1 fish 2 fish ......

boy fish girl fish ?
I think yes but then again I just guess around some and don't really open many up to positively identify the gender .
I do know 2 to 3 weeks ago none flew colors like the boldly marked fish pictured below at that spot .
And daily I see more fish with bold markings there . Now mind you length of days and water temperature are not right for this species as of now ,but again I say prepare yourself for the spawn .
I am thinking in the next 2 weeks or so I will see more darkly marked fish at that spot and I will probably see some really rounder lighter colored fish as well .
I would tend to think if I find some black crappie in the near future the male fish will be rather dark as well .
my plan is to try to ketch a few black crappie next week at another location where they are more abundant and see if there is a marked color difference among them . Our local waters are still in the upper 40 to low 50 degree range , but once again around 55 to 58 I think I will find some shallow black crappie somewhere .
stay tuned and be ready
February is near and its about to get fun under a float :highfive

:highfive

Those fish are definitely getting their Springtime colors, especially the first one. Cannot wait, another couple months here but Fun under a Float is coming!


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Several things that I've read indicate that the actual "spawn" occurs when water temps are above 55deg & daylight hours are between 13 and 14hrs long ... which around here is generally late April to early May. (on average)

Ketchn ... how does that correspond to your area of the country, as far as temps & length of daylight ?? From what I'm seeing on length of daylight sites, your area is only reaching the 13hr daylight a few days before ours (though I'm sure your water temps reach spawning range well before then). :scratchhead

You are spot on, the females should be filling with eggs and yes the blacks will come up first, my 2cts,

When the dogwoods are blooming........

I just fish the fish as I think they do it when they get the urge..... some want it faster others take their time.....I don't there is a exact science to the this and that's before they are spawning... Fish The Fish.....

Nice update. A few months away from the spawn here and it's interesting to read about it somewhere else.

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I had a few come through my boat this weekend that looked like it’s closer than one might think. The female was sporting a pretty good belly and the male was colored dark almost all the way down his sides. A little early for my thinking but what do I know?

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Several things that I've read indicate that the actual "spawn" occurs when water temps are above 55deg & daylight hours are between 13 and 14hrs long ... which around here is generally late April to early May. (on average)

Ketchn ... how does that correspond to your area of the country, as far as temps & length of daylight ?? From what I'm seeing on length of daylight sites, your area is only reaching the 13hr daylight a few days before ours (though I'm sure your water temps reach spawning range well before then). :scratchhead

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I used to believe some of what I read on scientific studies and in some cases think some of it holds true , but I also realized at some point it varied greatly from body of water to body of water for whatever reasons . I have no clue what drives some to short water ahead of the others and in some cases think it might be age related as bigger fish seem to show first in small numbers .
We found really big brute male white crappie (over 2 lbs are big here btw) one year in a spawning area ,the fish ranged from 1lb 11 oz to 2 lb 4 oz. and we only landed 9 of them in February and I still don't know why as it wasn't near time for whites to be up in that area .
I can tell you it was a miserable raining windy cold day and I was pretty sure when we went back in that spot we were not going to find fish and went there basically to avoid the north wind and rain as best we could .
So this in turn changed my mind on much of what I read about water temperatures and length of days as the barometer for finding fish shallow . I don't think those fish had any females in the area that day and were likely just there to start the party a bit early but in the end I only ketch them and don't know for sure from day to day what they are actually doing when . I would venture to say they were in a prespawn mode and scouting out the area and maybe trying to establish territory areas for the next month ? I for sure don't know for sure though .
I just pitch my jig and hope I out guess them ….:crazy:

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

I used to believe some of what I read on scientific studies and in some cases think some of it holds true , but I also realized at some point it varied greatly from body of water I just pitch my jig and hope I out guess them ….:crazy:

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I agree ^ pitch those jigs and let the fish tell you what they want.
I got lucky last year and tried a spot shallow after a big rain.
2 lb males and females moved shallow over night. 2-3 ft deep.
Everybody else on the lake was still catching some fish out in deeper water and I had the early bird spawners to myself!




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