KY Lake Spawn?

On the recent KY Afield Call-in Fishing Show Sunday night, the Fisheries Biologists and Wildlife Officers noted that the crappie spawn on Kentucky Lake happened several days ago before the water came up and that most of the crappie had moved back out to deeper water. Are you guys who are fishing KY and Barkley lakes finding that to be so? I don't fish Ky Lake like I used to since moving to Somerset a couple of years ago and was just wondering. I mainly fish Lake Cumberland and Green River Lake now. About three weeks ago, before Lake Cumberland had its drastic rise because of all the rain, one afternoon I caught the heck out of the crappie (black males) about 2 ft deep on the banks and a number of good females about 5-6 ft deep just off the banks. Since then, and with the rise in water (and trash), I've caught a few crappie on the banks (all males) but cannot find any females at all. I really don't believe the full spawn has happened this far up on Lake Cumberland, but I might be wrong. Just wondering what you guys think about KY Lake.

While I respect the work that the KY F&W guys do, I think they dropped the ball on this one. I believe the crappie spawn takes place over a drawn-out period of time and from mid-depths to shallow. I think F&W was basing their comments on a small shocking sample in shallow water.

We caught several good pre-spawn fish last week in water over 10 feet deep. They were both black and white female crappie. We have been lead to believe that there is a mass migration of spawning fish that hit shallow water all at the same time, spawn, then get back to deep water to spend their time till the next spring spawn. I have not found that to be the case.

We fished Ky Lake last week from wednesday thru friday. Fishing was really slow, 14 keepers in 2-1/2 days and we were doing about the same as everyone else we talked to. Guy at Fast Eddies said the guides were only catching 6-7 keepers per day. But the fish we did catch were in deep water 15- 25 foot and all still had eggs.
I tried to call in on the KFW show about this, but they never got to my question. My question was "Will these females that moved back to deep water go back in shallow and spawn and will there be any males there to fertilize the eggs?"
Thanks Dog

I'm no Fisheries Biologists , but I can tell you this with 100 percent certainty, The fish I caught Saturday and Sunday off my dock in about 4 FOW where full of eggs, still fairly hard, fat as can be. My neighbor had 15 yesterday, many looked like they were full of eggs. So not sure what areas they used to make this determination? I guess It depends what area of the lake?

This was our catch from last Friday. All females still full. Attachment 200835Attachment 200836

I'm in agreement with Doug. The crappie tend to spawn over a period of a month, month and a half. I fished Nolin Lake today and finally found them 15' to 25' down and over a channel that was 40' deep. These fish were beat up pretty good and look like they'd spawned. Had my first chance to use my homemade drift sock. Without it, not sure how it would have gone fishing that deep. This drift sock cost less than $5.00, I feel pretty good about it.Attachment 200842

I just hope he was not implying that due to unfavorable conditions the majority just aren't going to spawn and will reabsorb the eggs.

I respect the KY Dept of Fish and Wildlife and they maybe correct in saying most of the crappie spawned a few days ago. I fished Sunday at Ky Lake and only had 6 keepers 5 white crappie and 1 black nose 13" long. I cleaned them today and all 6 fish were females full of eggs even the black nose. Maybe the reason I only caught 6 keepers is I'm still fishing where I fish for pre-spawn crappie. I could have caught the tail end of the late spawners ??? The real concern I have is the number of fish I was able to catch this spring. I am in no way the best fisherman but most of the time I get my share out of Ky Lake. Through the exact same dates last year 3/15/14 thru 4/26/14 I fished KY 8 times with a total of 281 keepers and this year 3/15/15 thru 4/26/15 I fished KY 8 times with a total of 168 keepers. Every trip both years were long line trolling jigs. I know a lot of crappie fisherman and everyone had a hard time catching fish this spring. I just wonder if the Asian carp has anything to do with this??? One of the bright spots this spring was the size of the crappie we were catching. Just thought I'd put my .02 worth in on the crappie spawn and see if everyone had a hard time catching fish this spring.

My concern started a couple years ago. I think there were 2 tough spawns in a roll. I fish the north end of Ky from March through June every year. 2 years ago caught very few short fish. Last year I only caught seven short fish in 4 months. Numbers were still decent last year. This year everyone is still catching the same big fish as other years but we aren't catching the 10 to 12 inch fish that would have been shorts last year. These have been the fish that bumped numbers in the past and that class is not abundant right now. Fortunately I have caught more shorts this year but not like 3 plus years ago. We need 3 or 4 solid spawns in a roll to see the improvement. Just my opinion and I am certainly no biologist so take it for what it's worth. I also caught 7 fish on Friday. 6 of the 7 were females and all had bloody eggs.

Mr Dux is spot on about the spawn. Secondly, I think there is definitely cause for concern in some parts of Kenctucky Lake, like Blood River. I think technology has a lot to do with it, crappie can't hide like they use to with side imaging and GPS. Encompass that with most fisherman having the inability to control themselves, and you'll get tough times (not to mention Asian carp). The good news is as people continue to struggle, they'll got to the next hot bite lake and Kentucky Lake will get a few years rest. It's the cycle that continues to repeat itself, time and time again.

I agree with Dux also. I have fished weekly south of the bridge on both sides of the state line. All the fish I have caught have been full of eggs with the exception of yesterday. some didn't have eggs while some did. While it is my opinion, I feel the spawn is similar to the deer coming into heat. While the majority do have a set bracket of time to come in there will be activity before and after the main event. But hey, I'm incorrect regularly. Just ask my wife. :dono

My own conspiracy theory is that the short fish are too scared to come out cover because the massive "herds" of 50lb Asian carp swimming above their heads ...

Crappie don't know those 50lb fish only eat plankton ...

If I was a crappie and seen those herds of massive fish ... I wouldn't come out either ...for no bait offerings ...

Rickie

Slabseeker1 how did you go about making the drift sock? Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rnvinc

My own conspiracy theory is that the short fish are too scared to come out cover because the massive "herds" of 50lb Asian carp swimming above their heads ...

Crappie don't know those 50lb fish only eat plankton ...

If I was a crappie and seen those herds of massive fish ... I wouldn't come out either ...for no bait offerings ...

Rickie

---

Do you know the "Crappie Man"? That is his theory ...at least you think alike.

I suspect there was a round of spawning took place this past weekend.
Full moon Saturday did not hurt. I caught several females full of eggs in 2 foot of water last weekend.
Water temps were 62-64. I would also guess the end is near.

I fished Monday on Barkley. Same place I caught fish last week. Ended up with 19 keepers again. All fish still had eggs, I was fishing brush piles on the edge of creek channels 13-17 ft.

i was there in middle of april. not much was going on. the fish we did catch had great size. they was also full of eggs. we were fishing north end of lake and called blood river area as we were going to trailer boat and head down there. we were told blacks were done and 3/4 of white were done with spawn. i also agree with dux. there i no date that all of the fish just suddenly show up on the bank spawning, they all have their own agendas. thats why they call it fishing and not catching!

And it still isn't over!! Fished 3 times this week and caught a mess each time. Last Sunday, out of 16 fish, 12 were #1.5 or better! Some of the females had eggs and some had already put down their deposit.