Thread: Crappie Spawn Timing

I need somebody to weigh in on this post

Once again, you can't make them bite when they don't want to bite, and i believe we are going to get a late spawn, that's my opinion

Hi LIFRANK

water temps has not been high enough . needs to stay in the high 60`s for several days. with all the fresh water it can`t git stable . think April will be the best month.

I go when I can and try to find them staging or shallow

i think right when they start movin shallow we get a cold rain and they turn right back around and go back to the deeper warmer water. there just hanging out, staged up ready to go but the weather got em confused. just my opinion though.

The big females I caught at oconee in 5ft of water yesterday may have had a tablespoon of eggs left in them and they were bloody looking around bottom etc. I usually suspect the spawn is about over for the big ones when all you start catching is small half pound or less fish. Exactly a week ago I caught only 1.75 to 2lb+ fish and same place week later its all dinks. What I noticed too is since middle of february I have exclusively fished 4 to 8 ft of water. I caught fish around 2lb busting with eggs the 2nd week in feb in 6ft of water. What would happen is when a front or rain came through they held tight to the bottom. Then when it warmed back up they would come up and suspend a few feet of the bottom. So since early february they have been trying to do their thing. I think it finally happened or its not gonna happen.

i think many people have some misconceptions when it come to crappie spawning. most people think its all going to happen at the same time and it will be over before you know it. and that a female will come in and drop all her eggs at one time and be done. this is all very far from the truth. for the most part a female will come into a bed that the male has made and they will both turn up on their side and drop at the same time.with the male fertilzing them as they come out. the female will only drop a part of her eggs then move out and the male stays and frotects them. some times they are so spent from this process they will be floating on the surface. some die from it and others recover. the female will then go to another bed and the same thing will happen. as the old saying goes never keep all your eggs in one basket. this process for the female can be spread out over several days. also all fish dont start producing at the same time. so while one female may be ready now another may not be ready for another month. but once that water gets to a steady 58 for a few days it will start to happen and it could be 2 months before they have all done thier thing. so spawn timing is not a perfect science for us to figure out. there are so many variables to take into acount. also just because you see a egg sack that does not have a lot of viens in it does not meen it is going to reabsorb those eggs. that fishes eggs may not even be mature enough to be ready to drop yet. water clarity has a lot to do with when and where they will spawn. in clear water they can spawn much deeper than you would think. it all depends on how much sunlight can get to the eggs. in dirty water they can spawn in just inches of water. i have seen them on jackson with thier dorsal fin sticking out of the water on the banks. and i have seen them at griers ferry lake in arkansas where the water is crystal clear on beds in 15 to 20 fow. just a few things to think about when you think you got it figured out. think again cause it could change in a blink of an eye.