crappie eggs

[Eager Beaver]

Has anyone come across females with bad eggs in them yet? I have gotten several with the eggs being watery and not firm like normal! I was wondering if this is do to the spawn being so messed up this spring with the tempurature going up and down like it has?

[CrappiePappy]

I don't know if the eggs are "bad" ... firm/yellow eggs are immature - mushy orange eggs are ready to drop. If the weather/water conditions have kept the fish off the spawning beds, they can and do retain and consume their own eggs (for their own survival). They will make every attempt at spawning - but, sometimes Mother Nature just doesn't cooperate. This is a positive & negative situation, at the same time. It does create a gap in the year class & overall numbers of fish ... but, at the same time, that allows the surviving fish to grow bigger/faster - since the food source isn't depleted by mass numbers. It's a balancing act - which is why Crappie (size & numbers) are "cyclic". ........... cp

[Eager Beaver]

thanks for the come back CP. I have never seen the eggs like this before and wondered if it was because they were on the bank and then moved out and back in several times so far. the eggs are a yellow watery substance that have been in at least a dozen fish so far.