the march in March...photo heavy

[Ketchn]

Now I want to start by saying this as a disclaimer so as not to get anyone sideways about what I find to be the case this time of year . Everyone has his or hers expert advice and scientific data and etc. etc. etc. to back up his or hers thoughts on the spawn . It is all over the map in many cases and to be sure causing major confusion .
This said here we go , I find both species of crappie going shallow in as early as February ,but to be sure the first real good runs of larger fish seem to be more in tune with March. I know the water temperatures are way below what is suggested as the optimum range for spawning to occur , but none the less there the fish are .
The males have color and the females are swollen up to beat the band and they seem to only be shallow in numbers in low light conditions . This activity also seems to occur after a few warmer days in a row and often takes place during a light warm rain during the daylight hours.
I have read a few articles suggesting the spawn starts at certain water temps. and several say it starts at around 55 and peaks at much higher temps. I personally don't know what is factual and for sure don't have a degree in anything fish related . That said I keep my jig wet and know where I go and know what I know about my local fish populations .
We went to visit EZ going on our somewhat weekly venture to his docks over at a lake we don't know well this last week . SK and I applied what we know about local fish and the March march and low and behold once again it happened ! Got there in the daylight and ONLY found swollen female fish out in 14 or so fow . At about an hour before dark they were gone . I told him you know not one male fish out of quite a few tells me something my friend . He said yes sir I know what you know . I said yeppers the girls have gone off to meet the boys up shallow on the rocks and I would bet big money on it . He said I bet the males are over there waiting for them and I said yes sir lets go get em .
First 4 drops for me in 6 fow big ole male crappie and as soon as it got dark girls were in the mix about 50 50 . We casted and reeled jigs ,we float pitched jigs and we vertical jigged as well and as long as it was moving it got bit !
It was without a doubt an epic adventure and we had a grand time . We gave up a couple of good messes of fish to the less fortunate anglers around the area and released the rest to go on about what they were doing .
Jig color as it often happens in spawn did NOT matter and they went as shallow as a few feet of water . One large accident made its way into the show and SK and EZ managed to get it to the dock and SK held it up for EZ who managed it for a photo , it about wore ole EZ out is what I heard , I was down the dock a ways when it happened .
So in synopsis I say this , don't wait for optimum water temps as you will most certainly miss out on some great crappie ketchn .
Hope you enjoy the read and photos and have a great day
and ......KABOOM

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

Sssssssssshhhhhhhhh, if you gotta argue with folks that want to leave all these fine crappie for us to catch so be it......LOL
It is what it is brother and its so fun figuring these fish out.... pics or vids don't lie.... bottom line.....I'm a jerk lookn for a jerk and do enjoy....LOL
Pic heavy you say.....

[Ketchn]

you realize we got a few days of warm coming before wed right ? I bet that shallow dark bite there gets better and I hear the other spot aint right , and the other other spot as well …...but we could go paddle some at the other other other spot , I bet that spot is right …..
option a b c d etc etc….lol

[Crestliner08]

Fine report and observations.

[ad1974]

Great catch guys,it looks like you got them figured out.

[franklin fisher]

Great post and catch as usual.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[GreenLine]

Should be plenty of fish to go around now that the water temps have crept up.
Spider riggers will keep catching em in open water and us thicket thrashers will work on the others.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[ET Fish]

Great read and pictures!

[cevans]

Wow! Very nice fish! Stay on them!

[ezgoing]

The fishing wasn't quite as fast and furious this afternoon as it was Wednesday. Most caught were smaller males, in the 10-11 inch range. Nothing was being caught on the rocks. But it was still fun as catching is catching. I ended up with 10 keepers, as did most of the other people fishing the slips. Given this was a warm Sunday afternoon there were a lot more people vying for the crappie than I had seen since Christmas.

I give mine to a young family who was trying to catch enough to have a fish fry for their parents. Made them and me happy, since combined with what they had caught they had enough for the fish fry and me since I did not need to clean them.