple boat ramps and fishing access sites around the lake.
Anglers can find parking along the Route 14 and 224 bridges.
Berlin Lake can really stock up your next fish fry, as it’s also among the better places to catch walleye in Ohio.
Delaware Lake
Arguably the best crappie lake in North-Central Ohio, Delaware Lake offers 1,215 acres of water and ample populations of both black and white crappies.
Anglers show up to catch the first crappies of the year as soon as the ice melts, but the fishing kicks into high gear in mid-April.
As the lake starts to warm up in spring, focus on Delaware Lake’s relatively shallow northern end. This part of the lake warms up quickly, and after a couple of sunny days and warm nights, the crappie bite can be non-stop.
The area around the confluence of Whetstone Creek is prime crappie territory in spring, and this spot usually turns back on again in fall. There are productive flats throughout the creek arm and on the main lake nearby.
Minnows are the bait of choice for most locals, but tubes and other small jigs work well too. If the water is high in springtime, focus on flooded vegetation and brush along the banks.
Like many crappie lakes, Delaware Lake goes through cycles depending on the strength of any given year class of fish. Most years, crappies in the 8- to 12-inch range are typical, but some years Delaware Lake blows up and starts producing more crappies measuring 14 inches and up.
Delaware State Park sits on the west bank, and Delaware Wildlife Area occupies the east. Both public lands provide access, but the state park has more amenities, including several modern boat ramps and a campground.
Catch More Crappie
You’ll be well on your way to stringing up the slabs in Ohio’s best crappie lakes with the tips in this article.
But there’s always more to know. So if you’re looking to perfect your panfishing, check out the techniques, lure ideas, and other suggestions in our simple crappie fishing how-to guide.