Thread: Crappie Already with Eggs

Crappie take several months to develop eggs, starting in late Summer ... but, when & how fast they develop depends a lot on their geographical location (& the subsequent prevailing conditions of the waters in that location).

Unless the water temps do not change drastically throughout the year, I doubt a Fall spawn would survive ... if in fact they do "actually" spawn in the Fall. The fry & their food source can't survive very low water temps.

Many people "thought" that Crappie were spawning in the Fall ... simply because they were finding egg sacs in them. But, even if the eggs were developed enough to lay in the Fall ... the milt production of the males may not be, which would lead to a "false spawn" or (at best) an "attempted" one. If the males don't make beds & wait on the females to come, there would be little chance of a viable spawn.

... cp

Female Black crappies produce an average of 40,000 spherical eggs, the number depending on their age and size. After spawning, the male watches over the nest until eggs hatch, which is usually about 2–3 days. Newly hatched fish larvae are about 2.32 mm long and appear translucent. They stay in the nest for several days before moving to shallow, sheltered waters And White crappie spawn in May and June. Spawning occurs when the water temperature reaches 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Males construct nests by creating small bowl shaped depressions on the bottom around brush, rocks, and logs in shallow water. Females lay 5,000 to 30,000 eggs.The males guard these nests until the fry swim away. If this information is true I don't see why there are not plenty of fish in our lakes. I know that other fish eat the fry while they are young but if for just 1 year there was a good hatch. Well I learn a long time ago that a person can only believe a small portion of what he hears and reads and only half of what he see's,but it doesn't hurt to dream.

P.S. this came from (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Comorants --- Eat over one pound of Fish each day. They eat lots of Shad, But we catch lots of Crappie with severe injuries from these Protected birds. Many fish die that did get away. If you have 1000 of them , How many Gamefish have these water Buzzards kept from growing up to become Keepers

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

Even though Crappie are HUGE spawners, they are also one of the most delicate....things really have to come together to have a successful spawn...Crappie spawn year after year in the same area/cove/bay/shoreline,

Up here in PA, they seem to spawn in the same spots every year. And Crappie grow very fast?

The FC stocks 10K to 30K Crappie Fry every year in the "clean" lakes. Good, healthy populations in all the lakes in Central PA?

A Fish Biologist told me that Crappie sometimes spawn 2 times a year (just like the invading White Perch do)

Tight Lines,

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Crappie take several months to develop eggs, starting in late Summer ... but, when & how fast they develop depends a lot on their geographical location (& the subsequent prevailing conditions of the waters in that location).

Unless the water temps do not change drastically throughout the year, I doubt a Fall spawn would survive ... if in fact they do "actually" spawn in the Fall. The fry & their food source can't survive very low water temps.

Many people "thought" that Crappie were spawning in the Fall ... simply because they were finding egg sacs in them. But, even if the eggs were developed enough to lay in the Fall ... the milt production of the males may not be, which would lead to a "false spawn" or (at best) an "attempted" one. If the males don't make beds & wait on the females to come, there would be little chance of a viable spawn.

... cp

Pappy
Crappie are in Every part of our Country...the one common factor is that unless they are hybribs, they follow the exact same temperature patterns whether they are in the N, S, E, Or W....except for one....spawns!
It is proven that Crappie spawn in the Fall, also the zooplankton and microscopic food that Larval Crappie and Fry live on in the Spring are the Same zooplankton and microscopic food, that mature Crappie live on under the ice in Winter here in the North. The reason why Crappie grow faster in the South but live longer in the North is due to Prime water temp conditions which allow them to eat larger meals throughout the year in the South.
If conditions are dry in the South and Spawns are interupted by fronts, etc, Crappie will Hold their eggs until Fall, they can do this because somehow their bodies know that they can still eat enough to trigger the hormones to start egg production again for the next Spring...in the North they tend to absorb them faster due to the lack of time they would have to gestate the next batch...but it does happen in the North also with cool summers that don't trigger the abortion.
We have late Shad spawns also and many times have found 2-3 inch Crappie in the ice and ONE inch shad....One of my Favorite sayin' is that "Nature will find a Way"!

We had six fish with eggs yesterday when we cleaned them......