The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) hosted its Annual Crappie Festival at Pony Express Lake last Saturday, and despite some less-than-favorable weather conditions the event was a “big catch” for local youth.

The MDC hosts the festival each spring as an opportunity to introduce new anglers to the time-honored tradition of catching a stringer full of Missouri crappie, filleting the catch and cooking it.

More than 110 kids from the surrounding area showed up along with their adult family members and friends. In addition, 42 Boy Scouts who were working on their fishing merit badges were also in attendance.

The event kicked off at 9 a.m. and continued until around 1 p.m. Throughout the day, MDC staff moved around the area to help the young anglers do their best to catch some of Pony’s abundant crappie.

Crappie are so numerous that it has caused the population to become stunted due to too much competition for food, etc., said Matt Engel Fisheries Biologist for MDC.

“Because the sizes of crappie are smaller, many people tend to overlook these lakes. We are trying to show people how these lakes can still provide a good time for kids and their parents by catching many fish while keeping, cleaning and enjoying them as well,” Engle said.

The weather was cool and windy during most of the festival, and the lake received a large amount of rain the day before, so the fishing was expectably slow. Even with less-than-desirable conditions, the majority of the kids had a great time, and many took home a great prize as part of the festival’s annual raffle where prizes from local retailers are given away.

“We had more prizes this year due to the efforts of Kris and Kathy Dill, who represent R&R Bass Tournaments,” Engle said.

The event is made possible through the generous donations of food, bait and prizes by the following organizations: St. Joseph — The Tackle Box and North Belt Wal-Mart. Cameron — Farmers State Bank, R&R Pawn Shop, Riley’s Construction Co., Car Star, Poland-Thompson Funeral Home, Eagan’s Home Furniture, Dr. Mark L. Carr, DDS, Noel’s Tire & Service Center, King’s Barber Shop. Liberty — Roger’s Sporting Goods.

For those who missed the Crappie Festival, Pony Express Lake continues to offer exceptional crappie fishing, and the bite can often be fast and furious at this time of year, according to Engle.

MDC officials encourage anglers to harvest their daily limit of 30 crappie. This will allow the remaining fish to grow faster and provide better

quality fishing in the future. MDC officials recommend fishing small jigs and minnows near the shoreline in spring and in deeper water near brush during the rest of the year.

Some of the better crappie fishing areas are along the rocky shoreline from the fishing dock around to the dam, according to MDC. This area is especially good in spring when crappie are spawning.

Pony Express Lake is located nine miles west of Cameron on Highway 36, north two miles on Highway 33, and then west a mile on Route RA (marked with a cantilever sign).

For more information about this annual event or on fishing opportunities at Pony Express Lake, call the MDC Pony Express Office at (816) 675-2205.

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