Recent Cooler Temps

[kb2112]

How has the recent cooler temps affected your crappie catch?

[Big Jay]

i cant find em they have vanished. i fish niagara and erie counties , I fished 8 1/2 hrs yesterday and nothing but a northern and a 6 inch perch. i guess it dont help that im stuck fishing from shore. But all i can say is they are not around shore line from 1 foot to 7 foot deep or around the brush piles or under any of the bridges i fished. or in any marineas "open water or under the docks". KEEP ON KEEPIN ON kb!

[kb2112]

I was thinking that the shift to cooler temps have pushed them into deeper water. Its been very quiet here as well. Im in Dutchess county.

[joejv4]

I haven't even gotten out in the last month. My dogwood had blooms on it, but there's no way these temps have them on the beds yet. This week is supposed to be warmer, and I'm hoping maybe to get out at least one evening this week.

[Big Jay]

I too think they went deeper, at least out of my casting range. I have also been keeping an eye on "going to spell it wrong" barametric pressure, like i red in fishing 101. I am looking more into the affects on fish. i found a article about a group in tampa that taged a female small mouth and during low pressure she would stop moving around the lake and just sit in same area, until like 101 said the pressure went up then she was on the move again. Our day temps for next week average 72 deg and at night around 50 dgr so im hopeing it will bee enough to warm water up. Also rain mixed in so ill have to keep eye on pressure cuz ill put up with some rain if i can get warm temps with high pressure.

[joejv4]

So I finally had a couple hours to spare last night and took advantage of it, heading to the little lake near my house with the Lowe jonboat.

Water temp was still 51 degrees and there were ZERO fish in shallow, where they set up to spawn. Found some out in the 6' to 7' range, suspended 4-5 feet down.
Females still have their eggs and the males are still pretty light colored (they get really dark on this lake).

Looks like the spawn isn't going to match up with my dogwood tree blooming this year

I did manage 6 keepers



it was great to feel the "thump" again

[Big Jay]

Good job! You keep saying your dogwood bloom. I remember my grandfather and uncle saying something about a bloom of some kind was when they fished for crappie too.I thought it was the pussywillow in our area. Im not familiar with dog wood. Is it a tree? If it is a secret thats ok, i understand. I just found it intresting that you refer to a bloom and i remember hearing it when i was young. Cant ask family , they passed when i was young. But it had to be a good marker of the time to catch em cuz i have picks of me and grandfather with buckets full of em when there was no take limit. NEVER THE LESS good job ! Gland to see that the cold has not sent them too deep i can think of a couple places vi can go to get water that deep. i think im going to hit it up in the morning.The cold front leaving the area the pressure is going up , might be a good time.if i catch ill try to post pics.keep on keeping on.

[Big Jay]

Just trying to see if i can post pics if it works this is my cuzin with a 13" female we think . we put her back. It was from 2011 late spring.

[joejv4]

Good job! You keep saying your dogwood bloom. I remember my grandfather and uncle saying something about a bloom of some kind was when they fished for crappie too.I thought it was the pussywillow in our area. Im not familiar with dog wood. Is it a tree? If it is a secret thats ok, i understand. I just found it intresting that you refer to a bloom and i remember hearing it when i was young. Cant ask family , they passed when i was young. But it had to be a good marker of the time to catch em cuz i have picks of me and grandfather with buckets full of em when there was no take limit. NEVER THE LESS good job ! Gland to see that the cold has not sent them too deep i can think of a couple places vi can go to get water that deep. i think im going to hit it up in the morning.The cold front leaving the area the pressure is going up , might be a good time.if i catch ill try to post pics.keep on keeping on.

Dogwood is a tree... Cornus florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Most years, where we have a normal winter, followed by a normal spring, the crappie are in full spawn when the dogwood tree is in full bloom. This year, with a warm winter, 80 degree days in March and a day that hit 90 in April, with snow and cold in between, everything is totally messed up. My dogwood tree is in full bloom right now, and the crappie are just starting to stage for spawning. The little lake I fish is shallow - most of the deep water is 10' deep, with a couple small holes where it goes to 14'. the edges are made up of shallow flats that gradually go from 1 FOW to 4 FOW, then drops fairly steeply to around 7 FOW, then gradually goes to 10 FOW. Right now, I'm finding them between 6-7 FOW (along the drop-off), suspended around 4 feet down. Water temp is still way too low for the spawn, at 51 degrees. if we get the warm weather we're expecting over the next few days, we should be seeing the spawn kick off as early as next week on some bodies of water.