Spawn Question

[xXSmokeXx]

Which go shallow first,,,Males or females? If I'm only catching large males on the banks, is the spawn ending?

[DockShootinJack]

They males go up first and fan out the nest.

[CrappiePappy]

Which go shallow first,,,Males or females? If I'm only catching large males on the banks, is the spawn ending?

"...is the spawn ending ?" --- hard to say !! It could be just starting, in full swing, or winding down, depending on "why" the males are shallow.

males fanning out nests - just starting
males have nests ready & waiting on females - full swing
males guarding eggs/fry - winding down

It's been said that the larger fish spawn first, sometimes in several waves over a couple of weeks, followed by the smaller (younger) year class. Males will go shallow first & stay shallow longer, as the females will stage out away from the spawning bank & move back & forth between the two places, as they deposit eggs into many different male's nests. Perfect conditions would allow most to spawn within a week or so, while changing conditions can spread the spawn out for several weeks ... up to the point where the water temps are too high for good survival rates for the fry, then the females will absorb any remaining eggs as protein nourishment, rather than drop them into non-survivable conditions.

... cp

[xXSmokeXx]

Wow, thanks for the detailed answer! I should have added,,,, all the males are black crappie,,,, the very few white crappie were females and had eggs,,,these white females were the smaller fish I been catching. Water temp last Sat was 71, this Sat it was 61, even tho the temp dropped that much I still caught the large black males super shallow in the thickest brush, in the very backs of a few coves.

[CrappiePappy]

Wow, thanks for the detailed answer! I should have added,,,, all the males are black crappie,,,, the very few white crappie were females and had eggs,,,these white females were the smaller fish I been catching. Water temp last Sat was 71, this Sat it was 61, even tho the temp dropped that much I still caught the large black males super shallow in the thickest brush, in the very backs of a few coves.

Were the males true "Black Crappie" .... or were they White Crappie males that were "black" from their spawning colors ??

With the temps dropping back 10deg ... they may be extending their spawn. But, still, even at 61deg the water temps are within range for either species to be trying to spawn, so it could be either or both species ... and if it's both, they very well could be spawning at the same time. Sometimes, when that situation occurs, the Blacks & Whites can get mixed and produce hybrids.
Here's an article that has pics of some of the different "looks" : TWRA - Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Black Crappie

... cp

[xXSmokeXx]

I honestly didn't know there could be a hybrid. So they were either black or hybrid, no vertical bands. A few of the smaller males had that black look you are talking about. Out of the last two Saturdays between me and my wife we caught 53 over 9 inches and probably that many more dinks.... of all those only 4 were white crappie, and they were probably the smallest of the keepers. I did talk to one other fisherman who said he thought the black crappie were spawned out but the whites had not started yet. I am finally having a year when I can go a lot (once a week) and try to keep up with what's going on. You Sir are a wealth of information and I thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! Another piece of the puzzle,,,I really haven't heard of any others catching them this shallow yet (I'm sure I'm not the only one) so I was hoping the spawn is just kicking off.

[jimmydee1]

Make sure you KNOW the difference between black and white crappie....like someone said, white male crappie get very dark during spawn. It's a hormone thing. Many novice crappie fisherpersons don't really know the difference and confuse the two. Jus sayin.....

[Erin Brewer]

All of these are white crappie but the two circled are male on the left and female on the right. The males will get alot darker than that to.
The way to tell is the white crappie have the tiger stripe look and the true black crappie will look more speckled

[fishervet]

The most accurate way to tell the diff tween the white and black is by the dorsal fin count...the white have fewer dorsal fins...6...and the blacks have 7 or 8........I don't count the fins.. the white look different than the blacks.....that tiger stripe look is always there but during spawning it is more difficult to see...whites are generally bigger...and they have a big, big ole mouth.......they both taste great.......both stink the grease...and are challenging than any of the other game species.......

[xXSmokeXx]

Thanks for the info everyone.... main thing is I know the blacks spawn first and I just want to time it out to where I can be taking some time off work when the whites are spawning,,,seems like I miss it every year!