Late spring?

Had an old friend ask if i'd get him some crappie for supper.......like I needed a reason to go fishing. This morning I headed out for the spillway below the Barren River dam and fished a few eddies that are favorites of mine. Armed with some 1/32 chartreuse cabin creek jigs, pearl metal flake tails, and an 1-1/2" bobber set about 6 foot, I went toe to toe with the river and started slinging. Got started around 7:00am and finished up about 10:00am and had caught my friend and his bride 6 crappie, 10" and better. Went home and filleted them out and believe it or not, they all still had the eggs in them and looked ready to pop. 1 or 2 maybe, but all six? Do you think it may be because of the late spring? Am I getting old and forgetful or is this normal?

Found the same thing going on at Taylorsville. 5 keeper Crappie caught last Sat, and every one of them were females w/eggs (dusty yellow to corn meal yellow in color). The amazing part was that these fish were Black Crappie !! They should have spawned over a month ago ... and Taylorsville only went ~5ft over Summer Pool, this year (Apr-May), unlike the flood conditions of years past, so they shouldn't have had any reason to not have already spawned .... unless the yo-yo weather/temps has kept them off the banks. :dono Very curious, indeed !!

According to this chart Taylorsville Lake Water Level Taylorsville Lake has flooded about every other year, for the past 4-5 years, either in April or May.
Here's the chart readings for Barren River Lake : Barren River Lake Water Level for comparison. (though, it might be a differing reason for the fish "below the dam" )

... cp :kewl

Glad i'm not the only one finding this as I was sure I was gonna get laughed at. The ones I caught this morning were also black crappie, although some of the smaller ones that I threw back were white.

We caught 20 keepers on KY Lake Monday before the lake lice blew us off the water. A large % of those were females that were still loaded with eggs. One thing we noticed was the eggs are almost liquid, no solid structure to the egg sack like one would have seen earlier. I'm really afraid the later rising water temps and the high, unstable water levels have caused them to start to re-absorb the eggs and not spawn.

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Originally Posted by mrdux

We caught 20 keepers on KY Lake Monday before the lake lice blew us off the water. A large % of those were females that were still loaded with eggs. One thing we noticed was the eggs are almost liquid, no solid structure to the egg sack like one would have seen earlier. I'm really afraid the later rising water temps and the high, unstable water levels have caused them to start to re-absorb the eggs and not spawn.

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With the eggs in that condition, I'd say your fears are well founded. We can only hope that those few brave fish that spawned early, had a good percentage of their fry survive. I think most all the major lakes in Ky, that suffered through the high water & yo-yo temps, probably didn't have much in the way of a "successful" spawn ... at least not for Crappie, anyway.

... cp :kewl

Just got off the phone with a friend who works for the Department of Fish and Wildlife and after telling him of our findings he was puzzled over the numbers of crappie that still have eggs in them. He said that when the females lay their eggs, the next years eggs start forming but not like what we are finding. Loaded with the information i'd given him, he said he would get in touch with someone at the state office to find out for sure what was going on and get back with me in a day or two. He then asked me if i'd caught any walleye while fishing for crappie this year as the numbers seem to be growing in the lower end of the lake. BINGO! He had my attention ☺ Man I love fishing for those rascals. They sure can put a bend in your rod and they are great eating too. So with that said has anyone caught any or heard of them being caught? My friend at DFW said that the strain of walleye that have been stocked are the river strain and will most likely be caught anywhere from the Holland bridge north to the southern ski zone but they have had reports of fish being caught as far north as Peters Creek. Now to figure out how to adapt my spider rig rod holder to troll for walleye with a worm harness. Wish me luck.

Fishing Green the last few weeks and have caught a large number of female crappie, almost all full of eggs. The eggs all have the same grey, cornmeal color.
My guess is they are reabsorbing them. Have been surprised at how many females caught and almost all with eggs.

I think maybe they don't drop every bit of the eggs they have in them and what we are seeing now is leftovers being reabsorbed. The females I've cleaned in the past month or so have eggs but they aren't full and swollen like prespawn fish. Maybe Paul Rister will shed some light for us.

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Originally Posted by pab1981

I think maybe they don't drop every bit of the eggs they have in them and what we are seeing now is leftovers being reabsorbed. The females I've cleaned in the past month or so have eggs but they aren't full and swollen like prespawn fish. Maybe Paul Rister will shed some light for us.

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Pab ... that's the survival instinct plan at work !! If the conditions are not conducive to the survival of the fry, the female won't drop her eggs (all or part, according to how long survivable conditions have been available). They won't expel them, either, since the protein of the egg mass can be reabsorbed & provide nourishment for the female.

Someone needs to give Mr Rister a shout, and see if he has any idea/opinion on the matter ... or maybe he can get with the biologists and tell us what they know about this situation.

... cp :kewl

I received the following e-mail and crappiepappy, looks like your right.

Mr. Ayers:

Not unusual for crappie & other fish to hold on to their eggs & reabsorb them if spawning conditions were never right. Phillip mentioned fish caught in tailwater & they likely spawn (or attempt such) later due to temperature of tailwater. Egg coloration & firmness will tell you if they are still viable (firm & not cloudy/milky in appearance).

Have had others mention same for crappie from Barren & Green this year, seeing more crappie that did not lay their eggs.

Eric Cummins
Fisheries Biologist - Program Manager
Southwestern Fisheries District
KY Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources
970 Bennett Lane
Bowling Green, KY 42104
270-746-7129
270-746-7131(fax)