Thread: spawn

Originally Posted by Crappie Chatt

A study done on Missouri's Table Rock Lake by fisheries biologist Dr. Fred Vasey. Vasey learned that "The first [crappie] nests to appear had an average of 13.2 daylight hours," and "The last nesting sites occurred when the daylight averaged 14.6 hours." In other words, you can determine when spawning will begin and end, and therefore postulate when it might peak, by calculating the number of hours between sunrise and sunset on a given day.Anglers also should remember that crappie almost invariably nest in shallow coves protected from wind and wave action. Finding areas with these characteristics is the key to finding crappie beds. Nests often are near a log or other large object over a bottom of sand, fine gravel or interwoven plant roots. The depth where nests are found can vary considerably, from less than 1 foot to as much as 20 feet. But most will be in 1 to 5 feet of water.Several nuances of the spawn may not be readily apparent. One is the fact that the biggest crappie often are in deeper water when smaller males are first preparing nest sites. For this reason, it's smart to try fishing deeper areas away from shallow-water beds, sometimes as deep a 7 to 15 feet. Nebraska researchers examined whether crappies display spawning-site fidelity at Sherman Reservoir, a 2,850-acre Nebraska irrigation impoundment known for good fishing. They captured crappies in trap nets from 5 coves in May and marked them with color-coded tags over several years. Adult crappies demonstrated cove fidelity within and among spawning seasons. Over 80 percent of tagged fish were captured in the same cove during the same spawning season, and over 70 percent were recaptured in subsequent years in the same cove. The researchers concluded that crappies sought specific coves in which to spawn, even when similar coves and substrates were available nearby. Another fact to remember is that spawning activity is spread out over a period of time. Female crappie don't all lay eggs at the same time, and an individual female may deposit eggs in batches over a period of two weeks. This assures successful reproduction and provides anglers outstanding shallow-water fishing opportunities for an extended period.

• THANKS!!!!! <*)}}}><

It’s good to see science I participated in. This was a great study. Nic Fryda, now a Wildlife Biologist, has the authorship and at the time was getting his grad degree. I along with many others assisted with daily operations and it was eye opening to see the field results first hand. Very good science indeed.

I would like to see that Temp somewhere

Long time visitor to the site, just registered.

I do believe the first spawners are the biggest avg. fish of the year. I fish Perry most of the time, most of the time from the bank. On avg. my first batch of spawners are towards the end of the first week of April almost always by the second week. Not confused with shallow feeders cause these females have eggs running out of them. When you get into the first fish up there are hardly any short fish maybe 20 keepers in 25 fish. Later in the spawn may have to catch 100 fish to get 10 keepers or so.

Love the web site. Like everyones info and opinions. This is my first post,hopefully not my last. Hi and good fishing to everyone!

So now is the time to be fishing the spawn?

Not here today

Welcome to the board DWJ, keep on postin.

!!!! Glad you are here DWJ!! The males during 'Spawn' should be the 1st up making nest with their 'tuxedos' on. Then they lure the female to their 'love' nest. After some dancin, bubble blowin, and who only knows,,, eggs and sperm are a flying. She leaves for a nite out with the other ladies and never comes back. Male is left holding the bag & a few thousand eggs to watch. A few days later,,, eggs hatch and like most youngun's, leave home. Well that's how Grandpa taught me! <*)}}}><

Typical female