Hi. I'm new to crappie fishing here in Bradenton. I fish Lake Manatee and have not done well. The fish I have caught have been in deep water 20+ feet. They are nice size but very scarce. The other day the surface temp was 70 degrees, what should it be to bring them out of deep water to spawn?
Crappie generally start their movement out of their deep water winter haunts when the water temperatures start warming towards the 45-50 degree range. They will congregate around the entrances of creek channels until the water temps reaches around the 50-55 degree range. Then you can expect them to begin migrating towards the shallower secondary creeks and bays, using the channels as "highways". At this point, try trolling minnows or casting a CULPRIT Tassel Tail or Curl Tail grub to isolated stumps, brush and small pockets, and retrieving them back very slowly. When water reaches in the 55-60 degree range, the males should be in shallow water looking and fanning out spawning beds, while the females stage out in the closest deeper water structures. Crappie feed more aggressively and baitfish are more active as spawning nears. Try dropping a minnow under a cork into the spawning beds for males. Use a cast and slow retrieve with a CULPRIT Paddle Tail grub for the deeper females.
As a general rule, surface temperatures in the 62-65 degree range are almost perfect for shallow, spawning crappie. The females will then move in and around brushy cover. Your best bet now is to drop live minnows under a cork. Any bad weather or cold fronts can set the whole process back a few days to a few weeks. This will be explained in more detail later.
When water warms to the 70-75 degree range, the females will leave their nest and move to nearby deep structures where they staged before the spawning. The males stay behind to guard the nests. Use a cast/retrieve slowly with the CULPRIT Paddle tail grub. By the time water reaches 75 degrees, the males will be joining the females and migrate through the channels the same way they came in back out to the deep cooler water for the summer.
When the water starts to cool in the fall, they will again move back into the creek channels to feed heavily for the upcoming winter months. Most crappies will stage halfway up the tributaries near to the pre-spawn locations. Casting the CULPRIT Crappie Baits such as the Tassel Tail, Paddle Tail and Curl Tail jigs is an effective and fun way to catch crappies now. When water temps fall in the mid-40's range, they will migrate back to deep water in the main lake.
Keep in mind that these water temperature ranges are arbitrary, depending on the locations of the water you fish. For example, crappies spawn when water is in the 62-65 degree range, which can be as early as January in the Deep South or as late as June in the North.
COLD FRONTS AND FALLING WATER TEMPERATURES
There's another factor that seem to be even more important than just a specific temperature. Let's say you found great fishing for a couple days at the 65 degree mark. Then a relatively mild front comes in and drops the surface temperature down to 62 degrees. Even though the water temperature is still in the "ideal" range, you may find that fishing is off considerably. Fish are not completely without the ability to regulate their body temperature. They have the instinctive ability to behaviorally thermo regulate. This means they seek out areas of preferred temperature in an environment that is not at uniform temperature.
Especially in the Spring, crappie are super-sensitive to temperature variation. A sudden drop when the temperature is in the 50's is more dramatic to fish behavior than a similar drop from the 60's.
You may have to alter your tactics and try deeper water or heavier cover to counter the effects of the sinking temperatures. Also, concentrate on those northern shorelines or coves protected from northerly cold fronts and exposed to the longest period of southerly sunlight.
What you need is to get in contact with Jammin. No one knows that place like him and he has always shown a willingness to help when asked. You can get in contact with him through the Florida Crappie Club and threads listed at the top of these forums. Good Luck!
jamin696 as Stu says it petty much the professor on this lake as well as few others
in the Central Western part of the state.
can reach him via crappie.com or through phone 941 920-4778
He is tournament director of South & Western Div of Florida Crappie Club.
Believe it or not, spawning periods are more regulated by THE LENGTH OG THE DAY than temp. Temp assures the fry survive, but the when is an inherient thing for that location passed on and refined for generations. All of nature tells the seasonal changes by 'length of daylight hours'.
can you explain further.........
is it based on 11 or 12 hrs daylight, vs moon phases?
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/archi...e-degrees.html
This might help.
Length of daylight is interesting. Daylight now is on the increase. Maybe they spawn on full moon because of more light. Spawn when length of day and full moon produce enough light? Hard to get in a Speckle Perch's mind, especially at that time.:biggrin
personally have always worked with temp. - first time ever heard of number of
hours of daylight ..... full moon thing vs normal evening played big with the ole
timers
oh i have heard the day light theory. temp is just as important to me and full moon is always is best or whenever you can go is even better
i came out of Plainfield, In - fished strip pits south Terre Haute, Coal City, Washington
Monroe,we just hunted them when dogwood started to blosom, with cane pole, bobber,
ring of bloney & six pak......yea ha
For what it's worth, I've always heard spawn begins right after the full moon of Febuary.
good comment, have also heard when water temp goes above 63 degrees....
no dogwoods in florida ? i have caught them up shallow in january and as late as feb 20 th just depends on weather last year at blue cypress they were done by last wek of jan. but the shell crackers took their place
Thanks for all the replies, The full moon to be the 25th and it's been warm last week and to be warm next week. Not much debris in Lake Manatee, where would they be spawning?
Not all Crappie spawn in the shallows.....have found down here they will spawn
in any depth when the time comes for them. 4 yrs ago we spend many days
checking the grass & lilly's at Kissimmee only to discover a lot of the bigger females
spawned on and around humps in the lake, sunken old brush in 10 - 14' water...
That particular year was pretty cold to the norm.......
Man that could possibily help you most from the Manatee area is the Professor,
Mike Benjamin (on cdc he is known as jamin696) basically he was raised on
Manatee and knows just about everything about it.Attachment 115543