Prespawn crappie help

[Ketchn]

prespawn for me is often look look look , this year as mentioned before seems lots different in the lack of fish in spots they frequent right now .
there are so many variables it blows my mind . some black crappie spawn in one lake I hit in 5 foot of water or deeper and like Sk said stage right off that area in 10 to 12 fow . some fish in other spots run the rip rap at dark moving in and out and up and down the rocks in 4 to 8 foot of water about half way in the water column in the dark and don't exist until it gets dark .
I do know they can move up quickly to short water this time of year though and be gone just as fast . It seems to me amount of light and weather variations have lots of play in it to .
for me there is no absolute on them right now other than going to lakes I think they are more active in at certain times of the day and or months .
I got spots I look at that face south that often have fish in them first and that seems to be a fairly common program on most waters .
I do know you can find them staged in brush not far from where they spawn in 10 to 20 fow with a lock jaw that seems incurable in the daylight .
wish I had more definitive answers but like many others I always have more questions than answers this part of the year .
some big females are up shallow in a spot I heard was good sometimes right now and biting really well , to bad its an old government facility with no access allowed to the general public from the bank and I am boat less as I type darnit

[Jman5626]

What water temp technically classifys as “prespawn”?


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[silverside]

My is about 40-45° start the black crappie then the white will follow at about 55°

[Jman5626]

My is about 40-45° start the black crappie then the white will follow at about 55°

Hmmm.... in that case sounds like my lake is about to be in prespawn! Thank you!


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[Crestliner08]

I kinda envie you folks further south from me. We are still dealing with "hard" water up in this neck of the woods! Usually isn't until the end of March before things start loosening up. However, this winter has been unusually mild, so who knows?

I always get out there right after ice out, but my success has never been that great. Actually, when we do find them, they are usually still pretty deep ~15'+. Takes awhile for the water to warm up around here. Vertical jigging pays off if/when you find them that early.

[Yaker]

I may be the odd one here,but I prefer fishing for pre spawn crappie rather than spawning,My reason is more lake condition than anything.In my area,by the time crappie are spawning,the spring rains have muddied the water ( I live in red clay country ),to the point the water is literally orange colored.
By hitting the pre spawn,I usually get better water conditions,and once I find the fish,it’s game on.That said,I would love to just once fish the spawn in less than extremely muddy water,I might change my mind !

[silverside]

Hmmm.... in that case sounds like my lake is about to be in prespawn! Thank you!


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I've also heard old timers swear that when there is 11 hours of daylight the crappie move in to pre spawn mode.

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[Granite]

I'am on Toledo bend , i go by water temp , my best fishing is when i can find 60 degree water and not talking surface temp. Toledo went from 165 to 171 feet in about a week or less. We had a lot of fresh warmer water flow in. Earlier in the week i started to check spawning bays and found 60 and 62 degree water at 8 ft or so and the crappie were right on bottom . At 68 degrees they will be on the beds.

[SKs Crappie Catching Adventures]

There's one thing I've learned over the years of chasing these fish that has been very consistent and that is 1st hand knowledge will put fish in your boat..... What I mean by this is you can go ahead and sit at home if you want to but I'm gonna be out there checking for when those crappie say they are there and not from what I've read or heard it takes for the crappie to be there......

[Ketchn]

water temps always seem to be the topic of discussion on prespawn and actual spawn and I don't believe what I read or hear when it comes to this part of the equation .
mind you it does have play in it for sure but it isn't a constant as some say it is from what I have seen . I think from what I have seen rather than read or googled that crappie go into prespawn when the winter low water temp rises from whatever it is to about 5 to 8 degrees above that mark .
so way up north it might be 40 degree water and way down south it might be 65 degree water and for sure it seems to vary greatly in my region from just lake to lake . most of what drives the timing of it in my area seems to be more about the lake size and average depths on the lake on the water temp average warmth or lack of .
one thing for certain when the water does get into the 60 ish range here the fish might rush the bank at any moment and it could be just after a run of lots of sun and that in turn runs the water temps up quickly in some spots .
I have seen them in numbers in mouths of coves and ill tempered in 55 degree water and then the same thing on another lake at 65 degrees on lakes similar in size and less than a mile apart ,but both have not so similar geography and or average water coloration as well . its a puzzle and the pieces are sometimes just not a fit and other times go together just like you did it last time .
of course in the end crappie break every rule I ever read or heard about them on a semi daily /weekly/monthly/yearly basis and in the end that's a fact