You can tell what mode they're in, by what the eggs look like in the females or if there are any. The males would still be dark if they were spawning or guarding.
Seems like most everywhere is a couple weeks behind, if not more, due to the late snow & heavy rain we went through in March & April. I was at a lake in E. Tenn. at the first of this month and the Crappie females were full of eggs and still out in 20-30ft of water, making their way to the backs of the creeks. Water temps were 64-67deg and the males were nowhere to be found
Just another atypical start to the year
... cp