Pritchard guides out of Goat Island on Taw Caw Creek, which also provides a good access ramp.

Rock Hill is very close to several good crappie-fishing locations. Lake Wylie is the closest and most obvious. However, Wateree Lake is only a short drive away, and Great Falls Lake -- which is too often overlooked -- also provides sensational crappie fishing.

Lake Wylie provides outstanding crappie fishing during April. With Big Allison, Little Allison, Beaver Dam and Crowder creeks, plus other smaller creeks along the main river channel, there's a tremendous amount of crappie habitat available.

During April, the crappie typically migrate into these creeks and coves. They will be found in huge numbers around shallow cover. As is the case with many of the best crappie lakes, Wylie has an abundance of shallow-water cover, including brushpiles, docks, logs and stumps. There are some points and offshore humps that hold plenty of staging crappie as well.

In addition, the drops and creek channel ledges where brushpiles have been sunken will hold crappie throughout the month. Not all the fish move to the shoreline shallows, and certainly, they are not all in the shallow water at the same time. Tight-lining minnows or slow-trolling jigs along the creek drops will produce consistent results during April. However, this drop-fishing will become even more productive and consistent as the water continues to warm and the fish retreat to deeper water by May and June.

There is an excellent access ramp at the back of Big Allison Creek.

Wateree Lake is considered by some to one of the most underrated crappie fishing lakes in the state. The last lake on the Catawba River chain of lakes, Lake Wateree is an excellent year-round producer of crappie. Not only do plenty of limits come from this lake, but a lot of fish in excess of 2 pounds are caught as well.

Depth is the key factor to fishing this lake throughout the year. During the spring, right now during April, the fish will be moving to the shallow water. They'll be holding around logs, stumps, brush and weeds. One of the best techniques is to use a long rod and swing a minnow-and-float rig around the obvious cover. Often when you catch one fish at this time of the year, you'll catch several more from that spot. Do that a couple of times and you'll have a pattern that holds up for the day (as a rule).

Once the fish retreat to the deeper water, look for them to hold along the drops around woody cover. Many fishermen will place crappie beds to attract the fish. However, many very successful anglers will slowly work with minnows or jigs around the drops in 12 to 18 feet of water during the summer and fall to make good catches. During the winter, after the lake turns over, the fish do get a bit deeper.