Males

[volsdad]

Does it mean anything when you only catch males. 12 -13 inch but still only males in 5 ft of water. Have the females come and gone or not arrived yet??

[ET Fish]

My understanding is that the females will stage in deeper water, come in and deposit some eggs, and then retreat back to the holding depth. The males guard the nest, fertilize the eggs, and stay shallower for a time. The females will also retreat back to deeper water when she has dropped all of her eggs, and will not feed during the time she is shallow. Therefore, my conclusion is that you probably won't catch females shallow during the spawn. This is my belief, and it is worth just what you paid for it!

[NIMROD]

My understanding is that the females will stage in deeper water, come in and deposit some eggs, and then retreat back to the holding depth. The males guard the nest, fertilize the eggs, and stay shallower for a time. The females will also retreat back to deeper water when she has dropped all of her eggs, and will not feed during the time she is shallow. Therefore, my conclusion is that you probably won't catch females shallow during the spawn. This is my belief, and it is worth just what you paid for it!

That is not totally true . Females bite when up shallow during the spawn but spend little time there . Your right about checking brush or drop offs out from the spawning males to find them .

[Abu65]

I've been wondering the same thing very interesting topic. thanks for posting.

[CrappiePappy]

Does it mean anything when you only catch males. 12 -13 inch but still only males in 5 ft of water. Have the females come and gone or not arrived yet??

That's what I "was" doing, early last week ... mostly males in 5fow. Then earlier this week it was almost a 50/50 mix of males & females ... again in 5fow.

IMHO - if the males are still there, they're either waiting for a female to come or they're guarding the eggs/fry in the nest. And since not all females drop "all" their eggs into one nest, nor do they "all" come into the nesting areas at the same time, the spawn can be a drawn out affair ... even if the conditions are perfect. Then you throw in the weather, and all the changes in water temps & conditions it can cause ... and the spawning period can be an on again/off again deal, or just an even more drawn out affair.

[volsdad]

Thanks for all the info.

[Ketchn]

some females have probably come and gone and will return ,some have probably not come in yet and some have come and are gone for the season is my guess ...when the males are in tight or shallow I try to pitch out to the deep water with my float set very deep and target the girls as well ....seems they do come in at times in waves real shallow and for sure bite just as hard as the males ....but lots of times they are out in 10 foot or so of water waiting for whatever drives them to come shallow .....that's what we see in Texas for what its worth ....

[lowe175]

In my opinion everyone is right, the girls aren't up long. The males will stay till the water temperature is to hot for the eggs to survive or till the eggs hatch

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[crappie wrangler]

i can usually see the females on the sonar on the first drop off from where the males are. They are usually larger and can be caught altering your pattern just a bit. Problem is that the males are so easy to catch in shallow water that it is hard to pull off if them to go after the females for most people. That's my experience anyway.

[Crestliner08]

"Extreme Crappie Angler" this weekend feature "Mr. Crappie" taking them shallow while wading and single poling. Some were females. And the depths were hip deep and in the brush. Very interesting. Not my cup of tea though. :rolleyes: