Ah, Moses Lake or is it a reservoir? This was one of the best crappie lakes in the state until greedy fishermen taking home hundreds of crappies in a single weekend over fished it. There are still some trophy fish over 15" in the lake but there numbers are not what they used to be, and for that reason I will not speak about where the crappie spawn here and I would hope you would release all spawning fish.
Now for the good part. Crappie can be found all over the lake from the spillways to the many bridges that cross the lake on prime crappie structures. The area around the I-90 bridge is not only one of the best holes on the lake but is within reach of both shore and boat anglers. In the summer and fall many a fine crappie over 12" are caught in this small area because it has everything a summer crappie location needs: cover, depth, underwater humps, rockpiles, current and tons of baitfish. I've caught more crappie over 12" here than anyone would believe. If you do try it out please release the large fish and never go over your 10 fish 9" limit (check regs). I've seen way to many people (mostly locals) take home large fish or more than their limit. These are the future of this fishery, please release them! The game wardens here would love to show you why the crappies are doing better now.
You can use the bobber setup out here but I've found that the crappie tend let go of the bait when they feel the resistance of the bobber. Because of this I stick to tightlining a 1.5 to 2" tube jig or slow trolling a crankbait to catch huge slabs during the summer months. In the fall I'd stick with your standard 1/32oz tube jig in red/wht, green/wht and all black. There is also some good crappie fishing near the bridge that takes you to Wal-Mart. In the summer try fishing this area at night. Make sure you have on some good line because I've taken enough walleye and carp here to know you need to be prepared for a monster! The crappie also seem to school here in large numbers in the winter on the downstream side of the bridge. This is the only place I have found in Washington State where you can catch crappie from the bank in early Feb.
Key to Moses Lake Crappie Success
