MAYSVILLE, Mo. — Cold winds and overcast skies may not be the best ingredients for a day at the lake catching crappie, but that didn’t stop the huge crowd of anglers who lined the shores of Pony Express Lake during the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Crappie Festival last weekend.

The Crappie Festival has become an annual event in which the staff of MDC get the chance to not only show anglers how to catch a batch of crappie, but also how to clean and cook them. The event is great for introducing young anglers to fishing because of the lake’s large population of crappie and the ease at which they are caught, according to officials at MDC.

The crappie in the lake are so abundant their growth is often slow because of competition over habitat and food sources. While most are under 8 inches, there are plenty to go around and a limit is often easily attained. Because of this, MDC encourages anglers to harvest their daily limit of 30 crappie to help manage the population.

The Crappie Festival is not only planned around the right location but timing is also a major consideration. Anyone who has pursued crappies knows that spring is when crappies head toward the banks in preparation for the spawn. In Northwest Missouri, this generally happens when water temperatures reach around 50 degrees, followed by spawning activity normally when waters reach around 60 degrees, MDC Fisheries Biologist Matt Engel said.

Anglers should target brushpiles and any other structure near the shoreline which would serve to attract and hold fish. Around Pony Express, black crappie can not only be found around the rocky shoreline but near the many water willows around the lake, Engel said. When it comes to bait, minnows are responsible for more crappie than any other offering, though when the bite is on, many anglers opt to use inexpensive jigs and soft plastics.

As anglers, both young and old, worked their bait of choice, the action was slow but steady. While some pulled in one crappie after another, others caught a mixed bag of green sunfish, bluegill, and even a few good-sized catfish.

MDC officials were able to help out those who are new to fishing by supplying them with rods and reels and all necessary tackle. After fishing for more than an hour, young anglers gathered around a tent where prizes like tackle boxes and rods and reels from area sponsors were raffled.

The event concluded with MDC staff displaying the proper cleaning and preparation with the day’s catch. The crappie fillets then were served to the crowd.

For those interested in catching a few crappie for their own frying pan, Engel recommended Mozingo Lake in Nodaway County, Happy Holler Lake in Andrew County, Belcher Branch in Buchanan County and Cameron Reservoir (Lake #3) in DeKalb County, all of which offer great crappie fishing.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be reached at outdoors@npgco.com