confused about the spawn on chickohominy lake

Everything i have read and studied crappie use main channels and stage at the crk. mouths then move up the creeks to the backs of them to spawn .im catching both males and females on the main lake just off the channel up on flats about six fow and also catching them up in the creeks from the mout all the way to the back.females still have roe in them.is it because of unstable weather or am i misunderstanding something?i have alot of people on facebook from other states like alabama kentucky georgia tenn. Etc talking about the females have spawned out.we still have females with eggs so apparretley they havnt layed out here yet.help im confused thnx and tight lines!!!

One of the main things to keep in mind is that not all crappie spawn at the same time. Some (quite often the biggest in a system) tend to spawn very early while others are still deep or holding in a pre-spawn stage. This helps to ensure that if the early spawn is unsuccessful, there will be more fish left to spawn later. It's Mother Nature's way of ensuring the most successful spawn. I would think that right now you would find fish in all stages of the spawn.

Also, the females spawn numerous times, not just once. My two biggest crappie, (both 2lb 9oz) were females caught in late March, early April in water over 20' deep. Females are only in the shallows for a short time then they move back out to deeper water.

Kevin hit it on the head almost all fish in lakes especially will spawn in waves depending on many factors with the weather and water temp being one of them, rivers have even more factors. Moon phases are another. I saw this some time back in Infisherman Mag that almost 90% of all world records have been caught within 3 days of a new or full moon. I have seen reports from shocked and tagged fish that says fish will come up to spawn, start to spawn, then weather or another factor change then they will move back out then come back up to complete their spawn. Water temps is a key factor because the eggs can only live with water temps at a certain level depending on the species. Just what I have been told in the past by far no expert. Maybe one of the biologists can explain better.

Thnx alot for the info gang.great appreciated.realy makes more sense now.

Thanks for all the good info. I'm still learning my crappie chops after decades of bass fishing. One thing to remember about Chickahominy lake; it is a lake in name only, and is actually much more like a large bay on a river. Since there is a constant flow over the low dam and the current flow is the same at the dam as in the upper river, one should think of it more as a deep spot in a river. Much of what you read concerning fishing revolves around southern reserviors such as Clark Hill or Buggs. Literature that addresses crappie fishing on the mid Mississippi is more applicable to Chick lake. In contrast, Diascund and Little Creek are true reserviors, with high dams and artificially controlled current flow.

Not just crappie, but all species have several spawns usually spread over a couple months. Local weather and water conditions can an do run'em off their spawn. I've caught spawnin crappie from Buggs in early June, spawnin out in 8-10fow, on the main channel. and I've caught spawnin crappie up a creek spawnin on the same laydown over a 6 wk period. so after the first full/ new moon period that intersects the rite water temp, ya have crappie in all phases of the spawn: pre-spawn, spawnin, post spawn, for two - three months.

As already said water temp , stable water,full moon, new moon,all have a role in spawn.I believe in a big lake that has a long creek the first spawn are fish that stay in creeks year round ,unless it is up river where it is shallower ,these fish move in earlier to get out of river and seek warmer and calmer water, the blacks will spawn first then whites, in our area the spawn will last in a deep and big lake from late March to mid June,unless real cold or real hot quick and stay that way. The last to spawn will spawn on main lake.

Thnx for all the help.ims try using it to my advantagr todoy on chick lake.msybe see yall out there.