2nd spring

[fishman247]

well we had very warm weather and the fish moved in to s;pawn(some did) and now winter is back and fish moved back out.....

question is........when the lakes warm back to spawning temps agai n will it trigger a 2nd false spawn reaction? is there such a thing as a false spawn or 2nd spawn?

help me out guys i'm confused

Josh

[england]

The fish where I live did not spawn. They was wanting to, but I guess they knew this was coming. We was catching some males that turned black, but not enough for full blown spawn. They will be back at it when this cold weather gets out of here.
I am alot farther south than you are so I would'nt worry you will be yanking them again when conditions get better.

[RagflyJigMan]

I was wandering the same thing. I live in south Georgia and I feel that the spawn is close to being over here but not in the lakes north of me. This weekend is calling for record lows and I was wandering how quick will the spawn resume? Will they actually go back to the shallows after this cold front moves thru?

[sparky]

Up north here we deal with these conditions all the time. The males will come in and we get alot of fish than cold front hits and they move out some distance from the shore. It warms up and they will move back in again. The water temps are more important for the spawn than anything. 60 degree plus water temps and you will have a field day.

[Darryl Morris]

Some of the crappie in Lake Greeson did drop some eggs and spawned but did not finish before the water got too warm. The warmer water moved them off the beds but we were still catching females full of eggs, some that looked like they had just come in from the deep water, and males full of milt. Now that the water has cooled off, no doubt, they will move back in on the beds and finish their spawn. Not every lake is the same, but on Lake Greeson we will have a second spawn.

[Joey Briggs]

The ones that did spawn, will they make it?

[Darryl Morris]

The ones that did spawn, will they make it?

I'm sure some if not most will. Depending on all the variables of light, temperature etc., it only takes 4-7 days for the eggs to hatch and reach fry size and leave the nest. I haven't read up on this in a few years so I'm working from memory, lol, and that could be dangerous coming from me, LOL. I probably should freshen up my knowledge on the details and stages of the spawn, etc.

[CrappieHusker]

Some fish have spawned here (LOZ) Some I filleted had bloody, mushy eggs and ready right then to spawn or in the process when caught. And this was JUST before the cold air arrived. How about those fish, do you think they were able to drop their eggs and the eggs get fertilized or did they drop them with no fertilization, or did they go back to deeper water, eventually injesting them?

[Darryl Morris]

Some fish have spawned here (LOZ) Some I filleted had bloody, mushy eggs and ready right then to spawn or in the process when caught. And this was JUST before the cold air arrived. How about those fish, do you think they were able to drop their eggs and the eggs get fertilized or did they drop them with no fertilization, or did they go back to deeper water, eventually injesting them?

If they did lay eggs on a bed they might still might make it. It just depends on the water temperature and if the male stayed around to protect and fan the bed. It's the male that makes the bed and courts the female to lay her eggs in his bed. She would not have dropped any eggs unless there was a male there to fertilize them. Instinctually, crappie will do their spawning behavior when the water temperature is in the right range (generally 58-64 for blacks and 64-68 for whites). The female crappie will not lay all her eggs in one bed. She may spawn with 3 or 4 or more males at different times as long as the water temp stays within the right range. That is why during the spawn we can catch males on the beds and females in slightly deeper water on staging brushpiles. When the water gets too warm they move off the beds and stop spawning. If the water just keeps getting warmer (summer water) and if there are some eggs left their body will absorb the eggs. By instinct or force of nature they then wait for cold water (winter water) to start warming (spring water) to trigger their bodies to start producing eggs and milt again. We were cleaning crappie in February that were starting to put on eggs and milt. Then when the water in the right depth ranges with adequate cover gets in the spawning range of temp, they will bed up. What has happened here is we had a spawn, a fast one where many of the female crappie still have mature eggs. The too warm water moved them into a post-spawn pattern. Then the water has cooled off. Instinctually, the cooler water warming back up to the right spawning temp will bring the males back in to fan beds and the females lay some more of those leftover mature eggs. As long as the water temp is in the proper range they will try to reproduce. The survival rate of the spawn will be a factor of environment and predidation.