I personally think they go back to the deeper levels of the lake when the water levels fluctuate. Three weeks aga I was catching large numbers of 12 " crappie from my slips and along the lake shoreline around underwater laydowns and stumps. Then the rains and flooding of the lake started. They disappeared from the slips and shallow water. I found them on edges and drop offs in 40'-50' of water but could not get them to bite.
The only thing I found in my slips and shallow water were hand-sized and not many of them.
Thursday afternoon bait fish and crappie returned to my slips. I caught 53 in 2 1/2 hours but the biggest one was 8". They were just starting to show a little color. Yesterday I caught 37 in 2 hours before a cold North wind with rain drove me back inside my houseboat. Again they were too small for me to keep any but again a few were starting to show some color.
So I hope they have adjusted to the new water levels and will be back up in full spawning mode over the next few days.
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