Where are the crappie? Crappie movement during the spawn

[escout]

I have been fishing the same lake most of the time this year. During this spring, I have caught crappie in water from one foot deep to 12 feet deep.

Several weeks ago, my friend caught them “right on the bank”. I went the next day and struggled to catch a few near the bank. Part of the problem is my boat is large and harder to maneuver around overhanging trees. I moved to a point and found fish on Livescope in 12 fow. All of them were females.

The next trip was post frontal. Went to the point and at first didn’t see anything. Then I noticed that I could see just a round bump on the bottom. I put a jig over the bump, and a crappie raised up and bit the jig. I got a lot of short strikes, so I changed to a 1/16 oz jig and pinched the tail to make it shorter. That made a big difference. In the afternoon, I noticed the fish were starting to move up off the bottom and were more aggressive.

I talked to my friend a week later, and he said that the fish were right on the bank. I went back yesterday. The wind was blowing across the point pretty hard, so I moved to the other side. There was a protected pocket with points on each side. Caught a few one the point in 7 fow. Moved into the pocket and found fish off the bank in 3-7 fow. Mostly males shallow and females deeper. The 1/16 oz jig did better as well as changing color from red/chartreuse to pearl. Shortening the tail helped. I found a few groups of 3 or 4 fish. Had a great day and caught 40-50. I only kept 19.

So my question is do the fish move in and out with the weather? Livescope is answering questions.

[Grey Wolf]

Absolutely fish move in and out with changes in water temperature. Last year in the spring on Toledo bend it was a nightmare with wild swings in temperature as fronts moved through every few days. It was very tough to find them in the same place for more than a day or two. Once we found them we caught plenty but it was common to have a good day followed by a not so good day.

[escout]

How deep do they usually stage, and how deep do they usually spawn on Toledo Bend? I used to fish Lake O the Pines a few years ago. I would find fish staging in 12-14 fow.