Even with crappie populations flourishing, MDC fisheries management biologist Dale Cornelius, who manages Pomme De Terre Lake, said the conservation department continues to add and replenish brushpiles throughout the lake. Right now there are more than 250 such brushpiles marked on MDC maps, with GPS coordinates accompanying about 100 of them. More brushpiles were added in 2007, and those coordinates and locations will be made available this spring. Most brushpiles generally are placed in water ranging from 15 to 30 feet deep during normal pool. Call the Lebanon MDC office at (417) 532-7612, or visit the MDC Web site to request a map.

Two other impoundments in the state's southwest region deserve mention for their crappie populations. Table Rock Lake, fed by the James and Kings rivers, boasted excellent crapping populations in 2005 and 2006. Catch rates were expected to be down slightly in 2007, and this year is expected to be similar. A majority of crappie taken in 2007 were estimated to be about 10 inches or longer. Anglers exclusively targeting crappie should look to the James River, Kings River and Long Creek arms of the lake. To no one's surprise, minnows and crappie jigs do well. Fish habitat maps are available through the MDC.

Stockton Lake is expected to see a slight decline in crappie harvest during 2008. While the volume seems to have waned in the past couple years, the size of the fish appears to be in the running with most lakes in the state. Recent samplings indicate that white crappie in Stockton Lake are larger than black crappie. In the 2007 survey, about 43 percent of the sampled fish were of legal size.

All in all, Missouri promises to be a hotbed of crappie angling activity in 2008. Continued management and growing knowledge of how best to handle impoundments of differing sizes have enabled MDC researchers and management biologists to keep Missouri anglers in the crappie -- and keep the crappie in the frying pans.

Find more about Missouri fishing and hunting at: MissouriGameandFish.com