Recently, time seems to be non-existing in my world. Besides, I haven't blog lately; I thought I would mustard up something for the sake of reading during this span of suckie weather. Excuse me as it may get long for some...

Spawning crappie...
As it gets closer to best time of the year for crappie fishing, many are anxious to get back to their favorite holes from last year. For the novices, there will be post after post asking when will they spawn? At what temperature would they start spawning, and where are the likely location?, and at what depth?...etc. Soon there also will be post after post showing off lots of awesome pitch black looking crappies, and there might be even a question or two whether that's a black crappie or a white crappie....
I am writing this not so much for the experienced spawn slaughters, but rather for the spawn seekers. Although I won't be able to cover it everything, and it's because I won't remember it all, and I don't know everything. However, it's something to give some newbies a better understanding of spawning crappie.
Some say that crappie would start spawning in late Feb. or the mid of March. Some say it'd spawn all the way to June and so on... Not all lakes will spawn at the same time, and actually not all part of the lake will spawn of the same time. It's not the 1st or 2nd moon precisely, but rather the TEMPERATURE of the water.
Our Southern part of TX would spawn before some of the Northern ones, and it's no mystery..it's the water temp which dictates the spawn. Longer day and shorter night from Southern sun will help heat up the Northern shoreline which causes the Southern portion of the lake to spawn later then the Northern portion. Once again, water temperature is the key...
Although crappie will start moving shallow when the water temp reaches 62degree, but most won't be in full swing until the water reaches 66degree to 68degree. You can find crappie spawning all the way up 75degree. As the water gets warmer than 75degree, spawning is about over with some exception of early morning or late evening. Keep in mind that once they are shallow, they can be as shallow as less than a foot in depth.
Most of spawning crappies we see are males because the male crappies do the fanning of their nests (anywhere from 6"-4' deep), but the females are usually not far away in just a few feet deeper. During the full moon within the spawn, the females would move in and drop their eggs. Finding females in their nests is short live. The males continue to stay to watch the eggs before leaving their nests as the water temperature get warmer...
There is a love hate relationship between man and nature when it comes to spring spawning crappie. Mother nature is something we can't control. Often times, anglers get caught dressing too warm or too light during the Spring. Be ready to expect the unexpected as the weather changes day by day. Even though you may find them in shallow already, but a sudden snap of a hard cold front will definitely push them back to deeper water the very next day. The delay in the spawning process can be a week or two. Water clarity plays an important role in water temperature. Black crappie can't tolerate muddy water as well as the white specie, however, the murkier water will heat up quicker than the clear water. Also, lake level changes is something to consider. Sudden drop or rise will have a big effect in their bedding. Luckily, not all crappies would spawn at the same time. As much as it might frustrate anglers, mother nature and crappies have a much tighter relationship year after year. The key to anglers is to be out on the water as often as you can and be prepared for fishing condition changes as the weather changes. The best time to go is still whenever you can.
Here are some tips to watch out for....
WHEN: (varies depending on the body of water...)
1) Spawning starts when water temperature reaches 62-65degree
2) Spawning in full swing usually occurs when water temperature reaches 68-72degree
3) Right before a hard cold front within the spawning period
4) Right before an expected big rain as the lake level will change
WHERE:
1) Focus on Northern coves where water temperature is more idealistic first...
2) Creek banks and shallow coves with deep creek running through is better than consistently flat coves
3) Stay away from soft or muddy bottom. Crappie doesn't like to fan in the mud
4) Firmer bottom such as gravel, grass bed, hydrilla bed, rock rip rap are areas not to overlook
5) Steep banks, especially with pockets underneath (don't ever overlook the hanging roots!)
6) Log lay downs, bushes, cat tails, any stickup
7) Low overhanging trees with shades
8) Center of cove treelines/timbers (5'-8' is where you may find some bigger females)
9) NEVER skip a beaver dam
10) Of course where ever snakes love to hang out....:)
HOW:
1) Long rod tight lining is still my favorite. This is when you can actually feel every thunder thump!!!
2) Put on a pair of waders and a 10'-12' rod
3) 7'-9' rod if you are on boat
4) Casting and SLOW SLOW SLOW reeling (bending hook inward to help locate and loose less jigs). Using a lightest jig you can. casting 20' is still covering a lot of water.
5) Casting slip cork and jig (1' to 18" below the cork) toward the shallow and work back slowly. This is best when you wish to cover areas where it's too shallow for your boat to access
6) Minnows/Jigs/Roadrunners will all work well. Don't forget that gold fish is better in very murky or muddy water
7) Don't use small hook size; bigger hooks (from #4 to #2) help secure your hooksets on active crappie

This recent weather has taken an toll out of many of us in the north TX region. I hope this may help on days like today when we look out the expected 3" of snow thru our windows. I am 100% sure that I may miss some very important key facts in finding and catching spawning crappie so please view this as a comprehensive and general guidelines for some of our newbies in crappie fishing....

Good Read

Thanks CV!

I sure would be cool out there today.

CW

Thanks for the tips,Ive just started to learn to jig for crappie, catching a few, but I am in the jig learning process.

From a newbie, this was great information. I really appreciate it.

This should help newbies identify the difference between the 2 species:

Although there are other scientific method to separate the 2 species, this pix show us that....
Notice how the black male doesn't have any distinct vertical pattern; its spots are all over the body.
Notice how the white male still carries the distinct vertical stripes (Although both species can get a lot darker than pix shown)

Also, I've been asked many times via PM or Emails on "how to choose a jig"....I've also written some guideline per my opinion (not necessarily reflect any opinion of the board)...hehehhe.... Hope it helps some newbies as well...
Here is the Clicky LINK

Excellent!

nice read cv

Since CV mentioned jig selection.I ran across an article I had and thought the newbies might like to read.
Red visable in shallow water
Orange-a little deeper
Yellow-even deeper
Green-even deeper
Blue-most visable in deep water
White- good at all depths it reflects light as light levels change or water gets murkier Pink- Yellow-Chartreuse-light blue and black.When the bite changes its not the fish its the changes in light or water clarity.
Studies show the colder the water the better the vison of crappie.Cold water helps the cells in there eyes function better.They can see smaller objects in cold than in warm.Darrell

Same here, very informative read.

Thx for taking the time to post that CV. That was a really good read.

thanks for the reading material...... it helped me get over my bad attitude from this piss-poor weather! i guess navarro mills will have to wait until my next day off!!!!!!!!! drats

CV,
That was an informative post, but I respectfully take exception to the cheap shot at the CAT BOD at the end. Give it a rest, you may sell more jigs.

thanks for sharing