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