Dogwoods blooming

[ShilohRed]

Seen 20 or so dogwoods blooming today. And it was cold. Man is everything messed up this year?
Can't believe there blooming and the water temp it 58 degrees.
Pete

[fishingpox]

Mine is not blooming. Has got buds though.

[unknown 5]

I love to crappie fish when the dogwoods are blooming. 58 degrees is not far from the ideal temperature of around 62 degrees. Unfortunately, we are supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow here in The Land of Lincoln. It will be a while before the dogwoods bloom.

[ShilohRed]

I love to crappie fish when the dogwoods are blooming. 58 degrees is not far from the ideal temperature of around 62 degrees. Unfortunately, we are supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow here in The Land of Lincoln. It will be a while before the dogwoods bloom.

Please don't use that kind of cussing around me. LOL That is one 4 letter word that I hate more then the Wo.. Wor...... Work... Word..

Looks like a nice cool or should I say cold rain here. 36 degrees and raining so that will sure drop the water temps down again.
Pete

[CrappiePappy]

just fished Weiss this past weekend. Dogwoods are blooming there, too. But, I fished in 5 layers of clothes while getting rained & sleeted on ... water temps dropped from 61 deg on Fri - to 56 deg on Sunday. That cold front sure put the skids to the slaying that was going on down there, just a week ago. We still managed around 40/day (3anglers/1boat) of 10-12" fish, but had to longline troll with jigs to produce those numbers. Most of the fish came from 10-18ft of water, along the channel drops, just outside of the spawning flats. They're ready to move in, as soon as the weather warms up a bit. Males are still scattered, some still out with the females and some in the shallows. They are starting to darken up, too. The females are heavy with eggs, but look to need another week or two to be fully developed. I think they are in the midst, to latter end, of their prespawn feeding period ... and should be very catchable, if the weather improves.
Here at home, we've got about 4-6weeks to wait on the Dogwoods :rolleyes: Hopefully, I'll get another crack at the Weiss Lake Crappie, in that time. And maybe even a trip to Watts Bar if I'm lucky. Then, I'll start hitting the local waters. ......... luck2ya .... cp

[dmbutler47]

Its the same here in Arkansas, they were bloomng last week and the low last night was in the 30s. We had the warmest winter i can remember but now it looks like it might be the coolest spring in a long time.

[mighty]

Hey pappie you touched on mypost so I''ll ask youa nd anyone else that can help. I went out yesturday and caught some crappie and I noticed that the males were getting black all over. I caught way more females than males in about 8-12 ft of water. Did not catch the males in the shallows. So if I am looking for beds where should I began looking? If I find the males will that be the beds? And what should I look for to find the beds.

I fish under a bridge from the bank, its rocky and there are some weeds with around the bank.

Anyway appreciate any advice

[CrappiePappy]

Hey pappie you touched on mypost so I''ll ask youa nd anyone else that can help. I went out yesturday and caught some crappie and I noticed that the males were getting black all over. I caught way more females than males in about 8-12 ft of water. Did not catch the males in the shallows. So if I am looking for beds where should I began looking? If I find the males will that be the beds? And what should I look for to find the beds.

I fish under a bridge from the bank, its rocky and there are some weeds with around the bank.

Anyway appreciate any advice

My experience tells me that the males starting to get dark, is a sign that the spawn is close. You probably caught the females "staging", or possibly just holding up on the bridge pilings, as they moved into the creek to look for spawning beds. No males in the shallows would indicate one of two things - water temps are not quite warm enough/weather & water level not stable enough ... or ... the "shallows" you refer to, are not bedding areas.

Looking for beds - White Crappie ... look for calm, shallow, stained water with wood. Black Crappie ... look for slightly deeper, clearer/cooler water with weeds. Either or both can, and will, spawn in either or both wood & weeds ... so just look for banks protected from the wind/waves (with some type of cover present). When you start catching males from these shallower areas ... you'll have found a bedding area. ......... luck2ya ...... cp

[mighty]

My experience tells me that the males starting to get dark, is a sign that the spawn is close. You probably caught the females "staging", or possibly just holding up on the bridge pilings, as they moved into the creek to look for spawning beds. No males in the shallows would indicate one of two things - water temps are not quite warm enough/weather & water level not stable enough ... or ... the "shallows" you refer to, are not bedding areas.

Looking for beds - White Crappie ... look for calm, shallow, stained water with wood. Black Crappie ... look for slightly deeper, clearer/cooler water with weeds. Either or both can, and will, spawn in either or both wood & weeds ... so just look for banks protected from the wind/waves (with some type of cover present). When you start catching males from these shallower areas ... you'll have found a bedding area. ......... luck2ya ...... cp

So if this is an area that is constently moving because of pulling and pushing from the g-ville dam, then it would be considered unstable. They pull the water so hard that it will sweep away a 1/16oz jig in 58ft of water. However this is where the females are staging, so the males may be bedding on the side that is protected from the pulling water and it has weeds for cover.

Just thinking out loud.
thanx

paps

[mighty]

Crappie pappie your experience tells me that the spawn is getting closer. Before i read your post about the males getting blacker I just though it was because the fish were in the weeds or deeper or something.
The fish i seen and caught yesturday were black, black muzzles like pit bulls or something.

Anyway thanx for your experience