The spawn as I've learned it

Every year I see people on here asking in late January about water temps and spawn activity. The best way I can put it is that it's like someone's pregnant wife. If she is 7 months pregnant with the last 3 months of cold weather and then you get a week of 70 degree weather, is she going to drop that young'un? NO! She doesnt drop when it feels right, she drops when the baby is mature enough. It's the same with fish and animals. It doesnt matter what the water temp is. I've seen them spawn when the water temp was in the 50's and lower. Yes the prime for US to find them shallow is 60-65 degree water, but if we cant find them, they still spawn just in deeper water. I've noticed that the spawn happens a little earlier the further south you go and that the smaller lakes will heat up and the spawn happen faster. Grand Bayou and Poverty Point will spawn before Darbonne, Red River, or Toledo Bend. I dont look for spawning fish ever in central La until the last 2 weeks of March (mostly on Red River cause there isn't any competition.)
As far as baits, you don't have to buy some special $2 or $3 baits over the internet to catch fish. The BEST spawn bait is anything orange (my little known fact). I buy Spike it dip and glow and make my own out of old tubes or panfish assassins. Experiment with different colors being dyed, cause some colors except the orange better than others. Don't be confused by so called jig tieing experts that show pics from 3years ago and then tell you that you cant catch them without their fancy special jig. People get snookered every year on here by con artist trying to get rich. ANYTHING ORANGE will catch as good or better than ANY fancy $3 jig. I make hair jigs but dont sell them, so I have nothing to gain from this note.
Hope this helps someone with the spawn a little.

Skipper

You just confused me.:dono Thinkin I'll just keep doing what I do.:juggle Now I gotta get some orange jigs. :bash

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Originally Posted by Mo'nBack

Every year I see people on here asking in late January about water temps and spawn activity. The best way I can put it is that it's like someone's pregnant wife. If she is 7 months pregnant with the last 3 months of cold weather and then you get a week of 70 degree weather, is she going to drop that young'un? NO! She doesnt drop when it feels right, she drops when the baby is mature enough. It's the same with fish and animals. It doesnt matter what the water temp is.

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I read that. Then, I read this:

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I've noticed that the spawn happens a little earlier the further south you go and that the smaller lakes will heat up and the spawn happen faster. Skipper

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I'm just going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there. Water temp and full moon. The end.

IMO The best thing to do to stay on fish consistently is keep a detailed fishing log. There's not a fishing report or science that can give you exactly what the fish are going to do. Nobody knows what a crappie is thinking but another crappie. You can get within a few days and sometimes hit it year to date almost every time when the weather conditions/water conditions are similar from a previous year with a log. This allows you to ALWAYS hit it when a particular area is having fish move in there, and not be a day or 2 late and hit that area after Joe told you about it and the fish are on their way out of that area. ( He went and caught 40, you got up there 3 days later after getting his report and caught 3). If you hit every good hole on the lake spot on the date they begin moving in there to feed, you're in for one heck of a year. With this documented, you're likely to repeat year after year. Technology today (Smartphones) allow somebody to have that info in a spreadsheet for availability while on the lake. I just find this to work way better than going off of what other fishermen say the fish are doing as you know the exact coordinates basically as to where you were that day, others don't. Often times this matters greatly. Way more rewarding and you waste a lot less time looking for fish.

W

Interesting. Never had it explained in such a way. Orange is a really good color. I have some brown and orange jigs....I'll try em and see. The only question I have is about some con artist here trying to sell something to get rich. I haven't seen anything of the kind here and I'm sure that it wouldn't fall through the cracks.....Good luck with the orange jigs...SLIP

If it snows into Feb here and cold temps thru March, would there be a spawn and when? Yes there would and it would be within 3 weeks of when it normally does, no matter what the water temp. or the moon phase.

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Originally Posted by PMantle

I read that. Then, I read this:



I'm just going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there. Water temp and full moon. The end.

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P matnle, the water temp was 63* last week at larto and the fish sure weren't spawning. The eggs have to have time to mature first. Everyone jumps the gun a bit. The water temp is crucial when is is sustained for a few days. When the water warms the fish move up to prepare. Then a cold front comes through and moves them back out. This happens many times over the coarse of 2 months. They will spawn when the eggs are mature and the water temp is steady, weather it is January or April.

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Originally Posted by BlackWidow

P matnle, the water temp was 63* last week at larto and the fish sure weren't spawning. The eggs have to have time to mature first. Everyone jumps the gun a bit. The water temp is crucial when is is sustained for a few days. When the water warms the fish move up to prepare. Then a cold front comes through and moves them back out. This happens many times over the coarse of 2 months. They will spawn when the eggs are mature and the water temp is steady, weather it is January or April.

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OK, but I'm not sure why you're addressing this to me.

BlackWidow, I dont have a comment about the spawn but the man fishing under your post just cracks me up.

Spawning = laying and fertilizing of the eggs. Just because a fish is caught shallow and its full of eggs doesn't mean it was spawning. The females spend very little time near the actual bed and really just go in and lay the eggs and have the male fertilize the eggs and then they guard them. The female is gone after that. Most of the fish are males that are caught in really shallow water that are guarding or building the nest before the female gets there. That is a good point made about a woman being 7 months pregnant actually but not all fish are ready to lay eggs at the same time. Crappie on a lake like D'arbonne may lay eggs as early as February and some may even go into late April. This is nature's way of keeping the species going. If every crappie spawned on say March 1 and some sudden drought/flood/natural disater was to happen, then that whole age class would go away, or if they all laid on Feb 15 and a freeze came along that would wipe that class out. Also, there are always fish that 'move up' when water temps warm up but doesn't mean they are laying eggs or nest building. They just want to get in that warmer water. A 3 foot flat at 63 degrees in January beats staying in a 25' hole that is 50 degrees! This is why you see people catching crappie on yoyos in 2 feet of water in the middle of January. A few warm days in January/February will have the fish in either shallower water or way up in the water column. Even a really warm day in say December will have em coming way up. It seems like just last year or the year before there were people catching crappie shallow in Larto in January.

You can even see this in saltwater fish escpecially speckled trout. In the wintertime when the air temp is cold early and then warms up in the day, the fish get real shallow at times. You start out catching them in the deep holes and as the day progresses the fish move onto the flats and some days even in December/January you can catch trout on topwater baits in less than 3' of water

release in the grease

This is all interesting. I'm no expert on the spawn by any means but I do think we all try to rush it every time we get some warm weather this time of year. I was always told as a youngster that the time to catch spawning white perch is when the dogwoods start blooming and I've found that is pretty true year in and year out. But I also know that perch do move into shallow water much earlier than that for some reason. The last two years I've hammered them on Poverty Point right up on the bank in February but it was a one time event. I went back a few days later and nothing.

Duck Butter, You are right about the female thing. If you fish one day and catch a bunch of females shallow, you have hit the right time for sure. There one day gone the next. A couple of years ago I hit two spots about 50 yards apart on Toledo and caught 50 big females. The next day in the same two spots I caught three fish total. One reason it is hard to harm the crappie population by fishing is that the females are vulnerable for a short period during the spawn. Many more females are caught deep in the winter than shallow in the spring. Most of my spring trips consist of probably 80 plus percent males.

Duck Butter you made sense. But so did Mo,n,back. Just because we have a few good weather days does not mean the fish will spawn. They will spawn when the weather is consistent for a while and the eggs are ready.This could go from early Feb. to mid Apr. Just like pregnant women, some will be early, some will be late and most will be right on time. Some will look like the neighborhood bass not the crappie daddy. (just joking).

So far I have only seen males in ths shallow water I have been fishing this week. I did use one with an hot Orange tail yesterday, but today and last Sunday we only used Chart/Blue/chart which is my favortie color early spring. I do also like that likke Hot Orange tail Raodrunner too though.
Males always come in first and later the femails will start to show up. Last Sunday was one of my better days in a long time, but I fished for one hour yesterday and took the wife after she got off today for an hour. I got 8 yesterday and we got 9 this afternoon. Jusy got back about 6PM.

now i'm totally confused. Gotta quit reading this stuff.nonono

i think water temps are effected by extreme cold fronts and warm fronts sure....but the MAIN thing that "mysteriously" makes the spawn happen at about the same time each year (and it does) is photoperiodism. That, the weather cant control...it controls the weather really. each year the sun stays out a little longer each day this time of year adn the water consequently starts to warm,..cold weather be danged. now, extreme el nino years or freak extended stay cold fronts can delay it a little while, but not much. its happnin. most places that you think of that spawn early each year (in south louisiana where i fish, this is end of january early february;;;every year) it is shallow water. its an oxbow or shallow cypress break that is a mile long and 500 yards wide that wont get 4-5 ft deep anywhere......its happenin NOW! but deeper lakes that are clear or have 20ft plus water....march april...every year...no change....same thing

DB, along those lines I've experienced the same pattern with bass. Every year I would go after bass (in sola) in Lake Verret (north end) and Grassy Lake (Hog Bayou) in Feb. after at least 3 days with low's not lower than 50 degrees when previous days low's might have been in the 20-30's. They would roll that gold rogue without breaking the surface; gives me chills thinking about it. The thing about these locations are they are on the north ends of these areas and they get sunlight all day. Spawning bass have always been caught in these areas before other areas in those lakes. Also I've wondered why folks on Darbonne (Stowe Creek) catch some big ole WP on yo-yo's in shallow water when its below freezing. Makes sense....SLIP

You can catch a female crappie in late January 25' deep and its 'full of eggs' and you can catch a female in early March in 5' of water that is 'full of eggs' also. May even be the same fish, it all depends on what your definition of 'full of eggs' is. Kinda like a 7 month pregnant woman and a 8.5 month pregnant woman, they all look like they 'are about to pop'rotfl

The more we try and understand these things, the less we know it seems! Like the orange jig thing, I think if you put a jig in front of a crappies' nest, a male is gonna hit it. If the water is murky and he can't see it, he can't hit it, and you won't catch him, but sometimes changing color may allow them to see it in the murky water. \

If I catch a big ole female in Jan. in 25' of water and one in March in 5' of water, I promise you, it won't be the same one. LOL

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Originally Posted by Tiger

If I catch a big ole female in Jan. in 25' of water and one in March in 5' of water, I promise you, it won't be the same one. LOL

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AInt that the truth:highfive

What is the orange supposed to resemble? I have had good luck in muddy water on black / chart / red head.

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Originally Posted by Duck Butter

Spawning = laying and fertilizing of the eggs. Just because a fish is caught shallow and its full of eggs doesn't mean it was spawning. The females spend very little time near the actual bed and really just go in and lay the eggs and have the male fertilize the eggs and then they guard them. The female is gone after that. Most of the fish are males that are caught in really shallow water that are guarding or building the nest before the female gets there. That is a good point made about a woman being 7 months pregnant actually but not all fish are ready to lay eggs at the same time. Crappie on a lake like D'arbonne may lay eggs as early as February and some may even go into late April. This is nature's way of keeping the species going. If every crappie spawned on say March 1 and some sudden drought/flood/natural disater was to happen, then that whole age class would go away, or if they all laid on Feb 15 and a freeze came along that would wipe that class out. Also, there are always fish that 'move up' when water temps warm up but doesn't mean they are laying eggs or nest building. They just want to get in that warmer water. A 3 foot flat at 63 degrees in January beats staying in a 25' hole that is 50 degrees! This is why you see people catching crappie on yoyos in 2 feet of water in the middle of January. A few warm days in January/February will have the fish in either shallower water or way up in the water column. Even a really warm day in say December will have em coming way up. It seems like just last year or the year before there were people catching crappie shallow in Larto in January.

You can even see this in saltwater fish escpecially speckled trout. In the wintertime when the air temp is cold early and then warms up in the day, the fish get real shallow at times. You start out catching them in the deep holes and as the day progresses the fish move onto the flats and some days even in December/January you can catch trout on topwater baits in less than 3' of water

release in the grease

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What he said,they don't all spawn at once and it's over,it's an ongoing event throughout the spring

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Originally Posted by Shallow Runner

What is the orange supposed to resemble? I have had good luck in muddy water on black / chart / red head.

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Color means nothing when males are guarding nests,you can catch em in a cigarette butt

crawfish?

I have had the same February experience at a different lake multiple times.Seen it in the same cove and the nest at slightly different depth.And I know the dogwoods are good indicators,too

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Originally Posted by Tbone

This is all interesting. I'm no expert on the spawn by any means but I do think we all try to rush it every time we get some warm weather this time of year. I was always told as a youngster that the time to catch spawning white perch is when the dogwoods start blooming and I've found that is pretty true year in and year out. But I also know that perch do move into shallow water much earlier than that for some reason. The last two years I've hammered them on Poverty Point right up on the bank in February but it was a one time event. I went back a few days later and nothing.

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Originally Posted by Shallow Runner

What is the orange supposed to resemble? I have had good luck in muddy water on black / chart / red head.

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It might be the crawfish like jig rig said, but I've always thought of the bream with the bright orange bellies. They are an enemy of small crappies. I don't know though....just a thought.

I enjoyed the thread. I've found bream spawning on dishes and caught the heck out of them in July before..... I was suprised since I thought they had that all over with by that time. They definitely do it when they're ready. Which is why I go whenever I get the chance. I have actually never fished for spawning crappie. I'm going to give it a shot but am very worried since I've never seen anyone do it. I'm going to look for some brushy areas in 2-5 foot near some major creek channels- preferably with some sandy bottoms. Correct?

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Originally Posted by bayoumonster

I enjoyed the thread. I've found bream spawning on dishes and caught the heck out of them in July before..... I was suprised since I thought they had that all over with by that time. They definitely do it when they're ready. Which is why I go whenever I get the chance. I have actually never fished for spawning crappie. I'm going to give it a shot but am very worried since I've never seen anyone do it. I'm going to look for some brushy areas in 2-5 foot near some major creek channels- preferably with some sandy bottoms. Correct?

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Bream spawn multiple times in one year though.

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Originally Posted by PMantle

Bream spawn multiple times in one year though.

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I've have read that sacs spawn multiple times too.

So have I J.R.

And Bayou Monster I thought it was a hard bottom???? I'm more confused now than when I started. Little orange belly brim makes sense though. This thread shows how much I DON'T know about fishing.

Hard Bottom???-----Like no other!!!! But lots of shallow sand bars on the curves.
If you like your lower unit attached to your motor........better be careful! Using the spare prop instead of the stainless is no bad idea, either!
JBJ

I believe they come in and when ready the females find a nest and lay some of their eggs, then go back out, later back in to maybe a different bed and lay eggs again and keep doing that until they get them all done. Then when all of them finish which will not be all at one time, they will start to move out to get ready for their summer homes.

Forget the small percentage of time that they are up shallow. Easy to catch then! I need some tips on how to catch them the other 300 and some odd number of days that they apparently disappear into the depths of our marsh here in southeast LA. Probably subject matter for a different thread, but where do these fish go? Do they stay in the canals where they spawn? Do they go out into the nearby lakes? Or in between the two? Sorry for changing subject matter but inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, and by the way 10 fat sacs up to 1lb8oz in canal off bayou desallemands Monday in a foot of water!

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Originally Posted by Itz-a-Haawg

Forget the small percentage of time that they are up shallow. Easy to catch then! I need some tips on how to catch them the other 300 and some odd number of days that they apparently disappear into the depths of our marsh here in southeast LA. Probably subject matter for a different thread, but where do these fish go? Do they stay in the canals where they spawn? Do they go out into the nearby lakes? Or in between the two? Sorry for changing subject matter but inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, and by the way 10 fat sacs up to 1lb8oz in canal off bayou desallemands Monday in a foot of water!

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I've been thinking of starting a similar thread. Why don't you since you expressed the dilemma well. I can't catch once it turns cold in SW Louisiana.

I don't think they go all that far,there are always at least a few fish in the canals,thing is they dont always bite,does not mean they aren't there.I fished a canal one July day,fished for three hours or so with 0 sacs.A thunderstorm kicked up the water started raining and I burned em

The Full Moon has the biggest affect on spawning fish not all fish of one species spawn all at the same time but the majority of them will spawn when thier eggs are ready and the moon is getting full but they will move in and out of the beds according to the water temperature wether they are spawning shallow or deep. So some will spawn in February, March and April. Good fishing guys!

Great thread yall got going here...

The crappie spawn can be hard to figure out sometimes.
You know the males are always ready before the females and usually on the beds way early.
The female crappie will spawn when she is ready and not a minute sooner.
Everything has to be just right...too hot, too cold, over here, over there.... who knows what their thinking
from one day to the next.
And then it happens and is over before you know it started.
The male crappie, having done its job, will happily wait another year for the next spawn.

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Originally Posted by green shiner

Great thread yall got going here...

The crappie spawn can be hard to figure out sometimes.
You know the males are always ready before the females and usually on the beds way early.
The female crappie will spawn when she is ready and not a minute sooner.
Everything has to be just right...too hot, too cold, over here, over there.... who knows what their thinking
from one day to the next.
And then it happens and is over before you know it started.
The male crappie, having done its job, will happily wait another year for the next spawn.

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Now I'm more confused than ever. Can you let us know things are just right?:juggle

Basically, the hawg females are up on the bank and will hit anything you throw at 'em when you're at work, fishing a different (WRONG) spot, having to do some nonsense project for the in-laws, sick in bed with the flu on your day off work, etc. etc......
That's my story, anyway.....
JBJ