As many folks who follow my post over the years know, I dont put much stock in water temps and spawn activities. I ve just proved it to myself so many times by fishing the warmest water in a lake, in suitable areas where there are hard bottoms, rocks, rip rap, cane, all of the supposed prime areas they are supposed to be, and they simply arent there. Crappie spawn where they spawn, when they spawn.. By this I mean they cannot hold eggs until they find the water temp or conditions suitable. I believe the time that they spawn has more to do genetically by when thier eggs begin to grow in the fall. its genetic triggers. I think there is a short window of opportunity that the fish have to lay the eggs, and they do it in the most suitable area they can find, when that genetic trigger occurs. I also believe most of the fish caught shallow are immature males that are run off from deeper spots where the majority of fish spawn, 6 to 22 feet. If 90 percent of the crappie spawn near the bank, then there should be all sizes of crappie caught, not just primarily male dink fish. yes u may catch a decent one now and then, but rarely a nice female. the scenario of the females coming in during a full moonlit night and dropping their cargo to go recover in deeper water is longtime a myth just as water temp is.. . the males and females are together when they spawn. I have proven this to several people who fished with me, and they are shocked. males dripping milt and females oozing eggs.. those small males being caught near the bank can be just one year old. .
Right now the barometer is kind of high, and the bite has been off, at least where I fish. soon the weather will stabilize, and it wont be much of a factor. this is all my opinion based on alot of years fishing these fish, and I always start deeper, then work shallower. try it sometimes, you may get surprized. :thumb

ok

I have no doubt that you have caught a lot of fish in 20 feet of water, but I believe most of them are pre and post spawn fish that are staging. Crappie spawn at various depths and at various times of the spring. Meaning, they don't all spawn in the exact same depth at the exact same time... there are many factors.

Furthermore, if a fish is literally spawning then you will have a very hard time catching that fish. I cant tell you how many bass I have tried to pull off a bed. They simply are not interested in feeding and will only defend. I have literally dropped lizards on beds just to have her pick it up by the tail and move it off her bed! I cannot say the same is exactly true of crappie because they tend to spawn deeper, but I assume a spawning crappie will behave similarly.

If you have figured out how to catch crappie at 22 feet during the spawn, don't stop! However, to throw out water temperature and depth (and hours of daylight) is a leap well beyond what trained biologists have observed time and time again.

i lived in Florida for many years before moving to Tx.down there its just the opposite. the water only has to drop to 68/72 degree for the bass to start spawn.here it needs to warm up to 68/72 for them to head for the spawn. and some wont spawn at all.there eggs will dry up inside them! thats not to say they won't spawn in cooler or hotter water,its just what they prefer for egg survival rate.

Can't ketchum if you don't go...

theres too much scientific evidence to say that water temp doesn�t play the most significant factor. The crappie aren�t spawning thick right now because it�s been a cool spring.

Temperature is the among the most important factor along with length of day IMO. It has been slower this year because of the cooler conditions. With that being said, there are plenty of fish spawning right now if you know where to look. As far as the immature fish on the bank, I have a hard time believing that. I have caught some big fish shallow and spawning. It's more about being there when they move in. They sure catch some monsters shallow at Grenada.

Ding, ding, ding, ding!!!!!!! Exactly!!!!
A tour of the hatchery in Athens couldn't explain it any better. Fish seek the best place to lay eggs for the best survival of their offspring. If they actually deposited eggs in deep water they are more susceptible to predation and bacteria because they would take much longer to hatch. IF they even would hatch because of the lower O2 levels, lack of temperature, etc. All of which is controlled at the hatchery to optimize the hatch including Ph.
I always trust info from the guides that are on the water, consistently catching fish, spawn, no spawn, cold front, etc. Guys like Jerry, Mark and some of the others are fishing nearly 7 days a week keeping in touch with the fish!!

raising fish in a " building full of tubs:
"

thats funny.. raising fish in a building full of tanks in a controlled enviorment, and what fish do in the wild cannot be compared equally. I would love to hear ANY of the guides you mentioned say they can catch crappie shallow thru out the spawn shallow on a consistant basis.. everyday, in shallow water. bet they wont.. ha
. Spawn is feast or famine, and any guide knows that, which to my knowledge you have never done any guiding ... as I have.
anyone who can think logically should realize that with 10s of thousands of crappie on our lakes, if most of them spawned shallow, and at a certain temp, there should be a period where there would be so many crappie in a particular"warm" area, and shallow that they would be almost stacked on top of each other, but that is never the case..
Sometimes I think there are people who already know what ive posted, and they do not like this information getting posted for whatever reason.
The best ive done for mature spawning fish on belton has been 15 to 18 feet... granger, 12 feet over 15 foot ditch, trading house, brushpiles in 10 feet, waco, brush piles in 8 to 12 feet.. yes I can find small males in the rivers and creeks near the banks, but not the big mature spawning groups.

Ok!

crappie and bass are 2 different creature,s I used to sight fish for bass alot in the 80s and 90s.. and they are frequently caught close to the banks as well in central texas, but you will never sight fish for crappie, they are RARELY seen, because they are more sensitive to light penetration than temp in my opinion. they are more like perch , and prefer shade and less light in thier eyes. Why perch are called sunfish is odd because they prefer shade, they hang under docks, tree shade, bridge shade, ect.
also Crappie are one of the LEAST studied fish in existence. a few studies were done that found that thier eyesight actually improves in cold water.

Ok!

My thoughts exactly.

If I get out of work at noon on Friday I will tell you. I think the late cold snap and cloudy days has pushed them back. From my experience the 3rd week of March is a little early.