How does the moon phase affect fish?? I found that interesting. Or is it one of the ol fishing wise tails from back in the day?

I think they just finally follow the shad into the shallows and when they realize it's nice and warm there, they have a roll in the hydrilla.

99.9% of it's water temp. Just like every other fish.

This!!! I caught a female on the nest in 2' of water yesterday! She had those insulated ear muffs with gloves on her fins, sitting on a hot water bottle!

Length of daylight...

KABOOM ....and not being a pro don't mean ya don't know

Geeez!

Where do they go when a cold front hits during the spawn?

They move back out to deeper water, until the water warms back up for spawning conditions.

How many times did that happen 2 springs ago?

Fish were still spawning the 1st two weeks of June in North Texas that year.

That has nothing to do with day light hours!!!! Period! It has to do with the water temperature! Period!

I could be wrong, crappie West of 35 answer to the crappie God over there! Period! What a joke!

Not the ones West of 35! Ha! Geeez!

All three factors have some influence on the spawn. Crappie begin to grow eggs in Nov. Eggs grow all winter. As the days get longer, they start to migrate toward spawning areas. Not all at once, but some start to move. Then the wait begins for water temps to warm. I've never caught a white crappie shallow in spring in water cooler than 57 degrees or black crappie in water cooler than 53 degrees. Only thing that means, I haven't done it; someone else may have. The first wave of crappie moving to spawn will be there long before the shad show up in shallow water. Once the crappie are "in the mood" I think their feeding becomes secondary. We caught plenty of crappie at Fork shallow last year in March in water that was completely devoid of any shad or minnows. The big feed takes place all winter as they prepare for the spawn. I think once the water starts to get warm enough where they are staging, they will make trips to shallow water during the night looking for warm water to spawn in. If they find the right temp, they'll be there till the process is done. If the temp is not right, they migrate back to a deeper water holding pattern during the night. When a cold front hits, they back off to the first comfortable structure to wait for the right conditions and water temp. One of the best keys is warm days with some warm nights where the night temp stays above 55. Once the water gets warm above 62 for white crappie, then a cool night won't push them back out. A major cold usually does.

Remember people setting up at night with lights in the early spring near creek areas and catching loads of crappie during the night and then you can't find any fish there the next day? What happened? The fish were roaming at night looking for the right temps, and stopped at the lights to feed on whatever was there. Then they moved on. Crappie do a lot of moving in the spring IMHO. I've been on shallow fish one day and found the same spot completely devoid of fish the next morning. I've also found fish staging out deep only to have them all disappear during the night. Next morning, all fish were gone. They moved shallow. One tournament on Bob Sandlin we found a boat load of crappie shallow Fri morning. We couldn't get a jig out of the water without getting bit. Caught fish instantly. I took a fish off, laid the rod down with jig about a foot below the surface and had another fish on before I could hand that fish to Max. We left quick. Came back the next morning to our honey hole to find nothing. No fish anywhere in the area. Completely gone.

As far as the moon, I've fished several springs 3-4 days a week looking for spawning fish. Water temp was good; 59-61. Fish were most prevalent up shallow in large numbers during the full moon and at the dark of the moon with full moon being best. Just my theory, but I think crappie may move a mile or more during the night in the spring. Just my

I don't care when they spawn. I want to know when and where they eat. They eat the most when they are growing eggs which is triggered by something. True that warmer water moves them shallow where they are easier to catch. JMO but I ain't no expert.

so when that guy Alton says its just about the daylight then he is wrong?
and Todd from Oklahoma is wrong when he said it as well ?
WOW silly me thought the pro anglers would know
I think the single most important factor is length of daylight just like them fellas
if not please explain how it is they spawn up north on ice out ?
water temps are WAY below what the posters here say to look for
....

Your always right, the water is always colder under the bridge and the fish are easiest to catch.

So you headed to 3 FOW this morning to catch some spawning fish????? There's plenty of them just bustin full of eggs.

I am really getting smarter about this stuff ........ I think.

not in the daylight for sure
nor during a front rolling thru
but there are some for sure busting with eggs right now
and to be sure I am NOT looking for actual spawn fish shallow
just the early arrivals and or in transit versions .....
and we know who they are