My fishing partner and I have been fishing a small, fairly clear lake in East Texas. It is about 4000 acres and 22 ft. deep at the deepest. We have fished it about 4 days a week for 2 months in an effort to learn something about it. At first, in March the water temp up shallow was about 62 degrees. We caught quite a few nice big black malea in a cove against the bank in 2 ft. of water. No females. Over a 6 week period of time the males slowly dwindled to no fish shallow. I have been checking the shallow water daily(sight and casting) and no fish and the water temp now runs 67 to 70 degrees on warm afternoons. All this time we could back off to trees in 12 to 14 ft. and catch fish. On good days we have caught limits, on poor days maybe 10 fish. At first these deep fish were mostly males. Now they are 90 % female. Their egg development is in all stages. My question is if the spawn is almost over (as most people are saying) why haven't these fish gone to the bank? If anything they seem to be migrating toward the 22 ft. water at the dam. This dumb okie is really puzzled.

My name isnt Guy or Ernest but I couldnt resist. Keep in mind that crappie dont have to move real shallow to spawn. In some lakes and ponds in Tx crappie have been known to spawn in as deep of water as 20ft. It all depends on light penetration. Murky water/ shallower spawn, clear water deep spawn. Thats my $.02

Thanks Chuck, appreciate the input!

Dennis,
It's like Chuck said, they don't necessarily have to be shallow to spawn. It takes many combinations of elements to determine the areas that crappie will spawn. Chuck mentioned water clarity...I'll also throw in bottom make-up, temperature, location, available cover, etc. For the most part, I fish three lakes...Cedar Creek, Grapevine and Lewisville, and I'm finding crappie in all lakes at 2', and all the way to 15'. Some have spawned and some haven't, but remember that the third of the three 'main' spawning months is coming up, so there should still be crappie that haven't spawned. Consequently, they may never 'go to the bank' to spawn. Those males that you were catching earlier, were scouting nesting areas, and if they didn't find the combination that they liked up shallow, they found it somewhere deeper. Follow them and be happy that you figured out that they weren't spawning shallow....cause some people never do.

Honestly, I try to figure out where they are and what they're doing, instead of why are they there and why are/aren't they doing that. It cuts down on stomach acid and excessive drinking .

Guy,

Thanks a lot for the explanation. I have always been guilty of "trying to figure things out." Even at 66 yrs. old I guess I still have a lot of small kid in me. You know, like why is the sky blue? This forum is great because of people like you, Ernest, Chuck and others being willing to share their experience. Again, many thanks!