Of course, when considering crappie fishing in the Sooner State, never overlook 102,000-acre Lake Eufaula. “Eufaula is always a good crappie lake, especially when the water levels are there,” Gilliland said. “It’s so diverse in terms of habitat. And the crappie population seems to be good, no matter what is happening there. It’s good year in and year out.”

One key area to try, according to Gilliland, is the upper end of Longtown. “That’s the one I hear about the most,” the biologist said. “It’s a pretty sizable area on the upper end of Longtown that wasn’t cleared, and there is a lot of old standing timber, timber that has fallen down, brushpiles, and that sort of thing. There’s a lot of jig-fishing because of the wood -- it’s hard to make a minnow weedless, since they’ll swim into the bushes and get hung up.”

Eufaula’s crappie are of a good size, stated Gilliland, averaging 12 to 16 inches. So given the lake’s good forage base and growth rate, pound-sized crappie are going to be common.

Finally, keep in mind that there are plenty of other good spots to try for late-season crappie fishing. Gilliland noted that water bodies that make the list for late spring crappie fishing success near Tulsa include such spots as Grand, Fort Gibson, and Hudson, among others.

Which basically means that from one end of the Sooner State to the other, May is a grand month to go fill a stringer or fish basket with a limit of slabs.

And keep the peanut oil handy -- because if you do catch a mess of crappie, it’ll be just in time for a finger-licking-good fish fry over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.