How do Crappie spawn?

[Cane Pole]

I know some people that evolved in 6 months. Heard it on XM.

[Moveon]

I have seen where some people claim that crappie go on the bed and fan the bed like a bream. But I was told last year by a professional guide that this is not so. That crappie go shallow and lay their eggs on some type of wood(log,stump etc) and the male follows up by depositing his part on the eggs. Who is right or wrong?

The male crappie sticks around to protect the eggs and the fry when they hatch out. The reason why a fish fans the nest is to keep out debri and to keep the eggs oxygenated. The guide that you talked to is right in that crappie will lay eggs on wood and other substances if they can't find the right spawning bed at the right depth. They like a soil that's not too silt and not to hard bottom. Something that they can fan a bowl shape into the bottom that will hold the eggs in one place. Marl type bottoms is what I heard work good.

A crappie is a member of the sunfish family and just as bluegills do the males will stick around and not eat and protect the eggs. The males come into the shallows sooner and built/choose the nest area. Then the females come in and lay their eggs in the nest where the male's fertilize the eggs and then guard them while the females head back out to the deeper waters again.

[Moveon]

When are you guys seeing eggs again in Crappie?


I've seen female crappie with eggs in them in Sept and Oct here in S IN. The eggs were small in size (individual eggs) and the egg sacs were smaller than in the spring time. The blood vessels surrounding the egg sac were very small and hard to see as opposed in the spring when the eggs are ripe and ready to be laid. In the spring time the blood vessels are enlarged and easy to see with the naked eye. And the eggs are a bright yellow with red blood vessels standing out in the spring of the years. April here in Southern, IN

Now if you read the In-Fishermen Magazine and the Crappie Wisdom Books and the Critical Concepts Books for Crappie you will note that there are ten different seasons that they divide the year into. And these are based on the latitude and time of the year across the USA. So the farther south you go the sooner the spawn arrives. The further North you go (latitude wise) the later the crappie spawn. And the types of water can also cause differences. Rivers vs lakes and ponds, Reservoirs vs Natural Fresh water Lakes. Highland Reservoirs vs flatland type reservoirs. Back bayous vs freshwater/saltwater estuaries. East vs. West coasts. Mountains vs valley lakes.

[Yaker]

Squirrels only mate if nut production is adequate to sustain the next generation.If nut production is substantial,squirrels will often have more than one litter a season,the question is......are squirrels just evolved crappie,or visa versa ?