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Central Texas #15016569 03/14/24 12:28 PM
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RussellWayne Offline OP
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Went out for a few hours yesterday and ended up with 9 Keepers. Caught prolly 20-22 fish in all. Out of those 9 one was a female. 2 weeks ago caught 14 and again only one was a female. Water temp 2 weeks ago was 64 degrees. Yesterday eve it was 69. Perplexing as to why the females are running pretty late this year.


Life journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved state.
But rather skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "holy carp what a ride!"
Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15027797 03/26/24 02:35 PM
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leanin post Offline
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when you stop paying attention to water temps, things wont be as mysterious... hours of daylight and genetic triggers make crappie do what they do.. also , most of the larger, mature females dont go to the banks.,, they stay out deeper and spawn on deeper brush, channel ledges, bulkheads, ect ect.., thats why every year there are so many pics of stringers of small males off the banks with very few if any large females mixed in..,
if you follow crappie guides on social media this time of year, you will see that they are catching larger males and females,, this is because most of them know, that there are crappie out in deeper water, spawning that are easier to find, than fishing many miles of banklines hoping to catch a few males..
there seems to be a pecking order and the bigger males and females spawn deeper for some reason,, I think many of the small males build nests near the banks, in hopes of attracting females, but it isnt the best realestate to get a female.. they get ran off by bigger males in deeper water where the females are setting up, and they naturally go towards the banks., several other species such as largemouth and carp spawn along banklines, and will run the small crappie off,, wave action runs the males off the banklines as well.. one day they are there, the next day gone,,,
many folks believe that almost all of the males make nests near the banks, then the females come in on full moon nights, drop thier cargo, like a jet dropping bombs or something, then leave. not true, the males and females are together for several days sometimes where the males find the eggs and deposit thier milt.. they all dont do it at the same time,
I heard one guy say on you tube, he actually watched a male swim up to a female crappie, and slap her with his tail, to try and get her to follow him to his nest.,, I asked how many times did he slap her? and did she follow him.. havent gotten an answer....
the reason folks come up with these things is because they want to try and time what the fish will do, and where they will do it.,., This is a myth that started by some big name anglers many years ago, who thought they had to have all of the answers, because they were put on pedestals of greatness... anything you ask them abt fishing, they would have an answer..
I bought into the temp myth in the early years.,.payed very close attention in spring to water temps, and searched out the warmest water on lakes I fished.,, sometimes the changes were minor and sometimes up to 12 degrees variances., but the crappie were not in the warmer creeks, rivers or areas of the main lake, any moreso than they were anywhere else.. paying attention to water temp was nothing but a distraction, that either skewed my decisions on when to go, or where to go..
the water temp myth is one of the biggest wastes of time there is dealing with crappie fishing and will actually mislead you rather than guide you.. around march 16th this year, the hours of daylight and nighttime became equal.. thats when we started catching spawners . on all of the media platforms I visit, it went from zero to 60 very quickly,., sunlight penetration is what develops eggs,as well as oxygen and nutrient rich water..
sometimes cold fronts come in, and folks believe that well the water temp got colder so the crappie moved. well what happens when northern fronts come in, first theres usually large swings in barometric pressure, which make fish move around, and second, strong north winds that cause waves to pound several areas of the lake. The surface water temp may only cool a few degrees when a northern front passes thru, but many will believe that the slight temp change caused the fish to move.. also remember , even though they are spawning, they still have to eat.. so baitfish movements and location still affect where the crappie will be.. Shad are gearing up to spawn as well, they will look for the nutrient and oxygen rich water to spawn in and the crappie will be with them. JMO


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Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15027986 03/26/24 05:47 PM
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TenPtTony Offline
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Very interesting read. I've always thought that the water temp thing was just a coincidental result of the lengthening of daylight hours and the real catalyst was the changing length of day. When I toured the hatchery in Lake Jackson they explained how they induced the brood stock there to spawn twice a year. Didn't have to do with changing water temps, they did it by manipulating the hours of "daylight" in the tanks.

Kind of the same as the rut in deer. Generally I hear, "We need a good cold snap to get the rut started." It starts happening about the same week every year. Seen them rutting hard when it's freezing as well as when it's 85 degrees. Asked a TPWD biologist about it needing to get cold to start the rut. His response was, "Do you only rut when gets cold?"......

Re: Central Texas [Re: leanin post] #15028676 Yesterday at 12:28 PM
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RussellWayne Offline OP
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Originally Posted by leanin post
when you stop paying attention to water temps, things wont be as mysterious... hours of daylight and genetic triggers make crappie do what they do.. also , most of the larger, mature females dont go to the banks.,, they stay out deeper and spawn on deeper brush, channel ledges, bulkheads, ect ect.., thats why every year there are so many pics of stringers of small males off the banks with very few if any large females mixed in..,
if you follow crappie guides on social media this time of year, you will see that they are catching larger males and females,, this is because most of them know, that there are crappie out in deeper water, spawning that are easier to find, than fishing many miles of banklines hoping to catch a few males..
there seems to be a pecking order and the bigger males and females spawn deeper for some reason,, I think many of the small males build nests near the banks, in hopes of attracting females, but it isnt the best realestate to get a female.. they get ran off by bigger males in deeper water where the females are setting up, and they naturally go towards the banks., several other species such as largemouth and carp spawn along banklines, and will run the small crappie off,, wave action runs the males off the banklines as well.. one day they are there, the next day gone,,,
many folks believe that almost all of the males make nests near the banks, then the females come in on full moon nights, drop thier cargo, like a jet dropping bombs or something, then leave. not true, the males and females are together for several days sometimes where the males find the eggs and deposit thier milt.. they all dont do it at the same time,
I heard one guy say on you tube, he actually watched a male swim up to a female crappie, and slap her with his tail, to try and get her to follow him to his nest.,, I asked how many times did he slap her? and did she follow him.. havent gotten an answer....
the reason folks come up with these things is because they want to try and time what the fish will do, and where they will do it.,., This is a myth that started by some big name anglers many years ago, who thought they had to have all of the answers, because they were put on pedestals of greatness... anything you ask them abt fishing, they would have an answer..
I bought into the temp myth in the early years.,.payed very close attention in spring to water temps, and searched out the warmest water on lakes I fished.,, sometimes the changes were minor and sometimes up to 12 degrees variances., but the crappie were not in the warmer creeks, rivers or areas of the main lake, any moreso than they were anywhere else.. paying attention to water temp was nothing but a distraction, that either skewed my decisions on when to go, or where to go..
the water temp myth is one of the biggest wastes of time there is dealing with crappie fishing and will actually mislead you rather than guide you.. around march 16th this year, the hours of daylight and nighttime became equal.. thats when we started catching spawners . on all of the media platforms I visit, it went from zero to 60 very quickly,., sunlight penetration is what develops eggs,as well as oxygen and nutrient rich water..
sometimes cold fronts come in, and folks believe that well the water temp got colder so the crappie moved. well what happens when northern fronts come in, first theres usually large swings in barometric pressure, which make fish move around, and second, strong north winds that cause waves to pound several areas of the lake. The surface water temp may only cool a few degrees when a northern front passes thru, but many will believe that the slight temp change caused the fish to move.. also remember , even though they are spawning, they still have to eat.. so baitfish movements and location still affect where the crappie will be.. Shad are gearing up to spawn as well, they will look for the nutrient and oxygen rich water to spawn in and the crappie will be with them. JMO


Right on, Thanks for the lesson. I hope i'm not taking it the wrong way but it seems like you're telling me everything i'm doing is wrong. But you in fact only know that I went fishing, number caught and water temp. I never mentioned how deep i was fishing, structure type, what I was using or where I was. You just Kinda assumed that. I think this post of yours would have been great as it's own post and not as a reply as it appears to belittle everyone else.


Life journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved state.
But rather skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "holy carp what a ride!"
Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15028729 Yesterday at 01:14 PM
Joined: Sep 2012
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yankee817299 Offline
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Right on, Thanks for the lesson. I hope i'm not taking it the wrong way but it seems like you're telling me everything i'm doing is wrong. But you in fact only know that I went fishing, number caught and water temp. I never mentioned how deep i was fishing, structure type, what I was using or where I was. You just Kinda assumed that. I think this post of yours would have been great as it's own post and not as a reply as it appears to belittle everyone else.
[/quote]



I see no belittlement here, just some good sound advice. I often wondered myself how one night of low air temps could change the temp of a large body of water??

Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15028786 Yesterday at 01:46 PM
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TreeBass Offline
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You "asked" a question about the females running late, he gave you his opinion/advice of what he believes happened or is currently happening. I do not see any belittlement here either
confused 3

Originally Posted by RussellWayne
Went out for a few hours yesterday and ended up with 9 Keepers. Caught prolly 20-22 fish in all. Out of those 9 one was a female. 2 weeks ago caught 14 and again only one was a female. Water temp 2 weeks ago was 64 degrees. Yesterday eve it was 69. Perplexing as to why the females are running pretty late this year.


Originally Posted by RussellWayne
Originally Posted by leanin post
when you stop paying attention to water temps, things wont be as mysterious... hours of daylight and genetic triggers make crappie do what they do.. also , most of the larger, mature females dont go to the banks.,, they stay out deeper and spawn on deeper brush, channel ledges, bulkheads, ect ect.., thats why every year there are so many pics of stringers of small males off the banks with very few if any large females mixed in..,
if you follow crappie guides on social media this time of year, you will see that they are catching larger males and females,, this is because most of them know, that there are crappie out in deeper water, spawning that are easier to find, than fishing many miles of banklines hoping to catch a few males..
there seems to be a pecking order and the bigger males and females spawn deeper for some reason,, I think many of the small males build nests near the banks, in hopes of attracting females, but it isnt the best realestate to get a female.. they get ran off by bigger males in deeper water where the females are setting up, and they naturally go towards the banks., several other species such as largemouth and carp spawn along banklines, and will run the small crappie off,, wave action runs the males off the banklines as well.. one day they are there, the next day gone,,,
many folks believe that almost all of the males make nests near the banks, then the females come in on full moon nights, drop thier cargo, like a jet dropping bombs or something, then leave. not true, the males and females are together for several days sometimes where the males find the eggs and deposit thier milt.. they all dont do it at the same time,
I heard one guy say on you tube, he actually watched a male swim up to a female crappie, and slap her with his tail, to try and get her to follow him to his nest.,, I asked how many times did he slap her? and did she follow him.. havent gotten an answer....
the reason folks come up with these things is because they want to try and time what the fish will do, and where they will do it.,., This is a myth that started by some big name anglers many years ago, who thought they had to have all of the answers, because they were put on pedestals of greatness... anything you ask them abt fishing, they would have an answer..
I bought into the temp myth in the early years.,.payed very close attention in spring to water temps, and searched out the warmest water on lakes I fished.,, sometimes the changes were minor and sometimes up to 12 degrees variances., but the crappie were not in the warmer creeks, rivers or areas of the main lake, any moreso than they were anywhere else.. paying attention to water temp was nothing but a distraction, that either skewed my decisions on when to go, or where to go..
the water temp myth is one of the biggest wastes of time there is dealing with crappie fishing and will actually mislead you rather than guide you.. around march 16th this year, the hours of daylight and nighttime became equal.. thats when we started catching spawners . on all of the media platforms I visit, it went from zero to 60 very quickly,., sunlight penetration is what develops eggs,as well as oxygen and nutrient rich water..
sometimes cold fronts come in, and folks believe that well the water temp got colder so the crappie moved. well what happens when northern fronts come in, first theres usually large swings in barometric pressure, which make fish move around, and second, strong north winds that cause waves to pound several areas of the lake. The surface water temp may only cool a few degrees when a northern front passes thru, but many will believe that the slight temp change caused the fish to move.. also remember , even though they are spawning, they still have to eat.. so baitfish movements and location still affect where the crappie will be.. Shad are gearing up to spawn as well, they will look for the nutrient and oxygen rich water to spawn in and the crappie will be with them. JMO


Right on, Thanks for the lesson. I hope i'm not taking it the wrong way but it seems like you're telling me everything i'm doing is wrong. But you in fact only know that I went fishing, number caught and water temp. I never mentioned how deep i was fishing, structure type, what I was using or where I was. You just Kinda assumed that. I think this post of yours would have been great as it's own post and not as a reply as it appears to belittle everyone else.


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Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15029170 Yesterday at 07:40 PM
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Good info. there leanin post and right on. The majority of the 13" and up crappie we've caught this year have come from depths of 5 to 6ft fow. Lots of dinks along the shorelines with a few decent ones mixed in.

Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15029353 Yesterday at 11:08 PM
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JMO but water temp does play a role in things. If it didn't, the fish would spawn on the exact same day each year and they in fact do not. Some years it is earlier and some years it is later due to water temps. I do think that the length of day plays a role as well, They won't spawn in January if we get. string of 80 degree days because the length of day doesn't match. Given the right length of day and water temps that are right, they are spawning somewhere. I think the biggest thing is timing when they come up. Just because you don't catch them in an area, it doesn't mean they aren't there. Spawning crappie are super hit or miss for me and I dislike them more and more each year. Here one day and gone the next. Just my 2 cent...

Re: Central Texas [Re: RussellWayne] #15029356 Yesterday at 11:10 PM
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Also, the females are not there for long. They come in and drop their eggs and are gone. They can be there and gone in 10 minutes if they wanted. I usually let the stage the females are in tell me what I need to know. If they are spawned out/partially spawned out then you are on the back end of the spawn. If they are all full of eggs, then the main spawn hasn't happened yet

Re: Central Texas [Re: KidKrappie] #15029517 7 hours ago
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Ken Gaby Offline
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Originally Posted by KidKrappie
JMO but water temp does play a role in things. If it didn't, the fish would spawn on the exact same day each year and they in fact do not. Some years it is earlier and some years it is later due to water temps. I do think that the length of day plays a role as well, They won't spawn in January if we get. string of 80 degree days because the length of day doesn't match. Given the right length of day and water temps that are right, they are spawning somewhere. I think the biggest thing is timing when they come up. Just because you don't catch them in an area, it doesn't mean they aren't there. Spawning crappie are super hit or miss for me and I dislike them more and more each year. Here one day and gone the next. Just my 2 cent...


Agree. Length of day is measurable and constant every year almost the exact same time. If length of day is the main determining factor, all crappie would spawn the same week. The spawn occurs different times on almost all lakes. Fish actually spawning, eggs running out, happens over 8-12 weeks. The eggs have to mature before a female lays them. I caught crappie with runny eggs last week of Feb and will most likely catch some last week April with runny eggs on the same lake.

No doubt the females stay deeper. But not all the time. The fish I caught last week Feb included several 14-14.5" females and they were caught in 2 FOW. And I've caught big females on LOP in April with eggs runny in 25 FOW hanging on trees about 10-12 ft deep. Crappie spawn in many places and different depths during about 3 months every year. And water temp does play a role. Shallow water is more prone to temp change. Deeper water is less prone to temp change. I've seen shallow water, 2-3 ft, change 5 degrees over night after a strong cold front. I've seen main lake water temp 58 and backs of coves 62 on the same day. A 1-2 degree change in water temp can have major impact on fish. In winter, I've thrown a cast net in 3 FOW at 8am and not caught a single shad. Come back at 3pm on a sunny day and bingo, one throw and enough to bait the jug lines. Water temp was 4 degrees warmer at 3pm. I've fished a 50 yd stretch of bank at daylight and not caught a single crappie. Came back at 1:30 and picked up 15 in the same stretch. Water was 2 degrees warmer.

Main point, crappie are where you find them. Don't get stuck looking in one type water or one depth. Good fish everyone.


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