Kaw lake archives

The moon determines when they will spawn, There is no fall spawn, but I have caught fish as late as july fourth trying to get it done in the main lake, though this is not the norm. I have spoken with a lot of people about the rising spring spawn conditions,, many different opinions on it,, With Kaw being the first dam on the Arkansas river, the fluctuation it has is unlike even the largest lakes in Ok, which makes me think like Dennis, constant rise and fall is not conducive at all to fish trying to spawn, I know for fact the two best years I ever had on this lake came after two years of near drought conditions. The # of 1.5 fish that were caught was astounding!!!!! I would like to know if there was actually an age test done on an 11 inch crappie? seems to good to be true but great if it is!!

I agree the quick rise and fall doesn't help...drom what I've read and heard as long as it's stable it's going to be fine. What I think happens a lot is when the lake suddenly drops it strands the eggs out of the water...jmho

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Originally Posted by shortdraw

I agree the quick rise and fall doesn't help...drom what I've read and heard as long as it's stable it's going to be fine. What I think happens a lot is when the lake suddenly drops it strands the eggs out of the water...jmho

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I think you are right Shortdraw. Stability is the key. They can't survive if they don't hatch.


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Dstreet please give us more info on "the moon determines when they will spawn". Are you saying they spawn on the full moon in spring timeframe about April to May? Also the fish survey I was referring to was on the ODWC website a few months ago under archives but they have redone their website and now I can't find it. I thought I had printed a hard copy but I can't find it either. As I recall it seemed they had done an age test to determine the age of these crappie. It said crappie in the fall of their second year in Kaw will be >11". I assumed that was due to the abundance of shad to feed on.

My opinion is that waves of crappie try to do the spawn every full moon, some as early as late Feb up till June/July pending weather conditions, the lengthening days and warming water temps are also big factors. The growth rate would be great, and I too think
it would be because of shad base in Kaw. Same reason the Bluecats are doing so well in this lake.

Do you guys think the silt coming in with the high water levels have an effect on the spawn?

No, because the fish will fan a spot be it on brush or whatever the spawning structure is.

The photo period has a great influence on the spawn. The photo period lengthens each day in the Spring until June 22 when it is at its peak. The crappie need approx. 13 hours of daylight before the eggs will hatch. This amount of daylight corresponds to the full moon in April as dstreet indicated. Prior to the full moon in April the males move in and out of shallow water searching for spawning sites. People assume that the fish, being shallow, are spawning but they are feeding and looking for sites. I have intently watched reports from Mark McGuire, and others, about the Spring activity. Historically, based on these guide reports, the spawn begins very close to the full moon in April. The guides are catching fish [B]before the full moon in April[B], but it,s not until the full moon that the reports mention the actual spawning activity. This is consistent with what ODWC biologists have told me in the past.

I have read all the comments and agree with most. I do believe the major spawning run is in the full moon phase of April as Daryl said. This years spawn from a fishing standpoint was definitely not one to remember. With that said, did we have a spawn and the answer is yes. There is literally thousands of 1 to 2 inch crappie in the lake. Where were they in April. I am convinced spawning times and patterns change yearly in lakes with major water level fluctuations. In other words, we have a longer cycle during the spawn as opposed to lakes with more consistent water levels. The large numbers of crappie are not going to the beds at the same time and everybody thinks the spawn never occurred. In years like this year with water levels up and down, the spawn may drag out for weeks. That's why the pre-spawn staging areas were so much more consistent this year.

I agree with you, Tim.