Question about spawn and water temp seems everything you read ain't true.

[mike35549]

Went fishing last night water temp was 76/77 deg and was 75 when we left at 3 am. We caught about 20 fish and brought home 14 out of those 2 were males and 12 were female. All 12 of them were full of eggs. These were all caught on the edge of the river channel in 25 - 30 fow. Every thing you read says crappie start spawning in 60-65 degree water and by the time the water gets to 75-80 they will be finished and headed to deeper water. Seems that is a bunch of bull. By the time the ones we caught last night finishing spawning the water will be over 80 deg. Seems they can and do spawn when they get good and ready reguardless of water temp. What is everyone else's .02.

[ET Fish]

Length of daylight?

[cevans]

Just because your reading surface temp and getting. 76-77 degrees on the surface go 10-15 ft down and water I am betting isn't even 55-60 if that. Jump in and see for yourself as I carry a 40 yr old lowrance portable temp gage with 100' of wire on it and play with it sometimes as I look for cold water springs for summer time fishing or used to a lot. No need to rush the spawn. Enjoy the spring time fishing.

[mike35549]

I am not rushing the spawn. I could don't care when they spawn. Would much rather fish before and after spawn anyway. But when you read every article wrote about crappie spawning it don't say water temp 10-15 feet deep. They say when surface temp reaches xx deg. Which seems to be hogwash. That is all I am saying. Seems people that are supposedly experts maybe ain't so much.

[doggone]

You can go by the calendar pretty well for your region. It will vary some year to year but usually not more than about 2 weeks. Since the fish don't all go at once but usually over about a 2 week span difference ....then you have the possibility of catching bedding fish over about a month. WHITE crappie are different than black crappie. And in some reservoirs the white crappie are more like white bass or the more open water fish in that they relate to the deeper water and channels. It's as though they don't like to come shallow and spend as little time as they can there. Where a black crappie is at home in shallower water and don't mind hanging out there. And.. fish that are actually on the bed are not always responsive. So people don't get bit and think they must not be there and the spawn is over.So they go back out and catch some fish deeper that either have not spawned or post spawn. And either way declare its not happened yet or it's over completely.

I fish mostly impounded lakes now....and over the last twenty to twenty five years the black crappie and hybrids have trimmed the white crappie numbers and grass is the primary structure they relate too.. COMPLETELY changed the fishing. When it was mostly white crappie...they spent less time shallow....had to fish mostly wood...had to use slower and more vertical presentations.These black and blacknose crappie now you can fish for like a bass a big part of the year. As a matter of fact...wherever the bass and bluegill are feeding the crappie will likely be also or close by. Since the grass doesn't grow much deeper than 15' at most than you hardly have to fish any deeper.And generally the best grass is 3 ft to11 ft. So much of the year that's where they are.

Also....I have noticed a trend almost everywhere ....fish are bedding deeper on average...sometimes you may be fishing to shallow to find them or too far back in the creek arm or bay...and some bed on main lake bank and do not go back in the coves at all.

[slabbandit]

I heard Todd Huckabee say that just like the rut is triggered by the length of the daylight hours so is the spawn, Yes it will line up with certain dates and certain water temps to some degree but I'm leaning more towards his explanation than water temps now days. Also, water temps here in NW Arkansas have been in the low 70's and we're still catching white crappie females full of light colored eggs. We're fishing 10 to 12 FOW about a quarter mile from any shore.

[Ketchn]

Water temps interest me a bit early on . When it comes up ...."surface temp. " .....about 5 to 7 degrees from the winter low and daylight gets bit longer , I start looking for fish to come in to shallower waters . I manage fish with eggs pretty much year round and think these guys can spawn with a rather varied water temp. It have seen fish in 85 degree water ready to spawn and the same in 60 degree water here in Texas . This was something I promoted long ago in that water temperature isn't the deciding factor to me or the fish . Each lake here seems to be different and I have heard a pro say they come up on ice out up north in 40 something water to spawn .....to close ones mind on these fish will leave one fish less in many cases . Never say never and only take half what ya read to heart .....
We have folks Ketchn fish steady that haven't spawned yet deep and others on the same lake killing them shallow .....they are not near as temperature sensitive in my opinion as some would have you think and pay no nevermind myself to all that it has to be this or that when it comes to crappie Ketchn

[CrappiePappy]

IMHO .... there's so much wiggle room in the "surface temp range" and "length of daylight" theories, that I'm not sure any of these "experts" or "studies" are all that we accept them to be.

We've already seen/heard that surface temps are all over the place, when spawning begins ... depending on region, lake, etc. And I've seen/caught them spawning when temps were well above the 70deg mark and even before the 60deg mark.

Then there's the length of daylight theory ... 1st spawning starts at 13.2hrs & last spawning starts at 14.6hrs of daylight. That's a total change of 1.4hrs of daylight .... or 84 minutes. OK ... so then assume that you get 2 minutes of added daylight each day. So that means it will take 42 days to go from 13.2hrs of daylight to 14.6hrs of daylight .... there's the "wiggle room" !! That gives the fish a whole 6 weeks to make up their minds on whether or not the conditions are to their liking !!

(daylight hours change calculated using this site : Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day )

[Spaceman]

Ultimately they decide when they are ready to spawn...as various conditions present themselves. Recently experienced the spawn on two different creeks on the TN river that are within a mile of each other. There was about two weeks difference on the spawn in these two creeks. Science is great but I do not believe to be hard and true...hard for me to say this given the type work I do. i believe the "window" is a guideline of when they will ultimately decide their time is right.

[skintback]

Went fishing last night water temp was 76/77 deg and was 75 when we left at 3 am. We caught about 20 fish and brought home 14 out of those 2 were males and 12 were female. All 12 of them were full of eggs. These were all caught on the edge of the river channel in 25 - 30 fow. Every thing you read says crappie start spawning in 60-65 degree water and by the time the water gets to 75-80 they will be finished and headed to deeper water. Seems that is a bunch of bull. By the time the ones we caught last night finishing spawning the water will be over 80 deg. Seems they can and do spawn when they get good and ready reguardless of water temp. What is everyone else's .02.

Similar thing happened to me back in 06-07 (I think). Me and a buddy night fished with minnows and lights, and anchored in 31 FOW on a channel in a spot we fish often in late Spring early Summer. We only caught 25-30 that night, but caught some of the largest females we've ever caught in that spot, and every one of them was full of eggs when we cleaned them the next day. It was the 1st week of June! My depth finder at that time didn't have water temp, so I'm not sure of surface temp. But, it had to be well into 80's. I wish I had taken pics because no one believed us when we told them they had eggs.

Before then, I was a believer in the dogwoods blooming signaled the spawn and you only had a few weeks left before 'it was over'. Now, the only thing that the April blooms signals to me is more boat/jet ski traffic so it's harder to find a quiet spot to fish.