Just wandering, with all the fish being caught with eggs an all the warm weather will the spawn be early??

I think there could be an early spawn this year because of the warmer weather. But on the other hand I wouldnt be suprised if we still have a couple freezes left in Febuary. Seems to me like thats when our coldest weather comes usually.

Im kinda hoping that it doesnt freeze over because of that reason, but i do because that means nooo school!!

If it stays warm, there might be more spawners in February than usual, but I'm betting there will be spawners from February to well into May, just like always.

Dont get in too big of a hurry.... Looking for a good snow in March...

I really don't see any ice storms this winter. The artic air is bottled up in the arctic circle and would take a HUGE storm to pull it down. I am going to say the spawn will be a month ahead. I already caught 1 dark male so they are thinking about it already.

Maybe, but they are biting pretty good now....

No

I wouldn't doubt it. It's been unusually warm and won't take a lot to get the lakes over 60.

+1

The water don't warm till the ground warms and that takes longer day's...don't rush Mother Nature, she'll get mad!!!

The spawn is also detmined by the amount of light on the water along with temps,but fish don't read magizines or go on forums. the spawn on Benbrook seems to be later it is a deep and cooler lake other places will be toward the end and here they seem to just be getting started in any measure.

well, i'm goin in the morin . 5:30 am aquilla hot coffee lots of fish.ya"ll bring donuts.

They could start a little earlier this year if the weather stays nice. The water temp on the main lake at RR is about 6 degrees warmer than normal at this time. I have caught them very good in Feburary before, we will see.

I believe it will be an early spawn as well. At the least this unusual weather and 55 degree water temps at this time of year will have some type of effect. This is happening with all animal species. Animals and fish do not read forums. They naturally react to the enviroment they live. Deer have changed their mating times and migratory birds such as geese and ducks in states like kansas and other parts are starting not to even migrate due to the fact there is no reason for them to head south for warmer or more consistent weather patterns. In my opinion it has to due with the electromagnetic field of the earth changing andx this has been happening over the last decade or so. Another thing to think about is the ever so often news report of fish coming to shore dead in our oceans at different times by the thousands. I'm no scientist/biologist but I do believe magnetic shift changes which are happening plays a big role. Then again I could just be a kook conspiracey theorist. Whatever it is it is certainly very odd this year with the crappie and weather. Some of these females I have caught had very bloody egg sacks. This was 3 weeks ago and they looked about ready to bust at the gut and hatch. Good luck with the crappie to the rest of all you pole pullers!

I will let you know when I get out of my waders in May. I usually start the hunt the second week of february and continue on through. Some of my biggest sacks of fish have come in February.

Monday I spider rigged Cedar Creek Lake. Water temp was 53 and a strong south wind. I was following the old creek bed and deepest part of the lake...down to 50 feet. A couple of months ago I did the same thing and my sonar showed almost all fish very deep and stacked up. Monday, the fish were mainly in the deeper areas but, they were scattered at all depths and not congregated near the bottom. To me (and I'm probably wrong) it indicates they are already staging for the spawn, maybe very early signs of staging but, doing it none the less.
What say you all about this?
Okie Bob

+1 and alot more water was just added to our lakes!

They are waiting for the Dogwoods to bloom. You all know that.
Did you remember it snowed a year ago 2 days ago? This added water from the rains could cool things off a little.

Slacker.....

I'll get your school work so you will have something to do besides fish!!!

Toughest crappie fishing for me is between that time when crappie leave their winter holding areas and look for staging areas. The shad scatter in mid layer water and so does everything else. Spawn may not be early, but the crappie have already shown signs of leaving their deep water holding areas. You'll notice not as many crappie being caught on LOP in the deep water. Water temps didn't get as low as previous years. So the water temp is starting to warm from about 51-52 degrees, not 47-48. Was on Belton Tues doing some brush pile work and water temp was 54.5 at 8am. That's a fairly warm temp for late Jan. But everyone knows just how fickle Feb weather can be.

Yes you are right Pat! Some lakes may spawn at the same time while most usually differ. Such as the lakes in south texas will most always spawn sooner than lakes in north central texas. Some lakes have cooler water and are deeper, so yes they vary. I only recently began crappie fishing last year due to the fact i was living on the west coast. certainly forget was i was missing but i have been fishing my lake on average of about 4 plus times a week for the past year. Last february the females didnt have full egg sacks with blood already in them. I noticed blood in their sacks 3 weeks ago. February also seemed to be the best month as far as qauntity and quality of fish caught. Like i said i not on the up and up as far as their spawn as most of you guys are but in my opinion i beleive at the lake i fish some are about ready but the way mother nature has been with this up and down roller coaster type weather patterns has the fish confused due to the water temp. water temp at the lake i fish is 55 degrees and has been averaging that since fall. I do believe all this fresh water has them scattered and the water has been very murky ever since. From what i have been told by people that have fished this lake for years, they have said the water temp should be in the mif 40's and reaching around 55 as it is now towards the end of the month. Last four days have been rough. Dinks are even hard to find. Has anyone hit their limit since it rained?

Dogwoods along with alot of other trees are already blooming.