Thread: North AL - Spawn Status?

This is my opinion and I hope I'm wrong but I think generally that the early spawners ,which are the bigger fish usually, started when the water was 65 to 67 back in early march ,but I do not think they got to finish as the water quickly cooled back down to 58 and it has never reached the 65 needed on the big G since it fell so quick , this forced them to go back into deeper water to wait for a warm back up that never really occurred and confused them . The 3 females I caught from under a bridge Saturday on the Big G in the wind had eggs half gone and they were not the bright yellow color with blood in them but a light tan color which usually means they are dead and the fact that I caught them under the bridge tells me they are done and returning to feed there till the water gets to warm. I hope they were not the norm for the female population but that's why I feel the spawn hasn't gone well on the big G. Yes I have seen a few catches posted that would indicate some places they did do ok but the over all catching wasn't exciting or maybe a lot of the people that post here kept it on the down low HA.....There should be small spawns from now till the end of April with the smaller fish getting into the act. The good news is that they all do not spawn at the same time so maybe the late bloomers can save the day if the big girls and boys didn't have a good spawn. Better news based on the number of 7 and 8 inch crappies all this late winter and early spring , 2014 must have been one heck of a spawning year and next fall should be super after these small fish get to feed on a summers worth of shad fry!!

There still spawning on all the lakes around here. I would think it still going on. Just because you caught some shallow doesn't mean that they we're spawning. I caught them Saturday on the banks at wedowee and it's a hour south of Guntersville. When there spawning they will be very close to the bank on rocks or sand.

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I share the same opinion as snapperking. I only fish wheeler and the water level dropping out simultaneously with temp drops in march hurt up here scattering them deep and shallow. Though I seldom catch cooler fulls when I fish, I would say 2/3 of the fish I have caught this year were in the 7-8 inch range so it's got to pickup.

Already spawned? I hope not. For the past two weeks, I haven't found any fish shallower than 15 feet - and I've hit the usual spawning spots I know. I just don't think the bulk have come shallow yet. But three days of 70F temps with no rain should certainly trigger the event.

Wilson spawn hasnt even got started yet, just small males on the banks. Im guessing they are the same river wide. They Temps need to be steady 65 and they have not been that at all. Some mornings the water temps have been upper 50s. The females i catch are still in prespawn areas, mouths of coves in deep water and along main creek channels in deep water (20-30 ft).

Ponds, sloughs and some backwater areas have warmed enough for the Crappie to spawn. In big lakes like Wheeler most Crappie haven't moved up into the shallows yet. I haven't found any Crappie that have fanned out beds yet, mostly larger fish that have staged early. I think we only need a week of warm sunny weather, that will put the shallows in the upper 60's in the afternoons and the spawn will happen fast.

how long does it take them to spawn? 2 wks in March over 70 t degrees days and almost 60 degrees night and a few days in the 80s ?...?..? Water temp was 66-68 several days.??? That was surface temp in 6 fow and lots high water then too .what would the temp be in 2 fow?

I would have to agree with ditch basser. I'm and hour south of you and it's almost over here but if you're water is in the 60s its probably going to happen. I believe I could find some on bead now.

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