Thread: Do you stop crappie fishing after the spawn?

I prefer deep fishing "relatively speaking" and don't especially like the spawn anymore. During the winter and in 35 degree water I can get right above a school and catch them by the dozens. In the spring they are moving so much pre and post spawn that it can be hard to get on them sometimes. The river that I fish can get miserable after the spawn and into the summer. Like bayou hot, steamy and buggy. I refer to stay on the coast and chase flounder and crabs during that time. Always look forward to the late fall with the cool weather and comfortable river conditions.

Originally Posted by mrdux

I call them lake lice among other things that would get me banned from here. KY Lake has a huge resident population of middle-life-crisis credit-card millionaires who run around in their 35 foot cigarette boats and 300HP tri-toons. I just deal with it.

I think the worst are the bass tournaments that have 2-3 flights that come by running 80 mph, no more than 25 yards from you. I just deal with those too. They have as much right to be there and act like fools as I do. I just hope one of them doesn't decide to share my boat space with me when running highway speeds.

Jet skis are nowhere near as much of a problem as they were a few years ago.

It is entertaining to have a boat load of blue-hairs come along side of me when I'm trolling and ask questions about what I'm doing and why I have to use so many poles. Some hang around to watch me net crappie I may have hooked while they were close. Pretty funny to have an audience applaud when you land a fish. I'd rather they not pass close behind me when I have lines trailing the boat but so far so good.

Haha, you really want some looks, pull 8 yellow Off Shore boards down the center of a cove. It's a blast just listening to the people on the shore wondering what we're dragging behind us. I don't know how many times we've been asked " You all walleye fishing?" We had a couple guys pitching jugs on the shoreline watching us, and we caught a nice one outside of them. "Was that a crappie?" they asked. When we told them yes and we had caught about 30 so far one of them said "Wow, you the man" lol. I don't know how mini seminars we've given while people were watching us. We haven't had our boards run over yet, but it's been close a couple times.

I tend to catch bluegills/red ear starting in July . with an occasional crappie trip thrown in . also hit the Tennessee river for catfish at night during summer months . When I could see the water from my house I did tend to fish for crappie all months .

Here in the northern California reservoirs if the weather keeps warming up like this, the prime spawn is usually during late April (THIS WEEK). Even then, I find them scattered in small groups in 4ft or deeper water. Was out two weeks ago and all the ones I caught were still staging. I used side scan to locate these suspended and scattered crappies. The photo attached are pre-spawn crappies staging that I recently caught. Notice the males are jet black. Some females not in the pictures have already spawned out. Looking forward to the post spawn as I have been far more successful. They move back into deeper cover where I know they will bunch up.

We chase them all year...i personally like the summer and fall the best....pattern easier and seem to stay there longer

We fish them all summer !!!!

Went out last Saturday 05/09/15 chasing post spawn crappies on lake Camanche, Northern California. I have heard so many people out here say that there aren’t crappies in Camanche. Sad for them, great for me! Crappies behave just the same out here except that there is not an abundance of them. Found two groups of them in a cove. The larger size crappie group (average size 11” plus) was suspended 10’ in 15’ of water in the channel leading into the main body of the lake. Another smaller size crappie group (average size 7”-11”) was located in the same channel in the middle of the cove suspended 10’ in 12’ of water. This smaller size group had blue gills mixed with them. My guess is that the larger crappies came in first to spawn and then the smaller ones came in last.
Had a blast with my nephew. We caught 20 over 11” and took home for the pan. Released 30+ under 11”. We’ll be back in the winter when they are bigger!

I fish for crappie all 12 months of the year. Sometimes in the spring I just can't seem to get on them but I keep trying anyway. I enjoy fishing in the fall of the year best.