A few

[etexbasser]

I went yesterday to my home lake, with a plan. Plan 1 was to catch some more bream, I had eaten the last of what was in the freezer, plan 2 was to catch some crappie and see what stage they were in.
Plan 1, not much of a problem. Panfish magnets and some of the Johnson sparkle scales that I got in the prize package, and I had some bream.
Now on to plan 2. I didn’t catch any up shallow while bream fishing, so I figured they might still be out a little, like in pre-spawn.
So I moved out to some trees just outside the first major drop in the lake, about 15 foot or so. The water temp was 62-64. No crappie.
So.. I went back shallow in some other places. No crappie.
So... I went back to the deeper places that I normally catch them.
Hello crappie. Caught them in 20-25 fow around the trees and bridges. The females were all big with eggs, and one of the males was solid black. They were only about 5-8 feet deep, so I am thinking they are fixing to move to the shallows in the next few days.
We had a lot of rain in the last few weeks, so maybe that slowed them up, I don’t know for sure, I am still learning to crappie fish (as my nickname indicates). I will keep following them and learning. Used jigs and the Johnson sparkle scales.
Note the picture of the big female and see how red her belly is. Do you think something is wrong with her?

[CrappiePappy]

She does look to have sustained an injury, and/or a fungal problem. It's not "normal" for even a swollen belly like hers to be "red".

[Retired2Fish]

Congrats on catching a mess of crappie.
I have not seen that coloration on a crappie before.

[GreenLine]

If your water is 62-64, you can bet they are spawning. Find some cypress trees with a little of extra cover at the base in 3-6 feet of water and make sure your jig gets within a couple of inches of the trunk.
I found them on my lake last week. Luckily for me everybody else was still fishing deep water and didn't have a clue many have already moved shallow.

[scrat]

Something wrong with that crappie for sure. I would not eat that one. Thanks for sharing the report and pictures.

[billygee]

Note the picture of the big female and see how red her belly is. Do you think something is wrong with her?

etex

hope you don't have a similar situation that we experienced in the fox chain WI a couple years back.

Something like that could be nothing, but then again might be room for concern and brought to the DNR's attentions

https://www.outdoorhub.com/how-to/20...fish-diseases/

billygee :rolleyes:

[ad1974]

Nice catch,never saw one with a red belly like that.

[etexbasser]

I didn’t eat her, was afraid to. I will also show that to the lake warden and see what he thinks.
Thanks for the reply’s.


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