The Spawn on LoZ? What gives?

Are these fish ever going to spawn or is it over? Hard to believe the spawn is done already with so many sows still full of eggs and hanging out in the deeper water off the banks. I couldn't catch anything shallow on the Glaize this weekend. Another guy I know said they did well catching nice crappie on crankbaits in 20-30' of water on the Gravois arm. Most of them were sows with eggs. That sounds more like a summer pattern instead of a spring pattern. My graph showed water temps between 63-70 degrees Saturday evening and that should be ideal for spawning, right?

If they don't move shallow to spawn after a week of 80 degree highs and 60 degree lows, does that mean it's over with and the sows with eggs just aren't going to spawn? It has me perplexed and I'm just curious as to what the experts with more crappie knowledge think about it.

I struggled too, I think the water is so clear that they are definitely spawning deeper

I fished Purivs all last week and the water is more stained there and they still were not on the banks. I think you will see most fish spawning first couple weeks of May which is not unusual. Some of the smaller females we caught were spawned out but the big females were full of eggs that were getting loose. This has been a very odd year and I don't know why because the weather has been somewhat stable and gradually getting warmer...got me fooled for sure. Maybe they are moving to the banks after dark idk

I camped at Army Rec this past weekend. Caught one crappie from the bank. The guys camped next to me were catching them off points with minnows. I drove up to Laurie and found some near the bank in the dirtier water. No real size to anything I caught.

I am perplexed as well. I know the water is much clearer than normal where I have been fishing in the midlake. Spots that have been great producers for spawning fish for 20+ years I can not get bit on. Catching scattered fish in spots but no spots where you can stack them up. Have yet to clean a spawned out female. Most unusual.

I was down there all of last week and Saturday. And every person I talked to didn't have any luck ether on banks! I had good luck fishing docks tho..Attachment 201744

I love shooting docks. It is my favorite way to catch crappie. The only problem with that is that nobody else that fishes with me can do it. It has really been a difference maker on several trips in the past two years on whether you caught fish or not. On two trips this spring, I caught quite a few crappie shooting docks while the others in the boat literally caught nothing because they could only fish the edges. I would have rather them catch the fish instead of me but I really didn't know of any other way to put fish in the boat those days.

ST- I completely agree with you! I have the same problem.
I don't regret my fishing partners not catching fish if they have fished with me before and learned the dock shooting really works and they don't go and practice shooting. I have taught a few people how to do it and they aren't to bad now. I had a sprang ankle all last week and couldn't stand and kneel in the boat. So I sat on butt in front of the boat and did just as good from the sitting position.
The neighbor I took out has two replaced hips and knees, He sat there and did ok for first time. But will he do it everytime? No.. But he now has a chance of putting fish in boat on day were his old ways aren't working! And that's a great feeling!

KS what rod do you prefer for shooting?

I use a 7' light action BPS Microlite graphite spinning rod with a 6925 Pflueger President and a 7' light action Shakespeare micro series spinning rod with an Abu Garcia Cardinal 101 spinning reel. Both are spooled with 4# mono. I'll usually rig one with a 1/32oz and the other with a 1/16oz head. It took me several trips before I got to where I could shoot decent. The biggest issue I had was making sure I was low enough to the water so that the jig would skip instead of just punching in to the water. Once I started shooting from my knees, my shooting improved drastically.

Attachment 201779
This is a older ozark rod. Before they sold the company.
Attachment 201780
Good old bass pro shop crappie rod. 6' long
Attachment 201781
Old favorite but a wee bit short for me now. It's 5'6" long.
I use all three poles threw out the day. They all feel different and handle differently. But can shoot them all the same. It makes you a better dock shooter when you are able to switch out poles and keep consistency and accuracy.
Now let's get this strait here. I'm not trying to toot my on horn here. The main reason I have three different poles is because I'm not going to go out and buy two more poles that match. I use what I have on hand. I run three different poles so I can change my bait color or size quickly.
If I was starting out and wanted to buy a dock shooting pole I would by Berkly Cherrywood rod.
That's the pole I started my family on.
The only thing I don't like about the rod is the stainless steel guides.
But it's a perfect rod for dock shooting. Good back bone and cheap on cost! Any light to Med rod will do tho. You just need to practice with it a lot!

This is pretty typical spawn activity at LOZ when the water is clear. Fish are not going to be in 1'-2' of water when the water is this clear. They'll get up on the banks at dark, then back out to scattered deeper structure during the day.

Need to find dark shady structure during the day, shooting docks, sides of docks etc. If this rain gets the water muddy they'll get back on the banks, if not they'll spawn deeper, especially with the water warming up faster.

Meller, have you been to the Gravois any recently? Is it really clear up there too?

I fished Fri. & Sat. 10 mm and caught a few males off the banks in 4 to 5 foot of water but caught the females in 25 to 30 foot of water in front of the docks.

Some guys I keep running into were anchored in 35 foot water in the middle of the cove catching fish.

In the last 3 weeks I have yet to catch a female crappie on the bank, but the bass have been in spawning for the last 2 weeks.

I think the cold front two weeks ago and UE raising and lowering the lake for the last 3 weeks has something to do with the odd spawn this year.

Gravios is probably the clearest of all, it usually is. No I haven't been up there recently, but a coworker was up there all last weekend and said you might as well leave the boat at the dock until at least 7:30 pm. Then it got better, but not great.

I use a 6' 6" bionic blade med light action from bps for shooting. I can't shoot a mile with that rod but that's all I really use it for. im with you KS dock shooting is deadly once you learn how to do it and HAVE THE RIGHT ROD!

I'm there every weekend and really haven't been catching them on the banks the last 3 weekends.
It's been very speratic. I'm on the glaze arm and it's clear as a bell.

When I do clean the fish I have been getting very little females with eggs.
Also seems the whites are very scarce.
I'm sure there deeper but for me seem to have lock jaw during the day.
I guess this weekend I might try at night.
But that's when all the fun is going on :)

Good luck. We are at bull shoals right now and can't buy a crappie. The water is almost 70 degrees but the locals say they haven't spawned yet. We've tried deep shallow and everything in between. Very confusing.....