Your Opinion on the Spawn???

We were rocking along great until this latest cold front with the spawn activity of Crappie in my opinion. Through too many day dreams at work thinking about fishing and where my next trip would be, I got to wondering about this question.

With the warming pattern we were in, what effects does this cold front have on their spawning activity? Which do you think they will mostly likely do for the following days after a major cold front like this?

A.) Stop their movement to the shallows and continue to hold on their pre-staging spots until warmer water returns. Or....

B.) Reverse their forward spawning movement by returning to areas they were prior to the pre-spawn and wait for warmer weather. Or......

C.) Continue with their spawning movement to the shallows because "biologically" , mother nature has started her activity and has put them in the mood. And the short cold snap will not intefer with their spawning.

I probably have too much time on my hands!!! But I think I have seen cases off all three examples before:confused::confused:

I'm thinking "A". I believe they will hold in some close drop offs until the weather warms a little after this front. Past experience tells me when they move up it will be fast and not last as long as a steady slow warming spring. Just my guess and I hope I time it right to be on the water that week! :D :confused:

I think I've read and probably verified in the field that the spawn is totally driven off water temperature and sunlight penetration. The reason sunlight penetration is important is it will determine how deep of water the fish spawn in. The fish roe won't hatch(kinda like seeds germinating) unless the water temp remains around 68 to 72 degrees. Too cold, won't hatch; too hot, kills the roe. My opinion is that the males will pull back to prespawn staging areas or where they were just before they moved shallow and wait for 60 degree water. UNLESS, they were guarding a bed where the female had already dropped her roe. In that case, they will stay on the bed unless the water drops clean off the spot. The males will stay on the bed for 2-3 weeks or until the fry hatch and move off. The females are not on the bed but for short 24-48 hours at a time and spend most of their time in the staging areas.

Seems like "A" is the answer. How much do ya'll think the water cooled off or more important how long do you think it will take to warm back up with the good weather predicted for next week?

A and B. The crappie were progressively moving in. Some were already super shallow (mostly blacks) and others were staging (predominantly whites) and some were in transition (both species). Those that were shallow will retreat to staging and perhaps scatter transitionally. Those that were in transition might stop and hold or retreat. Those that were staging will stop and hold.

I have a trip tomorrow and I'm definitely not going to be looking for them in 3' of water. I will most likely fish the 12-20' range. That will be completely different story by the middle of next week. There was water in the 60's and now I bet it's in the low 50's or upper-40's. Just a few days of sunshine and warm nights will have them charging back into the shallows.

As for how long the spawn will be off set I think that will depend on how much cold rain we get tonight.The way it looks its going to rain alnight,the wind blown side of the lake will be colder water.I usually wait until after the spawn before I start the stalk for crappie,I enjoy it more.
I think I going to do some catfishing tommow,they should turn on with the rain run off and muddy water.Going to try strawberry river if its not high and swift,if it is will try crappie in Hill slough.
Fished Hill slough last friday and caught nothing(a few wittle bity ones,1 3#bass),fished Black river last Saturady and again nothing.

Portia has put out some nice fish lately.

Hey guys from NE arkansas,
Were is strawberry river and hill slough? I may have asked this already but its been a while. I have fished portia bay last fall as the temps were falling and didnt do very well.....Do you think its worth a second try?
tom

I remember crossing Strawberry River somewhere around Hardy.

Yeah,Portia usually gives up some nice fish this time of the year.

Strawberry river and Hill slough humm 2 or 3 miles south of Lynn..

Any old oxbow is worth another shot nomatter if you did great one day and nothing in another oxbow the same day.

All oxbows has their days,some are good when the wind is out of the east and some have lockjaw on southwest winds.

thanks turtlebait,
on porti bay, do you fish the sticks in the middle much? or mainly the cypress on the edges?

No I haven't fished the sticks out in the middle in a long long time,however years ago when I fished them they had fish aroundem.I mainly I slow troll about 30 t0 40 foot out from the bank and cast back to the tree line and work the jigs/cranks back to the boat.Thank a feller could do pretty good around the stickups with a long pole and tight line no float.

Didn't catch but 2 cats on strawberry river and one bass and one bream on hill slough.The river was muddy,hill S. was clear and looked real good,the bass and bream hit the jig real hard as if they were straving to death.

Had motor problem first thing this morning,didn't want to start,run real good last weekend.After rubbing head and #ss for hour or so finally figured it may have a stuck needle valve.Reel magic sprayed in the carb. did the trick,started like a charm,that stuff is better than starting fluid lol.

Here's the result of today's venture after being off the water for 3 days. Caught some as shallow as 8' and as deep as 18'. We lost 10-degrees of water temp. They moved off the banks and concentrated on staging areas. End the day with 54.

http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/090314.jpg

Thanks turtlebait,
darryl, good looking mess of fish.
Spring is right around the corner.........

My experience this past weekend was both A and B. Moved off the banks for the most part in 10-12 FOW about 5 foot deep. Should be back to normal in about three days in my opinion!:cool: