THE SPAWN ?

[Ketchn]

i myself have developed a rather who cares approach to the spawn . there are so many articles and so many opinions and this and that . research indicates this and the temperature has to be that . sunlight amount needs to be adequate and so on and so on .
now mind you i am not trying to start an argument and or discredit anyone . i totally respect others that have done the research and studies and in no way am saying anyone is right or wrong .
but here is what i know from the area i live after 3 years of going 7 days a week regularly on around 7 or 8 bodies of water in the north central part of texas . there is nothing scientific in my research because all i do is go ketch crappie and have a good time .
1 ...i find large female crappie moving shallow sometimes as early as january ALONE !
2... i find male crappie up shallow long behind the females in march .
3 ... i have actually seen them spawning in the moonlight in water temperatures FAR below what is suggested
keep in mind this is just personal observations and once again i have no idea why or who is right or who is wrong . i dont chase them all over the usa and dont know what they do elsewhere . anyway in conclusion to this post i present you a bowl full of crappie eggs . taken from 25 fish yesterday of both species . 20 of the fish were females and they were NOT spawning !
the develop of the eggs in these fish indicates to me they will be doing it VERY soon though .so if you wait like the traditional folks to find them spawning in late march and early april you might reconsider that approach . i would get out your float rig and start looking in some spots (and i will) as soon as next month . especially after dark about 3 or so hours until the next daylight .
hopefully everyone has a fun filled "early" spring because if you follow my posts you will see myself and my buds doing just that

[lowe175]

Got any cracker lol. They do look almost ready buddy.

[PawPaw Gene]

Man that is a plate of goodies. Wouldn't mind sinking my teeth into some right now. Ketchn thank you for your thoughts based on your experience. While I don't fish nowhere near as much as you I'm inclined to believe what you have written. I start my search for crappie about this time of year when the weather is more settled and find fish getting ready this soon. Of course this year we're having crazy weather with a warm up a few weeks ago which had some females in the spawning mood. Now it looks like winter will be on us so who knows what that will do to those fish that were ready for an early spawn. All I know is you have to fish for them to catch them, you can't eat fish by sitting at home reading info by all the experts. It's a hands on project.
"gene"

[INTIMIDATOR]

That really is the issue, there are just so many variables and it's confusing to People....whenever I post something, I try to preface it most of the time by saying "at my lake", unless I know it to be true across all lakes, or the Species! Every lake can be different...even lakes in near vicinities...lakes in different regions aren't even close and things can vary wildly! Every little variation can throw the "status quo" way out of wack...then we'll just argue for the sake of it!

Unless your camera color is off...IMHO, those pale yellow eggs aren't close!
I caught Fat Crappie in my home lake (SW OHIO) around Christmas that had eggs that looked identical....Now, our lake is under 6+ inches of Growing ICE! The Spawn will be WAAAAY off for us!

Those really are some Fantastic eating...CONGRATS!

Good Fishing!
Brent

[NIMROD]

They follow Shad into coves in winter . Here I see a few large females real shallow in sunny weather . Think maybe looking for warmer water to help develope their eggs ?

[Tony the Tiger]

Very interesting

[fishervet]

when i can go fishing...i go fishing....the spawn...if i ever see it will be purely accidental.....PPG has it right though...if you want to eat fish ,you have to go catch em........

[INTIMIDATOR]

Here, the Spawns are only driven by water temps, if you know and watch the water temp you won't be far off. Crappie here, like to spawn in 6 to 10 feet of water, so you have to know the temp at that depth!
But, a cold front will delay things, until the water gets back to the proper temp....last year it started and then stopped, and started again alot later!

To me, the Spawns are the time that I take my son and all of his friends out...I try to have all my freezers full beforehand, and then we just go out and have a blast.
During the Spawns the Crappie will hit ANYTHING...this is a good time to get the kids throwing swimbaits, etc., so they get used to the feel of fishing with artificials. Since this is the most heavily fished time of the year....I have taught the boys to release all the females so they can drop their eggs.
The Spawn is a yearly ritual for us to have fun!

[Yaker]

I've always heard that bluegill spawn several times a year.Some articals read they spawn every full moon,with spring being the major spawn.I admit I've taken crappie and gills at several different times of the year,with some having eggs in them.

[genec]

I AGREE WITH NIMROD THAT THE FISH GO INTO THE BACK OF THESE COVES FOLLOWING THE SHAD AND NOT TO SPAWM ,THEY WILL MOVE BACK OUT AND COME BACK LATTER TO SPAWM AND BECAUSE THEY HAVE EGGS PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE READY TO SPAWM,I WISH FISHERMEN WOULD POST THE FIRST SIGN THAT FISH ARE READY TO OR HAVE SPAWM WHICH WOULD BE MALES TURN BLACK OR FEMALE HAVE LOSS MOST OF THEIR EGGS,YOU WILL BE SURPRISE HOW LATE BEFORE ONE OF THESE EVIDENCE ARE POSTED ON THIS BOARD THEN WE WILL LOOK TO SEE WHERE U LIVE. IN MY AREA THEY SAY LAST OF MARCH AND APRIL BUT IN MAY MOST OF THE FISH I CATCH STILL HAVE THEIR EGGS,