Crappie migration?

Been off CDC for a while but now I'm back. Got a question. Has there been any studies on seasonal crappie movement? Wondering how far they might migrate. Yards, hundreds of yards, miles??

Not sure about any studies but in 1 particular place I fish they will move from spawn to post spawn distance of 3/4 mile.

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There’s a book out named crappie secrets by Tim Huffman, I believe, that covers that and much more. Great read.

I looked up this on Open Library and found it there. You can read it there free of charge.

We have had 4-5 years of high fresh water. The spillway had to be opened twice for the first time during this period. Jackson Ms flooded, lots of water. Well I have caught Sac-a-lait with BP oil in them way up the Pearl River. That fish had to swim for over 10 miles to get to the oil spill.

There’s also some truth to the idea of local fish so to speak. That is to say fish that remain in a creek year round. Going from deep to shallow going back and forth for life. Considering bait can be found in creeks year round it makes sense. Also fish that do indeed travel main channel to and fro going into various creeks etc

Also remember, they don’t necessarily go to the backs of creeks in all situations for spawning. Sometimes it’s just the fact that they go over to the bank straight from channel versus all the way to the backs per se

The most fun fish to learn about in my opinion


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What Wylie is saying is true too. I call them residents. While teaching a couple of friends about Crappie behavior there is one point I consistently make. Once you clean out the "Resident" Crappie unless the conditions and times are right for fish to be migrating, fish a different spot. "Don't return to the scene of the Crime" it rarely pays. Residents can usually be told apart from migrating Crappie. In the backwaters where the water is clearer you pull up a colorless, pale, but fat fish, it swam in. Once in the clear water a bit their spots start to develop. I have success cleaning out a spot regularly and remind them that if they hammer a spot move on. May be wishful thinking but I really believe if you leave some fish on a spot they "Recruit" more. I have no science to back this opinion up. The last 5 years I have pursued "Migratory" Crappie over "Residents" since they are heavier. I caught some resident Crappie a few years ago that were so poor along their backs they were as skinny as Sheepshead. After spending 2 entire years with a Humminbird 899 side scanning and recording all the river systems on the MS Gulf Coast I had over 400 trees, sinker cypress piles, bottom features, deep holes, etc marked and continue to find new places that recruit Crappie. Yesterday I marked my 1000th Waypoint. Well now when a spot slows down I don't return to it for at least a month. Sometimes not for a season. Seems to work for me.

there are studies that indicate on some water bodies certain species , crappie included have 3 different local populations .
one that lives most of its life shallow , one that lives most of its life in open water suspended and one that likes to live in the deep water .
miles of travel are quite the norm in these parts for sure and some lakes seem to actually lose all their crappie at certain times of the year due to the lengths of travel up rivers and creeks .
i know of a local study done in the summer on a large east texas lake where a tagged white crappie covered 1.75 miles in 24 hours .
so yes they do migrate on some lakes great distances ,but at the same time not all the lakes for whatever reasons i dont fully understand ...
most of the time i am pretty sure its bait related and NOT spawn driven ,,,,,crappie for sure would rather eat than procreate ....:Rofl
my 2 cents if you will

Thanks to all of you for the great information. Fish on my friends!