Question for the Crappie Gurus ?

Puzzled :confused: We have two creek arms on our lake that usually produce tons of Crappie. I wore them out on the bank last March when water temp hit 66 to 68. Today the water temps were 62 on the lake ,but these creeks were 65 to 67.5. One had some nice fish anywhere from 3 to 9' of water. The other was the dead sea. Can't figure out why the fish are not shallower ? That other creek has good stumps , but water is muddy. Why are they not fired up ? The really baffling thing is nearly all the bigger fish were females. The males are normally way ahead in the shallow water. All I can figure is they are in transition.:confused:

Nimrod,
I know what you mean about being puzzled about this year. Our lake has bumped up 10-15 degrees in the last week, & I'm thinkin, I've got to fish cypress trees now, & yesterday I caught 2 fish. It seemed that they turned off because of other factors besides temp, like the wind (or lack thereof). My home water is oxbow, and relatively small, 100-150 acres. We are seeing a big rise & fall in temps, going from 56-65 during the course of a day. I did see a difference in jig size today. I caught some on 1/32 oz jig, & couldn't get a nibble on a 1/16oz jig w/ a spinner blade. These are the subtle little changes that I've been trying to play with. I think it's some of the things that fishing w/ a partner has some definate advantage over. It's not just about color. There are a lot of things that have to be considered other than water temperature.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

Puzzled :confused: We have two creek arms on our lake that usually produce tons of Crappie. I wore them out on the bank last March when water temp hit 66 to 68. Today the water temps were 62 on the lake ,but these creeks were 65 to 67.5. One had some nice fish anywhere from 3 to 9' of water. The other was the dead sea. Can't figure out why the fish are not shallower ? That other creek has good stumps , but water is muddy. Why are they not fired up ? The really baffling thing is nearly all the bigger fish were females. The males are normally way ahead in the shallow water. All I can figure is they are in transition.:confused:

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Hey, if someone replies in a PM to you about this, clue me in...I would love to know about your findings, I've had a couple similar circumstances (patterns) i would consider to relate to this confusion...especially the part about males normally being way ahead in the shallow water. Thanks, MM

The water temp is still around 68 in the shallow areas and no large bunches of shallow fish yet.:confused: Was hoping someone had some ideas.:confused:

I have fished 3 different bodies of water in the last week with good, but limited success. The water temp is ready, but, the crappie aren't quite there yet. I contribute this to their bio-logical clock.

We have had an abnormally warm late winter this year. It is still only the
14th of March. The water temperatures are propably a good two weeks ahead of where they are on a normal year. I think this is is natures' way of protecting itself from late arriving cold fronts that we can have this time of year.

The eggs from females that I have caught still yellowish and have not turned orange with the larger blood vessels yet.

I suspect with the water temps that we will have when they get ready, it won't last long. Wham, bam.......we're done.

I am certianly no guru.....not by a lonshot. Just my opinion.

Hey Nimrod:

I think it's still a bit early. They are just now coming in here and we had a real slow day yesterday and then killed them today - http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=36310.

I think you are right about them being in transition. Even though the shallow water has warmed up, the areas they are or have been holding may still be a bit cool so they may not have gotten the urge to move real shallow just yet. Give them a few more days of sunny weather with nights in the 50s and I bet they'll start showing up right where you're looking for them.

It seems like when the water warms up from the lower 40s into the 50s they turn on pretty good for a while but when it gets in the upper 50s and doesn't stay above 60 they stay on the move and don't settle in very well. Once you see the early morning water temps stay at 60 or above I bet they'll start cooperating better.

I was wondering if the crappie spawning was more determined by the amount of daylight hours than water temp. alone.
The reason I say this is because it is the amount of daylight that hits a deer's eye that causes the does to go into an estrus cycle. I've read where deer farms limit the amount of daylight that a doe deer recieves and by doing this they can cause them to have up to 13 estrus cycles a year! Where do you think all that doe-in-heat urine comes from!
If you apply this logic to fishing it would make more sense that nature would protect the spawn by timing it with longer daylight incubation periods which just happen to coincide with water temps in the 65 degree range.

Thanks Jerry. The water temps here are 62 on the main lake and 67 to 68 in the shallows. With the warm nights the water temps are not dropping much. I talked to a local yesterday who kept 17 good fish. Just like I did the day before ,still scattered at every depth. This cool spell will probably slow the pace some. But unless we get a bad cold front the spawn should be early here.:D

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Originally Posted by slabbandit

I was wondering if the crappie spawning was more determined by the amount of daylight hours than water temp. alone.
The reason I say this is because it is the amount of daylight that hits a deer's eye that causes the does to go into an estrus cycle. I've read where deer farms limit the amount of daylight that a doe deer recieves and by doing this they can cause them to have up to 13 estrus cycles a year! Where do you think all that doe-in-heat urine comes from!
If you apply this logic to fishing it would make more sense that nature would protect the spawn by timing it with longer daylight incubation periods which just happen to coincide with water temps in the 65 degree range.

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I'm sure hours of daylight have a lot to do with when the crappie get ready to spawn but I think temperature is critical and the females won't lay their eggs until it is just right and stable.