SMB I caught this year (June) on Big Sand Lake near Park Rapids, MN on our annual family vacation. The lake was so clear this year, you could see them swimming under the boat in 20 feet of water. The MN DNR was out the day before we arrived and took a secchi disk reading... They stopped at 40 feet because they still could see the disk!

This lake has some nice largemouth also, but the smallmouth are able to outcompete them due to fantastic habitat. There are also tons of huge Rockbass, a few bluegill, some yellow perch, a few big muskie and a ton of walleye in this lake. What's funny, is that the owner of the resort we stay at up there says that about 12 years ago Big Sand was considered to be a top crappie lake in the area. In 4 years of fishing this lake, I've never caught a single one. It's amazing how lakes go through population phases like that.



12 ac pond in NW Missouri. 28' max depth at full pool. Fish Present: LMB, BG, RES, YP, CC, WB, HSB, WE, BCP, WCP, GSH.