I think a lot of what's going on in the KS lakes is a function of angling pressure. There are so many big lakes in a short driving distance in KS that everyone just hits the "hot" lake that year. I used to get chewed on pretty good by some friends who would go to KS to the "flavor of the year" crappie lake and then expect me to provide similar fishing at Smithville every year. One Memorial Day I went with them to Hillsdale. It was having a decent year but one of the other nearby lake was really good. We fished all day, caught some decent fish and I endured the complaining all day. When we got back to the ramp and were cleaning fish, I asked them to count the cars in the parking lot. There were 6 and two of them were ours! When I asked them how many would be at Smithville they replied, "you'd never find a parking space". I think that's the difference in KS. Crappie populations have their ups and downs, but if I only had to provide good fishing every 5 to 7 years, and no one really fished the other 4 to 6 years, my job would be easy.