THE SPAWN ?

i myself have developed a rather who cares approach to the spawn . there are so many articles and so many opinions and this and that . research indicates this and the temperature has to be that . sunlight amount needs to be adequate and so on and so on .
now mind you i am not trying to start an argument and or discredit anyone . i totally respect others that have done the research and studies and in no way am saying anyone is right or wrong .
but here is what i know from the area i live after 3 years of going 7 days a week regularly on around 7 or 8 bodies of water in the north central part of texas . there is nothing scientific in my research because all i do is go ketch crappie and have a good time .
1 ...i find large female crappie moving shallow sometimes as early as january ALONE !
2... i find male crappie up shallow long behind the females in march .
3 ... i have actually seen them spawning in the moonlight in water temperatures FAR below what is suggested
keep in mind this is just personal observations and once again i have no idea why or who is right or who is wrong . i dont chase them all over the usa and dont know what they do elsewhere . anyway in conclusion to this post i present you a bowl full of crappie eggs . taken from 25 fish yesterday of both species . 20 of the fish were females and they were NOT spawning !
the develop of the eggs in these fish indicates to me they will be doing it VERY soon though .so if you wait like the traditional folks to find them spawning in late march and early april you might reconsider that approach . i would get out your float rig and start looking in some spots (and i will) as soon as next month . especially after dark about 3 or so hours until the next daylight .
hopefully everyone has a fun filled "early" spring because if you follow my posts you will see myself and my buds doing just that :ThumbsUp

Got any cracker lol. They do look almost ready buddy.

Man that is a plate of goodies. Wouldn't mind sinking my teeth into some right now. Ketchn thank you for your thoughts based on your experience. While I don't fish nowhere near as much as you I'm inclined to believe what you have written. I start my search for crappie about this time of year when the weather is more settled and find fish getting ready this soon. Of course this year we're having crazy weather with a warm up a few weeks ago which had some females in the spawning mood. Now it looks like winter will be on us so who knows what that will do to those fish that were ready for an early spawn. All I know is you have to fish for them to catch them, you can't eat fish by sitting at home reading info by all the experts. It's a hands on project.
"gene"

That really is the issue, there are just so many variables and it's confusing to People....whenever I post something, I try to preface it most of the time by saying "at my lake", unless I know it to be true across all lakes, or the Species! Every lake can be different...even lakes in near vicinities...lakes in different regions aren't even close and things can vary wildly! Every little variation can throw the "status quo" way out of wack...then we'll just argue for the sake of it!:)

Unless your camera color is off...IMHO, those pale yellow eggs aren't close!
I caught Fat Crappie in my home lake (SW OHIO) around Christmas that had eggs that looked identical....Now, our lake is under 6+ inches of Growing ICE! The Spawn will be WAAAAY off for us!

Those really are some Fantastic eating...CONGRATS!:):):)

Good Fishing!
Brent

They follow Shad into coves in winter . Here I see a few large females real shallow in sunny weather . Think maybe looking for warmer water to help develope their eggs ?

Very interesting :popcorn

when i can go fishing...i go fishing....the spawn...if i ever see it will be purely accidental.....PPG has it right though...if you want to eat fish ,you have to go catch em........

Here, the Spawns are only driven by water temps, if you know and watch the water temp you won't be far off. Crappie here, like to spawn in 6 to 10 feet of water, so you have to know the temp at that depth!
But, a cold front will delay things, until the water gets back to the proper temp....last year it started and then stopped, and started again alot later!

To me, the Spawns are the time that I take my son and all of his friends out...I try to have all my freezers full beforehand, and then we just go out and have a blast.
During the Spawns the Crappie will hit ANYTHING...this is a good time to get the kids throwing swimbaits, etc., so they get used to the feel of fishing with artificials. Since this is the most heavily fished time of the year....I have taught the boys to release all the females so they can drop their eggs.
The Spawn is a yearly ritual for us to have fun!

I've always heard that bluegill spawn several times a year.Some articals read they spawn every full moon,with spring being the major spawn.I admit I've taken crappie and gills at several different times of the year,with some having eggs in them.

I AGREE WITH NIMROD THAT THE FISH GO INTO THE BACK OF THESE COVES FOLLOWING THE SHAD AND NOT TO SPAWM ,THEY WILL MOVE BACK OUT AND COME BACK LATTER TO SPAWM AND BECAUSE THEY HAVE EGGS PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE READY TO SPAWM,I WISH FISHERMEN WOULD POST THE FIRST SIGN THAT FISH ARE READY TO OR HAVE SPAWM WHICH WOULD BE MALES TURN BLACK OR FEMALE HAVE LOSS MOST OF THEIR EGGS,YOU WILL BE SURPRISE HOW LATE BEFORE ONE OF THESE EVIDENCE ARE POSTED ON THIS BOARD THEN WE WILL LOOK TO SEE WHERE U LIVE. IN MY AREA THEY SAY LAST OF MARCH AND APRIL BUT IN MAY MOST OF THE FISH I CATCH STILL HAVE THEIR EGGS,

I have caught fish in the summer after the spawn with eggs. I don't think it's a develop and drop the eggs kind of thing. Those eggs do need a bit longer but that is a bunch of them!

i often wonder if they have to have color to do the deed myself ....
we are already seeing some male fish with rather developed milt sacks as well ....
of course they have no color and you cant tell til ya whack one .....
you ever seen a "for sure female" turn jet black after 30 minutes on the stringer ?
we have many times ....so then the question would be ....
why couldnt they turn it off and on like that in the water ?
inquiring minds learn ...closed minds dont ....
keep that in mind yawl :ThumbsUp

It varies geographically based on the distance from the equator. The main thing that helps to understand what's happening is to know whether you are catching pre-spawn or fish on the beds,or males guarding the bed. Or post spawn crappie. Not all of them spawn at the same time either. I would say that based on what I see around here the majority of people refer to the prespawn as the spawn. That's when the most fish are caught. They are in the general bedding area but not yet laid the eggs.

I fish long after most crappie fisherman call the spawn as officially over and may have even stopped trying to catch fish shallow. I am fishing for bluegill and redear. I am on spawning banks ,the ones with the right bottom composition and slope and location. I find that many times I will hit a crappie bed that is just outside of the gill beds,maybe just a little deeper,or has some stumps mixed in,or a few branches. Will catch females with broken egg sacks just about ready to lay. On Kentucky Lake as late as Memorial weekend some years.

Further North as late as June and even further North July.

The whole event when the first fish have the biological urge to start to move into and out of the general areas in prespawn feeding,until the last late fish have moved off and the beds are abandoned.....can take three or four months some years. And even then some fish will hang around just off the spawning beds and can be caught its just harder.

If the fish lay the eggs without the right conditions, the right amount of sunlight penetration,temperature, and protection from wave action and without a male to guard them they will not survive. Crappie start to develop eggs just a few months after they have laid them. I caught fish in Southern Illinois that have developed fish egg sacks in them in September....even though they just finished spawning in April and May. They will carry them all winter until the conditions are right.

I would think in warm fertile southern waters the lines would be really blurred. Maybe even more than one spawn? Your pre-spawn far enough south would start in Jan.- I would think and some fish probably lay in Late Feb. and definitely March.

If you have the time,and money ,you could follow the actual spawn periods from Jan. to July by traveling South to North.

nice right up brother ....i would tend to think alot of that is rather factual as well ....
i was wondering if the St. Johns fish were setting up myself ....lots of shredded tails at the weigh in looked like

Water temp around- 64 degrees, They start! That's 64 at there spawning depth, not surface temp. Just my 2 cents.