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Anglers can find success with slab crappies

Every spring I make a mental note to get out on the local lakes and fish for some slab crappies. The past few weeks have been ideal weather wise to be on a lake and start the season out looking for some slabs in the shallow bays of Pymantuning Lake. Before we get too far in this tale it would be helpful to explain what “a slab” means in crappie fishing.

Crappies primarily are identified as black or white crappies and are a species of pan fish. The term slab is used when you can bring to net a thick, heavy fish that is 12 to 14” long.

There are bigger crappies and they are super slabs. Crappies are excellent table fare and the larger panfish make great fillets for pan frying or deep frying with a batter.

Our goal on this trip as I met up with my fishing partners Sim Grossman and Ken Bryan was to get into a hot spot and catch us some slabs! In the early spring months’ crappies like to congregate in shallower waters of the bays and edges of the waterways. In fact, we would concentrate on water that ranged from 2 feet to 5 feet and fish an area that had a lot of stumps and timber structure.

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