I will let you know when I get out of my waders in May. I usually start the hunt the second week of february and continue on through. Some of my biggest sacks of fish have come in February.

Monday I spider rigged Cedar Creek Lake. Water temp was 53 and a strong south wind. I was following the old creek bed and deepest part of the lake...down to 50 feet. A couple of months ago I did the same thing and my sonar showed almost all fish very deep and stacked up. Monday, the fish were mainly in the deeper areas but, they were scattered at all depths and not congregated near the bottom. To me (and I'm probably wrong) it indicates they are already staging for the spawn, maybe very early signs of staging but, doing it none the less.
What say you all about this?
Okie Bob

+1 and alot more water was just added to our lakes!

They are waiting for the Dogwoods to bloom. You all know that.
Did you remember it snowed a year ago 2 days ago? This added water from the rains could cool things off a little.

Slacker.....

I'll get your school work so you will have something to do besides fish!!!

Toughest crappie fishing for me is between that time when crappie leave their winter holding areas and look for staging areas. The shad scatter in mid layer water and so does everything else. Spawn may not be early, but the crappie have already shown signs of leaving their deep water holding areas. You'll notice not as many crappie being caught on LOP in the deep water. Water temps didn't get as low as previous years. So the water temp is starting to warm from about 51-52 degrees, not 47-48. Was on Belton Tues doing some brush pile work and water temp was 54.5 at 8am. That's a fairly warm temp for late Jan. But everyone knows just how fickle Feb weather can be.

Yes you are right Pat! Some lakes may spawn at the same time while most usually differ. Such as the lakes in south texas will most always spawn sooner than lakes in north central texas. Some lakes have cooler water and are deeper, so yes they vary. I only recently began crappie fishing last year due to the fact i was living on the west coast. certainly forget was i was missing but i have been fishing my lake on average of about 4 plus times a week for the past year. Last february the females didnt have full egg sacks with blood already in them. I noticed blood in their sacks 3 weeks ago. February also seemed to be the best month as far as qauntity and quality of fish caught. Like i said i not on the up and up as far as their spawn as most of you guys are but in my opinion i beleive at the lake i fish some are about ready but the way mother nature has been with this up and down roller coaster type weather patterns has the fish confused due to the water temp. water temp at the lake i fish is 55 degrees and has been averaging that since fall. I do believe all this fresh water has them scattered and the water has been very murky ever since. From what i have been told by people that have fished this lake for years, they have said the water temp should be in the mif 40's and reaching around 55 as it is now towards the end of the month. Last four days have been rough. Dinks are even hard to find. Has anyone hit their limit since it rained?

Dogwoods along with alot of other trees are already blooming.