I've caught them checking out shallows in March through May . Peak here is usually mid April.
what month do u guys go looking shallow for them to do there thing.
I've caught them checking out shallows in March through May . Peak here is usually mid April.
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Takeum Jigs
On good warm sunny afternoons I've caught some of the big mamas on shallow flats in 2'-5' of water in mid Febuary. Latter part of March to mid April is primetime for numbers around here but most of the biggest fish have already layed out by then.Thumbs Up
Around here most March and early April's are good for going shallow, a hundred miles further north you can add a month.
-LP
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Lowrance HDS-8, 7, & 5 with LSS-1
Middle of Feb to beginning of Apr.
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When the dogwoods bloom in my neck of the woods.
What he said, yet I've done it over night. Seems to me most of the really big crappie spawn a lot earlier than their children. I've got them 18" deep up a 4' deep creek off a river channel during the month of February. Lost way more than I caught and took home 20 fish that averaged 2lbs or better.
Reaper, Where Fish come to Fry
65 - 69 degree water....
My home lake of Ky Lake varies so much by COE flood contol in the spring that it is easier to time the spawn by water temp instead of specific month...
Rickie
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What is shallow? 10ft, 5ft, 2ft? And with spring rains on a corp of eng's lake that is constantly in flux.
Waterboy1
What is shallow .. is relative to the water clarity & cover density. I've caught them spawning in less than 3ft of water, in the Button Ball Bushes of Lake Barkley .... and 10ft deep on ledges & pea gravel banks with only a twig or two for cover, fishing at Watts Bar Lake ... both times around the same period of April. I've also caught them in less than 3ft of water, at Watts Bar, up into May, in a shady pocket at the back of a shallow bay, in a pile of yard debris & limbs that was pushed off the bank from the yard of a property owner.
Timing of the spawn itself is hard to determine, since not all of them come to the spawning grounds at the same time. And even those that do come in, may take a couple of days to a couple of weeks to complete their mission ... depending on water conditions/levels/temps. Bad conditions may run them off the spawning bank, falling or rising water may "move" the spawning cover (leave it high/dry or flood over it), and the fish will compensate as best they can. Their instinct for survival is strong ... strong enough to make them hold out for optimal conditions for survival of their offspring, and failing that, consuming the eggs as protein for their own survival.
It also depends on where the lake is located, geographically, and what the prevailing weather conditions dictate. It's also a big factor as to what type of lake or body of water they're in. Which species of Crappie you have, is also a determining factor, as they have different temp & cover & depth preferences (when they have a choice).
... cp