Is it still to early for crappie fishing??

Hello,
Well im new to this forum and a fisherman trying to know/get some facts around Iowa fishing!! So far i have fished at Big Creek Park(Polk City,IA) nothing not even a bite, also Easter Lake Park(Des Moines,IA). Im from the Des Moines area and rather fish at a nice lake than the river. Has anyone tried fishing out at Lake Red Rock or Marina(Pella,IA) or Rock Creek Park(Kellogg,IA) those are the only places i've been fishing the past 5yrs, if you guys have any suggestions on another lake around des moines 1hr-1hr/half drive that would be nice. thanks

We are still just s little 2 early.. Water temps are around 50 degrees. So maybe the first part of May the crappie will be turned on no matter what lake you are at.

Look for farm ponds or other public lakes that are shallow. I`ve been fishing an area that is only 5 foot deep at the most, but the crappie are biting. Last week this 5 foot deep "pond" was at 65 degrees already.

You ask about Rock Creek,I consider it my home lake since I caught my first fish there(Bluegill) about 55 yrs ago. Still a week or so early for Crappie there.
Don't expect Platters but produces a lot of eatin size Crappie.
I should explain I release the big ones and keep the smaller ones about hand size(6-10").
As far as Red Rock is concerned, I have never had great luck there fishing from the bank. Never got Crappie but a pretty good mixed bag at Howett Station below the dam.
Roberts Creek, on the north side of the lake feeds into Red Rock and should produce nice Crappie. My son, Grandson and I were there a week ago Sunday and got Skunked. I did not feel too bad as I waited at the boat ramp for 2 hrs for my son to get there. Probably saw 15 boats come off the water and not a one had fish to show for their time.
In all fairness the water was still 3 ft hgiher than normal and it was fairly cool.

Now when things open up a bit, there is a nice County Park a few miles from Rock Creek, no boats but nice for bank fishing. It's called Jacob Krumb Park.
Two large ponds close to the road and if you like isolation there are two small ponds back up the hiking trail.
Take 80 east to the Lynnville exit. go north and just past the interstate bridge take the gravel East for about 2 miles and you will see it on the left.

Also Mariposa in Jasper County, easiest way to get there is go east on I80 to the second Newton Exit(by the Race Track). Go towards Newton and at the stoplight go east about a mile. Turn left and follow the pavement about 6 ro 7 miles.
When the sighn comes up to turn north o HWY 14 go straight over the hill and the park is on the left just before the pavement ends.

I had another thought, You said you was in Des Moines and one of the biggest Crappie(over 3 lbs) I have ever seen came from close to Des Moines.
Guy I worked with told me he had caught it and I called him a liar. So he brought it in and showed it to me.
You probably can't get there for a while with the River so high. But if you go down to Runnels and head south towards HWY 5 there are some ponds(right on the edge of town) below the road on the east side that produce nice Crappie. In summer you can drive down there.

thanks alot guys for the info! As far as Red Rock the stripers/wipers are hitting hard so if your up for a battle get down to the dam!!

Go get em.... They are hot here in NW Iowa