Imagine a sweet spot totally hidden away and inaccessible to skiers or cruisers,
yet teeming with crappie. You may not know it, but there might be such a place
just a cast away from your front door.
Unknown Lakes That You Should Know
by Richard Hines
Several years ago, I was visiting my son in Texas. I had no more than walked in the door when he told me we were heading out at daylight the next morning to fish one of the lakes in nearby Caddo National Grassland.
A grassland did not strike me as a place to find crappie, but I was in for a surprise.
Administered by the U.S. Forest Service, most of the area’s 17,000 acres is prairie. But scattered around were some nice lakes.
When we arrived, there was only one vehicle at the boat ramp on Coffee Mill Lake and as it turned out we had most of the 388-acre lake to ourselves. Within an hour we had picked up several crappie and enjoyed a wonderful, peaceful day of fishing. We were just over an hour’s drive from the outskirts of Dallas.
Coffee Mill and other lakes on the Caddo National Grasslands are by no means top military secrets and they are among thousands of small “unknown” lakes across the United States, most of which are overlooked by anglers who have their sights set on larger well-known reservoirs.
To find these “unknown” lakes, start with federal agencies that manage land.
U.S. Forest Service
One of the best places to start your search is the U.S. Forest Service. This agency manages 154 national forests, and 20 national grasslands found in all fifty states. You can search for the ones closest to you with this interactive map.
Within these forests there are 10 million acres of fishable lakes and reservoirs. Not every forest has crappie so be sure to check the website of each forest which provides a species list for each body of water. Over the years I have probably fished over a hundred small forest service lakes that I searched out on USFS maps. You can also learn more about your nearest national forest or grassland on this web page.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Following the Forest Service for available fishing opportunities are the national wildlife refuges. National wildlife refuges or NWRs are operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in every state, from Alaska to Florida and beyond.
Nationwide there are 570 national wildlife refuges but since every refuge may not have bodies of water, or for other reasons, only 348 refuges are currently open to fishing. Crappie are found on hundreds of lakes on each of these refuges.
You will find a wide variety of opportunities from creeks to small ponds and moderate-sized lakes, scattered oxbow lakes and even large reservoirs. One of the best national refuges to fish is the White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. CrappieNOW writer Keith Sutton shared specific details about that area last month.
Another excellent refuge is Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge which provides boat ramps and access to Tennessee’s largest natural lake, well known for crappie.
Many refuges may only offer limited fishing in certain seasons. As an example, Cross Creeks NWR in Tennessee is only open to fishing mid-March to mid-November in order to provide resting areas for migratory waterfowl during the winter months. Others may allow year-round fishing on portions of a refuge. While wildlife is the top priority on national wildlife refuges, the agency does rank fishing as a priority for public use and will always attempt to open as much water as possible for anglers.
One of my favorite stops in the country is Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. With around 500 surface acres of water in small lakes, crappie fishing here also has an added bonus of possibly hearing an elk bugle on a fall morning from either the camp or your boat.
Visit this website to find out more about fishing on other national wildlife refuges.
The Western U.S.
If you live in the western U.S, two other agencies that manage large blocks of land include the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Bureau of Reclamation. As you would guess most of these lakes support cold water species, but I do have friends who catch crappie in the western U.S., even as far north as Paddock Lake in Idaho. Although it is a 1,100-acre lake, there are other smaller lakes in the immediate area that range from 10-to-100 acres each. The BLM manages numerous small lakes.
Most of the fishing opportunities on Bureau of Reclamation waters seem to be covered on each appropriate state game and fish site. I found the Bureau of Reclamation site difficult to navigate but it still may be worth checking their website for small lakes.
State Wildlife Management Areas, State Parks,
Every state wildlife and fisheries agency have wildlife management areas. Some state agencies refer to them as WMAs, Conservation Areas, or FWAs Fish and Wildlife Areas. They go by different names, but it is public land either owned and/or operated by your state fish and wildlife agency. Tennessee, for example, has a web page dedicated finding places to fish, including many waters owned and managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Virtually every state wildlife agency has similar pages. Even Hawaii which has small lakes on state lands.
Years ago, the county where I live in Kentucky constructed two lakes for their municipal water supply. These lakes, like many others across each state generally provide public access for anglers for either bank fishing or for those who prefer fishing from small jonboats and kayaks.
In most cases, you will encounter fewer boats and most times fewer anglers on smaller lakes not to mention no personal watercraft and skiers, which is due in part to most small lakes having motor restrictions and/or no wake zones. In any case, always check regulations before towing your boat to these smaller lakes.
So as the summer heats up and the personal watercraft are cranking up, it might just be time to consider going on a scouting trip to find your own small lake to fish in this summer.
Richard Hines is a Wildlife Biologist, book author and award winning freelance outdoor writer and photographer. Hines enjoys fishing and exploring new fishing water in a kayak, especially small lakes other anglers overlook. Since 1985, Hines has published hundreds of articles on hunting, fishing, conservation, and natural history.
