I bet the Turtle knows.

Well, she hasn't spawned out yet. 2 males have made 3 beds, that she checks often but no signs of labor yet.

I guess there is no need to keep the water temperature below 60 in the tank then. That point seems to have been proven already by TPWD.

Eggs have to be mature before they're ready to lay. Don't know how fish react in a big aquarium, but my guess is keep the camera handy for about April 15th.

Just talked to the manager of the Fresh Water Fisheries Center in Athens. He said they don't spawn crappie there, but do spawn bass and bluegill and other species. He said crappie should act very much like bass and bluegill since they're in the same family. They do not move their brood bass in to spawn till the water temp reaches 60 degrees. At that temp, after a couple days of acclamation, the fish will kick into spawn mode rather quickly. He said the fish do not spawn at colder temps (50-55) because it takes too long for the eggs to hatch and fungus starts growing on the eggs and kills them. He said the fish know this and will not lay the eggs. He also said he's noticed the fish in the raceways tend to really kick into spawning mode right before a front when the barometric pressure drops. For some reason this tends to excite the fish and they are more prolific with the spawn. They were planning on moving their brood fish in to spawn this week but that won't happen now for several more days till they have 60 degree water. I didn't ask about length of time for eggs to hatch relative to water temp after he said they won't lay eggs when the temp is too cold cause of the fungus killing the eggs.

So turns out ole DW is right; the fish know about the temperature and eggs hatching.

The suspense is building. My vote for April 15th. Full Moon!