Crappie spawn starts on an average of 13.2 daylight hours, and the last nesting sites occurred when the daylight averaged 14.6 hours.
Is this pretty true unless there's a drastic weather change which can delay the end to crappie spawn.
Crappie spawn starts on an average of 13.2 daylight hours, and the last nesting sites occurred when the daylight averaged 14.6 hours.
Is this pretty true unless there's a drastic weather change which can delay the end to crappie spawn.
Where did that info come from? I've never heard that but would like to read more about it.
Found it on a link from 2nd post on this crappie.com threadQuote:
Originally Posted by FurFlyin
https://www.crappie.com/crappie/ask-...crappie-spawn/
The link is
http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/content/dow...May%202014.pdf
The article said on 7th page:
However, crappie don't spawn at the same time every year. There are several other variables that influence this annual ritual. Photo period is a key trigger to spawning. Dr. Fred Vasey, fisheries biologist at Missouri's Table Rock Lake, reported that crappie began spawning when there were 13.2 hours of daylight. Table Rock Lake has about the same latitude as Fall River and Toronto Reservoirs. That day will occur on April 15, 2014 at Fall River and Toronto Reservoirs. Vasey also observed the last crappie spawn when there was 14.6 daylight hours, which will occur on May 31.
I have heard that and I think they are a lot to it! But also they all don’t go at the same time either! Also water temp plays a big factor!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slabprowler
Daylight calculator (number of daylight hours, with sunrise and sunset, and daylight saving time) in indiana (or anywhere else)
The link above is where I got daylight hrs each day in Ind., according to it May 5th is 14.6hrs which is the ending of spawn according the article I read. The article also said weather interruptions can delay beginning and ending of spawn. I'm no expert just posting info I read.
Hate to blow holes in your theory, but last number of years I catch tons of females with eggs and not spawned out from deep water in first week of June or alittle later. I am a firm believer, not all crappie spawn at the same time and every lake is different and even if it’s a big lake, different parts of the lake, the fish will spawn when other parts are a couple days later. Weather, air and water temp, and air pressure systems plus throw in the moon phases can create variables affecting spawning cycles I think.
Its not my theory, I am new to fishing the Crappie/Perch spawn. In my 50+ yrs of fishing, before now I've only crappie fished in the summer, fall, winter. I have been research to try to catch them in spawn and I'm just passing on info I read to get Crappie fishermens views. I don't know if anything is true in the article from the PDF file link I posted above. In that article a fisheries biologist gives a reason why crappies are caught deep after spawn with eggs. If you go to the 7th page it says this:Quote:
Originally Posted by cevans
Link quote:
Some, but not all crappie may be multiple spawners. That is, if a female is in good condition, she won't lay all her eggs at one time. Instead, she may deposit the first batch of eggs early in the spawning season then return to the spawning beds later after ripening a second batch.
Some years, crappie are up on the spawning beds only to retreat to deeper water after a cold front comes through. They may stay in deeper water for days or even weeks waiting for favorable spawning conditions to return. If conditions are too unstable, they sometimes won't return at all and reabsorb their eggs. This may explain why anglers catch females with eggs late in the season.
I wouldn't base how I was going to fish or when... Off that article
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Up here in NW Indiana crappie don't spawn until May in most waters, at least in my experience. I regularly fish Cedar Lake for crappie and spawning is typically in the last half of May when we 14 1/2 to 15 hours of daylight. I have often been fishing for spawning crappie on Memorial Day. Seem to me crappie spawning is mostly related to water temperature and weather. in nearby Lemon Lake County Park (a big pond, really) crappie usually spawn a bit earlier in the year. I have checked temps and typically Lemon Lake warms up before Cedar Lake does.
Perfect example, it has to do with water temp. You're talking about spawning fish in May up north. When I've went south and caught spawning fish in March.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeckMaster
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I will have to say the info I have posted is from a Missouri Fish biologist at Table rock, the article is for the Fall River/Toronto Fisheries District. The article does say these 2 areas are the same latitude which is also the same latitude as the southwest tip of Indiana. So I'm assuming the crappie spawn time would be for southwest Indiana(Evansville) and would be way off for my Midwest area and way way off for N. Indiana.
Monday I fished a small lake with a large 3fot cove and the temp was 62 late evening, it was 58 around noon. All I caught was small bass but one guy said he caught 2 male crappies. So I guess my area is close to temps for spawn.
My gold fish spawned early this year and they are the only fish that I'm certain of having keep them in ornamental ponds for over 30 years. :-)
I don't question the biologists know something about when the spawn happens and my experience is that it happens about the same time every year. I also plant my garden at the same time every year so I don't find it remarkable but I can plant my garden a few days earlier on average than when I lived in the suburbs in a valley that always had some late frosts.
The daylight hours mentioned are from mid April to mid May so that is going to catch most of the Crappie spawn for latitude 38 to 39. If you go fishing from mid April to mid May you will catch the spawn here. That is what I would call a pretty inaccurate forecast if you were say planning a vacation around the spawn making the utility of the information fairly useless for most people.