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Huey, we're fishing oilfield canals which are around 7 foot deep. The fish we caught on Fri. and Sat were in the middle of the canals about 5 foot deep. My buddy was fishing shiners about 4 foot below a cork but at the speed we were moving with the wind I figure they were more like 3 foot deep. The ones I caught with a RoadRunner were a little deeper. I think they were coming up for the shiners as the water was very clear.
"gene"
Hey paw paw. What type of structure were you'll fishing around ? Or was it just open water above brush piles ?
Hardly any structure in these canals except the bank edge. There are patches of lilies and now or then a fallen tree but the canal bottoms are clean. We were just fishing the clear water in the middle of the canals. As it warms a little we'll be able to catch them against the bank.
"gene"
It may be different in different areas of the country, but I fish Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee a lot. I start looking at water temperature in early March. When the water temperature in the shallower areas gets over 50 degrees, the bait fish (shad in our case) will move up shallow and the crappie will follow. The deeper water will be around 45-48 degrees, but a 2 degree variance will make a lot of difference.
Any lakes I fish in Arkansas, Tennessee or Mississippi hold pretty well the same pattern. This temperature variance does not have to be in place for days, if the water temp gets up for just a few hours in the afternoon in the shallower areas, the fish respond and then move out as the temp drops back. A fish is a lot like a dog, on a cold day he will find a warm sunny spot to lay in to warm his body and on a hot summer day, it will find as much shade as is available.
As far as fishing the spawn, give me the pre spawn when the males are up looking for suitable nesting areas and starting to fan the beds. On Reelfoot, when the females move in to lay eggs, the fishing tends to get a little tougher. Also, the spawn is not quick. Mother Nature will not allow all the fish to run in and lay eggs in the same week. It will be strung out over a series of weeks, usually.
Hope you guys didn't mind my putting my .02 in here, but I found this to be an interesting topic with some interesting discussion.
Like and u can contribute more often.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkcrappie
Water temp has everything to do with when they actually lay eggs. Will be a little while.
Great general article about the spawn.....
http://www.crappie.com/bruce/article4.htm
From here on out till spawn time, I like the dead end oil field canals from Lake Des Allemands west to Verret and into the basin. Clear water with NO flow. I start outside in the middle and work my way in towards the bank. PPG you feel'n it? Now sola canals are 7-8 ft. deep in most places so its a fur cry from Claiborne or Darbonne. With this weather pattern, they could very well be staged well offshore in those dead end canals. Those "no flow" canals will warm nicely and the activity picks up. The basin water is super cold as its fed from the Atchafalaya River. If the basin is standing or dropping slowly, look for dead end canals with clear water and give it a try. I like it under a slip cork about 5' deep and drag it around and see what happens. I really like this set up this time of year. Gotta go to find out....SLIP....Roger, I'll be in touch to "catch up"
Another question I have about the spawn is during the spawn are crappie aggressive because they are "hungry" or is just the males basically protecting the nest so they see your jig or minnow as a threat to there bed ?
Sometimes we have a split spawn, one early then it gets cold again, and then the rest later.