Crappie in Summer pattern already?

Hey guys,

This year I had less then a week of a good spawn bite….it was tough to begin with due to the lake being up 6-8ft higher then normal. When I did manage a few they were good keeper crappie. Two weeks later and now after the weather has stabilized in the 80’s I can’t find a crappie to save my life, I’ve gone the last three days this memorial weekend and nothing! I should mention this is bank fishing by the way. They seem to be in a summer pattern now, out in deeper open water….theirs only one way I know how to catch them in summer from the bank and that’s night fishing!! Anyone else having poor luck, how’s the night bite for you?

- GEO

I caught 182 fish between 3 trips Friday, and Sat. I don't think our spawn has started yet. A lot of small fish were in the shallow water from 3 to 8 feet, caught 20 that were all 6 inches or less. I moved to some deeper water apx 20 feet and found a tree down in the water. I hammered them off of the downed tree. Was still catching smaller fish that weren't legal for where I was fishing but the size changed by 2 to 4 inches. Most of the fish were white crappie in the 8 to 9 inch range about every 3rd or 4th fish would be a keeper. I only caught a couple of black crappie. Fish were holding on the tree about 8 to 12 feet deep. Water temp was about 67 on the surface. I'm hoping the bigger fish start to move into the shallow end this week. I'd really like to get into a bunch of blacks. On this lake the whites are longer and skinny, you almost need a 10 inch white to get a good fillet off of it.

Hope that helps some.

Haven't been in over a month due to weather and other things, but in previous years I have found them post spawn close to the bank (around wood cover, especially dead-falls on deep banks) .... but, just on banks that are shaded thru most of the morning hours. You might also find them around docks sitting over deep water or those close to a channel or drop-off. If your local marina allows it, you might also find some schooled beneath the covered slips, especially those with pontoons parked in them.

Won't be long before I'll find out how "night fishing" is going to be, whether it's "worm fishing" for Bass (annual birthday trip) or flipping jigs to deep cover with Livescope for Crappie. Might even resort to taking a bucket of minners & tying up in a stand of trees. But, I'm sure there'll be those days where I'll be on the water at daylight(ish) and casting jigs to brush on shaded banks, until the Sun is high, then do some trolling or Pushing for open water fish (Crappie or Hybrid Stripers) and then go back to the shaded or soon to be shaded banks (3PM - 5PM) and see if the Crappie are back there looking for dinner. When & how I fish depends on which lake I venture to and who my fishing partner is at the time.

as far north as you are it is likely they are till spawning, we still have fish with viable roe in them as far south as Houston , not sure why you are not on the fish , but to be sure they haven't moved too far from where they spawn , might be they are spawning deeper than normal ? :dono

Temperature and weather has been weird this year up north. Water temperature was cold then climbed really fast. I think there’s a few still spawning but the majority are in the post spawn. Surface temps in the lower 70s here.

can you explain your night fishing methods?

A buddy and I crappie fish weekly if not more here in NEO. We are on the lake from ice out in early March to ice up in Nov/Dec when ever it starts forming and salt is all over the roads. That's when I put the boat away as I don't want salt coating my trailer and boat.
Due to all my work travel in March, we didn't get out on the boat till the first week in April.
This year is definitely different than last year.
2021 water level was at winter pool till late April/early May. 2022 water at or slightly above full pool in early March.
2021 water temps slowly increased each week. 2022 water temps stayed low and then jumps 10 degrees and then back down 10 degrees, then slowly rose 5 degrees then back down. A yo yo on temps for sure.

2021 we slayed the crappie and the amount caught increased each weekend almost without fail. Also caught quite a few white bass sometimes outnumbering the numbers of crappie we caught those days.
2022 we started slow and we are increasing the numbers each week but sometimes fall back depending on the water temps. Only 1 white bass this year but we are killing the bluegills. Gills have been spawning for three weeks shooting their milt all over when caught.
The crappie, I don't think have went into full spawn. It's like some are some aren't.

Now my question. I have notice that the few we have kept and filleted, the females have the normal yellow egg sac up until last two weekends. They now appear to lost the yellow color and are now tan to brownish sacs with the eggs still intact and have not shrunk in size. Does the color change indicate the spawn is over and the egg sacs are being reabsorbed? Or does that mean the females are now on the verge of the spawn and ready to drop their eggs?
We will be out on our lake both Sat and Sun this weekend. I will be interested to see what has happened to the sacs.

We put thousands of crappie in the boat last year and released most of them keeping some only twice last year. This year we planned on keeping some more and are bringing the ice and cooler bringing home between 10-15 each time.
One more thing. We do our best crappie catching in June/July and August before the numbers start falling as the cooler weather sets in in mid-Sept. 100-225 crappie in a day is the norm after the spawn. We have identified several mid-lake humps where they all gather enmass after the spawn till they start migrating back to the shorelines and shallows in Sept when the water cools.

It was the first week in June in 2021 that the spawn was wrapping up and they started migrating from the shorelines to the mid-lake humps. Looking forward to this weekend to see whether the same pattern applies this year.

Opie1 .... tan to brownish eggs are normally no longer viable and are going to be absorbed by the fish.

The are in summer mode here in SE Ohio.

Fish both Sat and Sunday this weekend. Crappie are moving to the mid-lake summer mounts and the crappie I brought home were all females and the egg sac was tan to brown in color.

Thank you CrappiePappy.

Lack of strong thermocline , I would say no . They are headed back out but have hung up at 10-12 ft .

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Originally Posted by Charman03

Temperature and weather has been weird this year up north. Water temperature was cold then climbed really fast. I think there’s a few still spawning but the majority are in the post spawn. Surface temps in the lower 70s here.

can you explain your night fishing methods?

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I night fish typically off the docks with a portable light shining out to see in front of me and my bobbers….I usually have two poles I fish at the same time, one with a slip bobber and minnow and my other is a single pole casting and retrieving with plastics like a BG baby shad or crappie magnet. This past weekend was very slow night fishing, only caught 4 fish in 4 hours and only one was keeper size.

They are in summertime mode again here in the Ohio valley. It's been tough fishing for the last few weeks for me. We had a high water event pretty much at the peak of spawning time that lasted for about a week & the fishing hasn't been the same since. Every time the creeks start to clear up we get another big rain. Good for the garden but not for fishing. Still catching fish now just not exactly what I was fishing for. LOL Yesterday's tally included crappie, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted bass, rock bass, channel cat and a drum. No reason to complain when you catch 7 species on 1 trip. A few good ones in the mix too.