Photo by Tom Evans.

Wayne Baker and his 9-year-old daughter Sarah spend lots of nights from winter through spring on the banks of Guntersville Lake fishing for crappie. A couple of years ago, they had one of those nights on which the fishing's just great, and they loaded a bucket with slab crappie.

The highlight of the evening came when it looked as though Sarah's line was hung up. She insisted that she had a fish -- and she turned out to be correct, bringing in a giant of a crappie that weighed a whopping 3 1/2 pounds!

The father-daughter fishing team couldn't resist taking the big fish by the local tackle store to show it off. The regulars in the store thought they'd get information from the kid on the location of the crappie hotspot. But even though she was just 7 at the time, Sarah had learned from her daddy just how critical such information is, and how closely crappie secrets must be guarded.

"They asked her where she caught it," Wayne said with a grin. "She hooked her finger, put it near her lips and said, 'Right in the mouth.'"

We'll be following that young angler's example, so don't expect us to give you exact coordinates of a spot at which you can catch a crappie like the one Sarah got. But these tips should get you started in the right direction of some of the hottest lakes in the state for slabs. Maybe you can catch a few "right in the mouth" too.

Alabama is blessed with many papermouth hotspots, but some places are in a league of their own. Here's a look at those spots, broken down by regions of the state.

NORTHEAST
In northeast Alabama, two fisheries stand out for crappie action: Weiss and Guntersville lakes.

Guntersville Lake is a sprawling 69,000-acre impoundment on the Tennessee River in Marshall and Jackson counties. In late winter and early spring, the bridges on the many riprap causeways are key places for crappie anglers. You know the crappie bite is on when you drive across one of the causeways and a dozen cars are parked at the bridge.

Built over the old flooded creek channels, the bridges serve as chokepoints or funnels that the fish have to use. Anglers in boats and on the banks can access the fish at these locations and usually enjoy outstanding slab success.

Later in the spring, good places to search for crappie on Guntersville are the many blown-down trees along the shore. Fishermen working jigs and minnows around the sunken treetops report substantial success, but it's one of those situations in which location is key. You might find crappie on one brushtop, but then they won't be on a similar blowdown 100 yards down the bank. The fishing does require a bit of exploration.