When would you all guess that the earliest they might begin to come shallow along rip rap to spawn this year? I haven't the slightest clue but would like to try.

Water temps will determine when they make the move. When they approach 60's try it. North end warms first. A string of warm days will warm the rocks, so riprap water can be a lil warmer.

April

Late March if warm trend continues.
Just a guess. As dunker mentioned, it is all dependent on water temps and fronts.

I have never fished the rip rap during the spawn, but do start hitting the cattails all around the lake in mid to late February depending on the weather. Water temp will determine ultimately when they will move up, but I have caught them as early as January. The best numbers come between the last week of February and the last week of march. After that it is hit or miss. That is just my experience on Ray hubbard. This year could get interesting unless the lake comes all the way up with this rain this week.

Hubbard has been great this winter in the deep brush piles.

When the water temps reaches the upper 50's and lower 60's is when the big crappie move in. When the water gets in the upper 60's and 70's you can still catch'em but their the smaller one's. They should be thick on the rocks this year with the lake so low.