Thread: Spawning Migrations by Lake!

Maybe we can get some guys to talk the spawn on there lakes? Maybe some guys want to add to Eufaula on areas of the lake they fish. Talk about some of the lakes maybe we dont know much about.

Oologah- DeerhunterOdie, Reaper?
Kerr and Wister- Wister Slab daddy, Jerry Beale?
Tenkiller- Ranger09, Redge?
Ft Gibson- Ft Gibsonboy, Johnnyshad?
Grand- Grand kid, CrappieKirby?
Texoma- OkieBob, crappie menace?
Kaw- Swollencrappie, dstreet?
Navigation Channel???
Keystone?
Hugo?
Pine creek?
McGee creek?

Basic question that I haven't seen discussed. When we speak of water temps when crappie spawn,etc are we usually talking surface temp that our locators indicate or actual temps at spawning depth? There can be a big disparity between the two.

Brian do you have a recent water temp for the north end?

Well since I'm not in the same class of Ranger09 and Redge here I guess I'll leave all my information stored on my hard drive in my brain. Just Kidding.

Here's all I know about fishing Tenkiller. Stay away from there you would just be wasting your time there. The lake is dead and there aren't any crappie in the lake. I think EB and Odie fished them all off my holes. Well guess what I have new places that I'm not sharing.....

Ok here goes. I do know from the past to now the lake has changed. 15 yrs ago I could go out and catch crappie on the bank in 5-8 fow and only take an hour to catch a limit on a bad day. Then the unheard of happened. The lake went dead for a few years. High water was the biggest factor in that they we didn't have good spawns during those years. Plus to many little fish being kept and hence the new regs for the lake. Creel limit of 15 and length limit of 10". I remember the first time I went out with the new length limit in place and I thought man this is going to kill this lake, but you know as soon as I caught a fish and measured it I was surprised that the fish that I had been keeping all along was more than likely a little longer than the new limit instilled on the lake.

So now we are into the new Lake Tenkiller 15 fish limit, 10" on length. I can still catch a few fish in that 5-8 fow, but that seems to be few and far between. Most fish now days are being caught in 10-20 fow during the spawn. For me most are associated to wood. I fish brush piles any where from 10-25 fow. Most of the time I cast and drag these piles during this time and will pick up fish on the first 5-6 cast over the piles about 5-7 fow, then I will let my jig fall for about a 7-10 count and slow roll it back through the pile itself hitting every limb possible. This will usually pick up another 5-7 fish in doing this. Once you have made 5 cast in a row with no bite it's time to move on to the next pile. You may ask why I think they are in the brush and not on the bank on their beds. Well for Tenkiller the water is to clear most of the time and the fish are actually spawning in the brush itself. Laying their eggs on limbs and on nest they have made on the bottom. This not only makes for great cover for them to get a better spawn, but also makes great for when the fry do spawn out. This gives them more added cover to help in their survival.

I will start hitting the upper end of the lake mid March until about the first week of April, then I start making my way down the lake chasing the spawn. Will hit mid lake anywhere's from the last week of March to the end of April. Then the lower end I start hitting from 1st of April to as late as the end of May. Now this doesn't mean they aren't spawning early than this in the places I mentioned it's just how I go about fishing Tenkiller. Keep in mind folks with a clear lake the water doesn't warm as fast and therefore the spawn is a little later than some lakes from year to year. This all depends on how much rain we have received and the clarity of the water. Some years I have seen beds 15' deep with fish on them and other years you can't see more than a foot down. This goes for all lakes though. It all depends on the amount of rain and how bad the lake conditions are.

Well that is my two cents worth, but we all know I am just an amateur compared to the upper class on here.....LOL

Usually talking surface temp because thats usually what everyone gets....yes there can be quite a disparity in that but we usually go off surface..

surface water temp on north end of Eufaula Saturday was from 39 to 41 degrees

All the Crappie on Oologah spawn at a spot off Hiway 69 called Crowder. That is the only place to catch spawning Crappie on Oologah.

Grand sounds almost identical to the way Eufaula plays out. The last 2 weeks in April through the first 2 weeks May are usually the prime spawn weeks. The males will start moving up early, its easy to pick them off shallow once the water starts staying consistently in the upper 50s. If all your catching is males up shallow you can usually move out off the bank a little in that 10 to 15 foot range and find big female on nearly any type of cover.

Jigging thank you for the reply on Tenkiller since I've started fishing Tenkiller it has made me a better crappie fisherman. But it took experts on that lake showing me a few things and a few brushpiles I was tickled to death when you took me on the the south end where we could see 10ft down. Here's something special about learning to catch them in clear water. We love this lake because it fishes like no other lake we normally fish. Thanks Jigging EB