Crappie Move Like White Bass?

[Bankin' On It]

Hey folks! Checking in from SE Texas here, Lake Livingston to be exact. I have a great time catching white bass on LL and have noticed that during the white bass spawn I always seem to pick up 1 or 2 crappie. Well that got me to thinkin'. Do the crappie run up river about the same time the white bass make their spawn run down here? I don't catch them everywhere. On the Trinity River I will typically only run into white bass during the spawn...but if I want to get in there a little early, I'll skip the river and hit the creeks and THAT'S where I tend to run into a crappie or two. Since I have never purposely targeted crappie I have made a pre-New Year resolution to get on them this time. I say "this time" because I tend to start looking for white bass around this time in the creeks. Usually start finding males staging.

Or do crappie head into the creeks after the Dogwood blooms?

Thanks!

[CrappiePappy]

"Bankin" .... you are most likely just picking up the Crappie that are "local" to that area. They don't travel anywhere near as far as White Bass, and they don't have to head "up river" to the shallows to spawn, nor do they need a certain amount of current to lay their eggs in (as White Bass do). In fact, they prefer/need as little current as possible wherever they lay their eggs.

Dogwoods bloom when the ground temp reaches/maintains a certain degree range ... and that sometimes coincides with the temperature of the upper level of the water column in nearby waters. Best bet is to start searching for spawning banks/spots well before the Dogwood blooms appear. Crappie will be in a pre-spawn feeding mode, at that time, trying to fatten up before the rigors of spawning start. Any bank with lots of downed trees, root wads, or stumps ... and especially on banks that have an eddy water situation ... are the most likely places for Crappie to spawn in a creek with constantly flowing water. And yes, Crappie will come out of the main river and up into creeks to spawn, due to less current & clearer water in the creeks.

... cp

[Bankin' On It]

Thanks CP. I should broaden my scope it looks like.

[doggone]

Yeap spawning requirements and timing slightly different for crappie than White bass. When you can sometimes catch them together and can catch both in good numbers is when the body of water has a shad hatch and the fry have reached about an inch or so long.This is a delicacy for ALL fish,they will seek them out and target them specifically. FIND THOSE spots where fry concentrate and the areas that the fish use to drive them to to help catch them (rock,grass beds,weed beds,rip-rap,islands,brushy shorelines.) They will also target them in open water at time driving them to the surface. They eat shad of larger sizes of course but they can be spread out over the lake and the fish can remain more separated at times. The fry rings the dinner bell for all of them and they will seek them out.The fry not having the speed of the larger shad have to find an area to help them evade the predator fish.

[Bankin' On It]

Thanks doggone. The shad spawn is the same time as the catfish bulkhead bite on the lakes, right? Feb-March?

[doggone]

Here is a little more info from Bassmasters.But it applies to all fish. Baiting Up Shad Spawn | Bassmaster

Their are more than one type of shad in most lakes,annual conditions and geographic location can vary the exact time,and just how successful the spawn is for that year.Some years more so than others.I typically have as good luck in the spring fishing the insect hatches,and the best luck fishing the shad hatches in August /September around here.And I do as well in the evening as morning most of the time.Sometimes the right conditions can have them feeding all day.

Their is a tributary off the Mississippi I fish some years when its not flooded. I can typically start to catch the white bass at the mouth tributary about March 15th here.The big females come in first and feed on the shad around the tributary mouth.They are aggressive and will hit crank baits,jigs,etc but can be very color particular at times, by about April 10th or so they have mostly moved upstream and spawn on bottoms with the consistency of sand gravel with the right depth,current flow across them. You have to SLOW down and get the bait in front of them then to catch them.A lot of people go with crawdads fished on bottom.By the time the dogwoods bloom most of the fish are past the prespawn bite in feeding areas and are now on the bed areas though they can be caught just as well just slow down and find them.

The crappie though coming in about the same time do not hang around them as much in the spring,they move on in and select areas out of the main channel,with the right bottom composition and contour,and typically some structure to spawn on. And like to feed the flats and minor creek channels prespawn. Most of the Lakes I fish now crappie are spawning on main lake bank,and the first couple coves off the main lake and prespawn feed close to the points or adjacent flats.I just do not catch them as far back as often as I use to except once in awhile.

You being further South will have some different timing and conditions so you have to put it together.Watch were other people fish but don't be afraid to strike out on your own to find hotspots.Finding the fish nobody else is on and learning a lake and what the fish do is more than half the fun.

[Ketchn]

not to be contradictive or start up anything but I know one spot where the crappie travel up the trinity for miles in the fall around October WAY ahead of the white bass that go up it in January . they are following the shad that run up there when the water temps start to drop is what I figure . but to be sure the majority of the crappie in that lake flat out leave the lake in droves and run up the trinity in herds about October .
now mind you it is the EXACT same thing in several other spots on several other lakes as well . so I would venture to say the white bass are the late bloomers on this particular subject . look for the crappie in laydowns and deep holes along the trinity way upstream from the lake . you will be pleasantly surprised with the winter fishing shallow up in those tangles . it may take you some time to find where they really hole up but when you do you will be tearing up some lips for sure.

[Bankin' On It]

Thanks for the info Ketchn. I would have never thought the white bass were the last to the party. So the crappie will just chase the food regardless of muddy or hard bottom? I was targeting the hard bottom creeks only. I read one report that said they tagged a crappie and it ran 28 miles. Jeez. That narrows it down. Heh.

[JRotherham]

not to be contradictive or start up anything but I know one spot where the crappie travel up the trinity for miles in the fall around October WAY ahead of the white bass that go up it in January . they are following the shad that run up there when the water temps start to drop is what I figure . but to be sure the majority of the crappie in that lake flat out leave the lake in droves and run up the trinity in herds about October .
now mind you it is the EXACT same thing in several other spots on several other lakes as well . so I would venture to say the white bass are the late bloomers on this particular subject . look for the crappie in laydowns and deep holes along the trinity way upstream from the lake . you will be pleasantly surprised with the winter fishing shallow up in those tangles . it may take you some time to find where they really hole up but when you do you will be tearing up some lips for sure.

Ketchn you exactly correct about the crappie moving before the whites do. A few the areas I fish are the same way. Once you figure out that pattern the fishing can be awesome. Better yet there's no one around.

[JRotherham]

not to be contradictive or start up anything but I know one spot where the crappie travel up the trinity for miles in the fall around October WAY ahead of the white bass that go up it in January . they are following the shad that run up there when the water temps start to drop is what I figure . but to be sure the majority of the crappie in that lake flat out leave the lake in droves and run up the trinity in herds about October .
now mind you it is the EXACT same thing in several other spots on several other lakes as well . so I would venture to say the white bass are the late bloomers on this particular subject . look for the crappie in laydowns and deep holes along the trinity way upstream from the lake . you will be pleasantly surprised with the winter fishing shallow up in those tangles . it may take you some time to find where they really hole up but when you do you will be tearing up some lips for sure.

Ketchn you exactly correct about the crappie moving before the whites do. A few the areas I fish are the same way. Once you figure out that pattern the fishing can be awesome. Better yet there's no one around.