Central Texas

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.

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

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?"......

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.

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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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??

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

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.

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...

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

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 everyone.

Don't know exactly what lake you're fishing, but it can be somewhat different on close lakes. One thing for sure is they don't all spawn at the same time. Example of this year, a month ago folks where lined up on the old road under the H36 bridge on Belton. Catching GOOOD crappie(females 1¼ and up). 3 days later....few. A week later...nothing. The water there is very shallow and if you motor there, it best be with a trolling motor. Last week they caught them again. Not small males....GOOOD crappie. Talked to some guides Saturday and they were catching skinny water fish on Waco up both North and South Bosque. Shane said fish were starting to meander to some brush piles. I was there a month ago and the big females were in the channel of the north Bosque but small males along the banks. That parade will last awhile longer. It's been easy seeing females in the channel on Livescope waiting on the TIME. Historically...on Belton...the shallow water bite is hit and miss. The old, "Should have been here yesterday" deal. I always headed up the creeks above the H36 bridge areas, but Owl Creek, Bull Creek and some others can be good. Of course...you can't get there this year. If I caught males I either missed it or was too early. Earliest was early February and the latest May. It is always "iffy" in the spring, just too many variables that can send them back. Navarro Mills usually has a good shallow water bite...if you hit the right conditions. There is a little back water area going toward the dam that the locals load up on. They have water this year. I did a HUGE crappie from there a few years back and that water is shallow, just a foot or so deep.
In over 30 years on Belton....it is always here today, gone tomorrow. By the time you get a report...it is too late and you have to seek better conditions again. A few years back, myself and some others were fishing the Owl Creek area west of the ramp. Must have been a dozen boats in there and everybody was catch good females with some males thrown in. Minnows, jigs....it didn't matter. If you dabbled around anything in a foot or less, BINGO!!! Went back 3 days later with a friend and just putting in I knew it changed. Hardly anyone in the parking lot. I think we caught 5 and only one was a female. Moved and went to McGregor area and shazzam.....they were there. Did they more....don't think so...just another bunch moved in there.

What I've learned is you just have to go and see what they are doing or have lots of contacts. I talk to regulars here all the time. DI fishes nearly everyday and can give me accurate info and all he does is shallow fish. He has no electronics on his boat.

Just don't give up. Twelve years ago I had a day job and most time not off weekends, so I understand fishing "when you can". But this time of the year you can generallly find something going somewhere. Good luck.

According to the buckets of fish in the freezer from last year, it is right on time here...Now if only the wind would slow a little! good luck ya'll

Di the legend

Complete hogwash. Water temps mean everything, water temps control just about every behavior and pattern fish have.

none of my information was meant to be little anyone in any way,., take my opinion for what its worth.. challenge it if you will... see what you come up with by checking things out for yourself..
think of this,,, are crappie in ice cold lakes in canada different than central texas lakes?
the temps in which they spawn are certainly different..
what variable is relatively the same.? HOURS OF DAYLIGHT. and the required light needed for eggs to develop..
its the same with salmon eggs, they spawn in very cold streams and rivers, and its the sunlight that makes the eggs develop.. they dont wait for the warmest water temps before they make thier run,., a biological trigger goes off, that coincides with the optimal time of year for egg development based on nutrients, oxygen and light,,
you can put fish eggs in cold or warm water for 20 years if you like,,, They will not develop without light,,..
A fish is a fish and a human is a human.,. as humans, we tend to think in terms of how we would want things to be .. we cannot think from a fishes point of view.. if our internal temp changes just 10 degrees, it can kill us,, not so for a fish,,,
Ive gotten challenged ALOT over the years about my thoughts on this subject, with ALOT of pushback, but people with open minds, and the will to try new things usually come to the same conclusion as I have..

Thinking about length of day; hours of daylight are about the same in the central time zone. Example for March 28: length of day in Belton; 12hrs 24min: Fargo, ND 12hrs 39min. Low tonight in Belton 55; high tmrw 78. Low tonight in Fargo 20; high tmrw 36 with 80% chance snow. Based on length of day, crappie should be spawning in lakes in North Dakota. Don't know anyone to ask in ND to find out, but my intuition says ice out may or may not have happened. Lake Audubon is usually open for ice fishing till April 1.

Based on length of day, crappie should spawn same time in Choke Canyon and Texoma. I know several people that go to Choke and Lake Mathis every Feb to catch crappie up shallow. I've never heard of anyone catching shallow crappie in Texoma in Feb. But with length of day the same from north to south, crappie should be spawning from Brownsville to Lake Winnipeg, Canada.

Here's a quote from a fishing guide service on Rainy lake, Canada:

"Black crappie travel in schools during the summer and winter. Open-water anglers get their first crack at them as ice clears from backwaters in April or early May and the fish move inshore to feed. Top spots include man-made boat cuts and canals and shallow bays with cover (wood, weeds, docks). More fish move in by late May and June to spawn."

As Beltonbanger said, if you're waiting for a good report, you'll most likely be late to the party.

Exactly why the advice that water temps don’t matter is complete hogwash. Texoma runs late. I fished it for many, many years. The earliest I EVER saw fish shallow (on the west end mind you where it warms up faster) was maybe the last few days of March, and even then it was a few here and a few there with the exception of one night. Most of the time it was the first and usually the second weekend of April when it got good. I had years where I was still catching males guarding beds into the first weekend of June. Why? Because texoma is a little further north, and it takes longer to warm up. I will say with sandbass they’re a little more unpredictable, but crappie tend to be pretty stuck to their ways. Water temps around 56-58 a few males might start to look around, but it’s gotta stay there for a little while. Around 65-68 it’ll be game on, but I’ve seen them up shallow still guarding beds well in to may when temps are in the mid 70s. We always get what I call a “false wave” early in march with the first warm spell, but once a front hits they are gone, why? Because the water temp dropped. I remember one year it was about 35 degrees outside in north texas and we had just had a huge snowstorm right around mid March. I had been on lavon a day or two before and the main lake temp was 45 and I marked and caught some fish as deep as 40’. Some folks were in academy buying minnow buckets and bobbers to go hit the crappie spawn that day, I looked at them, said “what are you gonna fish for” they said “it’s crappie season” all I could do was laugh. Weather and water temps mean everything folks, especially for crappie. I have a crappie pond I fish and I haven’t caught a single male with worn down fins or a female that dropped her eggs. The males don’t even turn dark until you put them on the stringer. Presumably the cool temps of northeast texas and the cold rain has dropped the water temps and they just aren’t ready yet. Sandbass are a little more unpredictable, but I can in general bet on them showing up once water temps start to get around 55, but broadcast spawners tend to work a little differently because other factors like current flow play in. Bass, catfish, crappie, and bluegill I can predict almost all their behaviors based on water temp.

That's him!!!!!