I'm interested in some input and observations. Over the past few years, I've seen folks catch a number of nice crappie in February and March in shallow water. I was talking to one fisherman and he said it is all about daylight getting longer and not water temperatures. I've talked to other people and they say it is all about temperatures. What do you guys think?
I think it's a combination of both that trigger them to move shallow. Given a cold early spring the fish will still move shallow to spawn just not as early as will happen with a warm start to spring. When spring approaches and water temp rises past 50 then it's time to look shallow.
I feel that daylight hours has more to do with time of spawn and water temp more to do with water depth and lake area. I also think moon phase plays a big part in the spawn.
They have a biological clock built in, Longer daylight hours does have a lot to do with it I believe, Love this time of year on tap.
All you need is a tiny spin rod, tube jig pumped with niblets, a 1/32 jig, and a tiny float, cast out and pop it back in,
VERY DEADLY
Or two 1/4 oz jigs with tubes and 40 feet of string........Quote:
Originally Posted by albiechaser
Will keep a watch on this post and see if i can use the information on gaston or buggs,thanks guys
To me, the length of days just means more sunlight on the water causing the temp to rise. Just this "rise" may start movement. My luck has been starting in Feb. when the water temp is in the low 50's. I've heard others say 47 deg. is the "start moving temp". I also believe moon phase has an effect. Good input from all and interesting to read. Also, we've heard about water temp. warming up on the NW most areas, but my luck has been in the E area. NW area's dont start for me until March. Interesting.
Heck fire Gene I've been watching for your post so I can learn, lol now your gonna watch so you can learn haha what am I suppose to do now lolQuote:
Originally Posted by genec
CT,need all the help I can get,I even watch how fish act in aquarium:dono:Rofl
What I have found is that crappie often move to shallow (6-8 ft.) water in February because the shad move up out of the channel after a few days of warm weather.I like to go in the afternoon when the shallow flat is a few degrees warmer than the channel.Find wood in those areas and you can catch big crappie.For my style of fishing nothing works better than a roadrunner/curly tail.As for March it could be that they are moving shallow for both shad and/or spawning.Unusally warm weather could move everything up but that doesn't look likely this year.
I've usually started in the spring when the water temp gets into the low 50's and found them shallow, but this year,Quote:
Originally Posted by ppowell
I think I'll start a little early, when the temp. get to 47 deg. and see what I can find. I think Jordan is about 43 deg. now and with all this cold weather, it may be awhile.
What happen to post,i was hoping for more information. In the lakes i fish the upper creeks start first then a couple or 3 weeks latter the lower creeks starts,how do it seems to start in your lakes?
Also,usually starts after the full moon in feb,then in march in lower creeks
I personally think.. its a combination of the water temp, bait, and moon phase.... last year on Wylie because of the cold early spring, the fish came in shallow way later than expected.. but on the other hand they stayed shallow well into may.. which was the total opposite of spring 2012.. when there were limits being real shallow in the second week of February... the cold spring of last year also hurt the white bass and the American shad run on the peedee as the runs came alot later and with alot less fish being caught.
I like a little of both.....but depending on the size of the body of water you are fishing...it varies......i like to look for wood on dark bottom shallows on the sunny side of ponds early in the year......and when the water temps hit 50ish.......it is time to start hitting the spawning haunts as the males will beshowing up trying to get that prime real estate.......this time of year starts to get VERY fishy!!!
Could talk on this all day. They spawn by photoperiod ans water temp. I fish deep until April when the bigger fish move up. Smaller males move up first and bigger fish later when water gets around 60 or so. They move shallower in cold water chasin shad. When early spring rains force lots if cold fresh water I n the lake the bait goes I to coves and onto mud flats where the water is a little warmer. Same reason I catch big blue cats in 5 ft of water in Feb and march. Now they may be suspended shallow over deep water rather than in shallow water in early spring. I've caught a lot of big crappie In 30 ft of water in March while a lot of guys limit out on 8 inchers beating the bank. Don't get locked in on shallow water til that water temp hits about 60 but there will always be fish deep.
Dont doubt what you're saying at all but I've caught 12-13" crappie in 2-4 fow in early feb., close to 6' creek channel when water temp was in the low 50's.
Thanks guys for all the comments and keep them coming. This is the kind of information that helps all of us. We know there are lurkers on here looking to steal someone's favorite spot, but I think the most important service this website can provide is helping all of us be a smarter fisherman. As can be seen in the comments so far, there are more ways than one to successfully catch nice-sized crappie.
I have notice that if you get much sunshine in late feb and early march that the big ones will come in shallow water to feed in after noon on sunny banks,many think they are coming shallow to spawn but I think they come shallow to feed then they will move back out after a few days then come back to spawn,bass do it also,for a few days if you hit it right you can catch many,then by time the rest of the fishermen hear about it or working it is over in that creek,may find them in another creek
Sprintfns, you make a good point that some big fish are shallow as early as feb. Shallow and deep are all a relative term also. If the creek channel in the creek is only 6 ft. deep, then 2-4 ft. isn't much different than the fish being in the channel, but some big fish will move up early. Gene, I've noticed wheat you're saying about warm days also. I remember a trip last early March where I started the day tightlining in 35. ft of water with surface temps in the low 50's. By the afternoon I was catching fish in 10 ft. with surface temps warming to the mid 50's. One thing about early spring is that the fish change day by day and nothing is certain as to where you'll find them at and most of the times you'll find some fish at all kinds of different depths.
From fishing for the other specks, down east, I've found that warm afternoons any time during cold weather can bring fish up shallow. I've often found fish piled up on a 2'-3' flat with good sun exposure, especially where there was wind blowing into the bank. Last time I ran up on this the water temp in the main channel was 47°-48°, the temp up shallow was 2°-3° warmer. It's not a regular pattern by any means but it's something to look for if the fish aren't where you expect them to be.
In early march year before last,i was catching them in gaston so shallow that i had to raise my trolling motor and drift with wind as i cast to bank less than a foot with a light jig,last year cancer keep me off the lake much of the time
Lots of good info here. Don't forget about wind direction as well. Fish those shallow water bays where the winds are blowing into them, late in the day can be special. Fish when you find them are there to eat but they move in and out allot until those temps get up to around 60.
For several years if you get a good grip on the weather and find a three or four day warm up, you can find 'em coming in shallow for feed and chasin shad. Many guys believe that is the start of the spawn but it is very typical and you can really do well in very shallow water. I have done very well tightlining in the back of Buffalo and Bluestone up at Buggs in Feb.Quote:
Originally Posted by JordanLimit
Good information shared on this thread. I have experienced the warm afternoon shallow bite many times. Fishing brush piles I catch fish early in the day 12' deep or so and in the warm afternoon those same fish move up to 3' deep. Caught them off the bank in 1-2 fow late afternoon in early March and when the sun dipped below the tree tops the went back to deeper water almost immediately. Bait , moon and water temp all play a role but I think the warming water and cooling water moves them up and down quicker than other variables.
Crappies don't have a calendar. They react to their enviroment. they do react to the photoperiod, but a lot of cloudy days can back that up. they react to water tempature, more as to how fast it warms than how warm it gets. I've seen it warm from 40 to 46 on a 3 day warmin trend and make a great catch. Also seen it warm up to 48 slowly an ya couldn't hardly catch a fish. I've been fishin 4-6 days a wk for many yrs. I go a lot on bad days and try to learn something. The full moon has been good to me as far as catchin bigger fish. I usually catch more bigguns around the full moon than any other time. I've caught 40-60 females up in shallow water, after it warmed 4-5 degrees in Jan. but this is rare. I do best in Feb an March by titelinin 5 ft or less in 5-20fow. Side imagin has helped locate these shallow fish where as we used to have to fish to find them. don't wait til ya here they bitin, be the one to tell others they bitin!!!
Breeding, eating and surviving, that's all these crappie know. They'll give up comfort to eat, they'll give up eating to escape danger.
Don't have near the experience that fishdoc has but IMO truer words have never been spoken. Fish don't have calendars.
Thanks Fishdoc. No better way to learn than spending time on the water and gaining the knowledge you have.
I usually get skunked 2-4 times a yr, but that ain't bad for 250-300 days of fishin IMHO. you will learn more from these days than from the ones where ya catch all ya want at the first place ya fish, usin the first technique ya try. its actually better to leave that first place an fish all new places on days like that, if ya wanna learn more new places. thats also the best time to learn a new technique.
Keith,that's what I tell people if they want to learn how to fish better,fish with a guide when they are not biting good,but if just want to catch fish then go with one on better biting days. I too have always love to move while fish are biting at the spot I am fishing,always love serching for fish,but most of the time when wife is with me ,she over rules my notion to move I think I got that way from all those years of bass fishing,I stayed on the move
Gene, I'm the same way no matter if I'm fishing for crappie, catfish or whatever. If the bite is good, I will usually leave biting fish to se if I can replicate the pattern somewhere else. I'm not a fan of honey hole fishing and would rather understand why the fish ae doing what they are doing not just knowing they are in a spot. And side imaging helps a ton when looking for fish....any type of fish. I've used mine to catch shad in shallow water and just recently won a catfish tournament on Blewett Falls using it to locate blues in shallow water and finished second in a tournament on Lake Tillery last Sat finding fish in about 25 ft. but never saw them on regular sonar and also found some nice blues at Badin Sun. in about 25 ft. of water, but again never saw them on regular sonar. Side image is an awesome tool if you can get a handle on it. I'll never again be without side image or navionics.
I love fishin them on the Northernmost side of the lake in the Muddy water that warms the quickest....They come up earliest there,and STAGE in the Warmest Deep pockets of that area(which explains why folks catch alot of Big-uns around concrete pilings that absorb the suns heat.Bridges & Overpasses)...When the bite slows there I don't have to go far from there, as the flats are close by & so are the WILLOWS ,where they end up tight in the thick stuff to spawn...Early Feb to March,you can catch alot of 2 lb plus fish in these type of areas...The bite is slow...But you just gotta work these areas with different combinations of Just minows(double rig) or Minnow jig combos run either VERY slowly(.2 to .5 mph)with the troller of just plain freeze up(anchor over the top of um & wait.....