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

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.

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.

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...

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