Fishing the spawn

Anyone have any tips on catching some specks during the spawning time? I do not want to keep any fish but I would like to see if I can catch them when they move up shallow. I am fairly new to crappie fishing and the only method I use is drifting with minnows. The only lake I crappie fish is Lake tarpon. Me and my Daddy went there this tuesday and we caught only about 9 fish before the wind started howling. but we were very thankful for them and release them all to fight another day. any tips greatly appreciated or leave the spawners alone as I do with bass?

Try drifting along the pads/grass line on eastern shore from north end of lake southward. Start in close and if not successful, increase your distance from the shore line. I've only fished there once but Skipper's jigs (minnow tipped) worked good. Hope this helps.

Northeast end of lake - end of last month couple teams fished the reeds, "single pole" jiggin and did quite well.
After last full moon - most may have spawned out...........as at time they were sure ready to go with eggs starting to squirt out when caught

Thanks for the tips guys,I knew I could count on some good advice from the CDC members, I do not post much but really enjoy reading everyone else's posts as you guys are really great fisherman judging by the pictures.The N.E. end of the lake is where we caught the few fish we did catch the other day. I never have tried drifting with jigs minnow- tipped. Is that more attractive to the fish? where can I get a hold of some skippers jigs?My Dad is pretty oldschool and all we do is drift minnows out in open water.We fish out of a 18 foot bass boat with a trolling motor but only use the trolling motor to control our drift. I would really like to try to catch them like fishin813 recommended but I have no idea where to start or what time of year that works!!!!! Dad usually only fishes for crappie in the fall/winter but looks like you guys stay on the fish pretty much year round! I think it would be really cool to show him you could catch those fish year round. To me they are such a beautiful species and I enjoy looking at them and returning them back to the water but Dad will occasionally keep a few for dinner which is fine to me!

If they have spawned out, drifting open water is what you want to do. They should be hungry as a bear after hibernating. lol. Use your electronics to find brushpiles there. Skippers Jigs is a sponsor on the FL forum. Look for the gold logo and click on it. I like the mylars but I am starting to use the moon jigs. I was the same way...never used jigs for years. I'm HOOKED on them now. Give 'em a try. Good fishing!

Lake Monroe in the pads this week was awesome... Cleaned just shy of 100.... all good sized fish... had 7 males over 2 pounds... biggest 2.3... Pix of it is at Southern Tackleworks.. out of the 100... just 2 females... and neither one was close to being ready to spawn... with this last cold front... who knows what this week will bring.. we had frost this morning in Tavares... weather is just nuts...

Specklocker,how will I know if they have spwaned out yet???? I will pick up some jigs for sure before I go out again,any color/S that I should definitely have in my tackle box?

CrappieHollic, looks like you really have these fish figured out!!! Thats a heck of a mess!!! I have only been on the fish once like that in my life and they were bluegill, but it was a very memorable trip!! Looks like we're due for a trip to Monroe!! Awsome catch!!!

Slabmano19,
did you read the pm i sent you couple days ago?

This was 4 Trips to Monroe... not in one trip... Fish the pads clear on the Southern End of Monroe... near the Mothers Arms... used mainly pink ice jigs.. tipped with very small minnows... as small as you can get.... I seriously doubt if the crappie are spawned out.. with these cold water temps... I believe the whole month of March will be great fishing... time will tell.....

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Originally Posted by SLABMAN019

Specklocker,how will I know if they have spwaned out yet???? I will pick up some jigs for sure before I go out again,any color/S that I should definitely have in my tackle box?

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If you troll along the edge of the pads/grass and you're not catching fish or if you fish in the pads/grass and no fish. The other way is when you clean your catch and there are no eggs present... start with the 'buttercup' mylar and moon jig minnow tipped. I hope this helps!