There is some strong indication that Arizona will have a full-fledged Corn Belt Crappie & Crappie Masters tournament trail running at several Arizona lakes soon. This is not be run by the Arizona Crappie Association (AZCA) but may coincided with some of AZCA's tournaments (pending AZCA member discussion). Cameron Gilliam (Crappie Whisperer) is leading this up through the Corn Belt Crappie Trail, a platform that helps state grow a club, trail, or just a single tournament and help it be successful by providing website, registration, social media, plaques, trophies, etc. needed to run a tournament trail.
The Corn Belt Crappie Trail annual membership is $20 and is recognized as a Crappie Masters state trail and as a result all tournaments are recognized as Crappie Masters tournaments, as long as you also have a Crappie Masters membership ($50/year). For those teams who have those memberships, they are eligible to compete in national Crappie Master's tournament if they achieve the minimum points criteria. However, a Crappie Master's annual membership is not required if you only plan to attend the Arizona state tournaments.
Corn Belt Crappie Trail tournaments can run at the same time as other local Arizona tournaments, however rules of the Corn Belt Crappie Trail would need to be followed (
https://www.cornbeltcrappie.org/rules), e.g. 7 crappie must be alive and released after tournament, only 2 people per boat, etc.
The tournament schedule is tentative and still in the works (
https://www.cornbeltcrappie.org/aztournaments)
* Dec 10, 2022 @ Lake Pleasant
* Jan 7, 2023 @ Bartlett Lake
* Feb 11, 2023 @ Roosevelt Lake
* March 18, 2023 @ Alamo Lake (coincided with AZ Mule Deer tournament)
* April 1, 2023 @ Alamo Lake (coincided with AZCA Spring Crappie Fest tournament)
* April 22-23, 2023 @ Alamo Lake (championship)
** the above dates are only tentative and being proposed and they are not set in stone.
The AZCA is not running this tournament trail. AZCA members will discuss this and any proposed tournaments that coincide with AZCA tournaments at the AZCA Member meeting Sat Oct 15 at the Bob Hirsch Crappie Classic at Alamo Lake. To learn more details about that event and attend, please visit
http://www.azcrappie.com/forum/index.php/page,bhcc2022.htmlYou can reach out to Cameron through the Crappie fisherman of arizona Facebook page (
https://www.facebook.com/groups/169460015028474).
You can also reach out to Cameron or Brad Thomas, the admin of Corn Belt Crappie, through the Arizona Cornbelt Crappie Trail Facebook page (
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2937438446550140) or through their website at
https://www.cornbeltcrappie.org/