We had almost 8" according to my rain gauge near Toledo Bend. The lake has gone up almost 4' since the beginning of the year. Anyone know what that will do to the crappie spawn?
We’ve had such an increase in lake levels a couple times...At first blush, I never really know where to look for the crappie spawning, asince they have so much water available. I usually find them though. Here is the way I start. First, I forget beating a bank, because with that much new water to cover, it is faster/easier to handle in a boat. Then, I go to the typical staging areas and search for them along their travel route to spawning areas. I begin fishing the spawning areas at normal lake levels. Typically, I can find some here, depending on water clarity, available cover on the new water, etc. Then I head into new water areas to look for them, but only after exhausting my tried/true spawning areas during normal pool lake levels.
Remember, crappie do spawn deeper in clear water lakes as opposed to muddy lakes, so the water clarity could affect whether you will find them in normal spawning spots, or not. Personally, I made mental notes of where I found spawning crappie shallow in new water. Interestingly, always seems to be rocky shorelines as the common denominator. Another area I just can’t pass up, Are cattails, if I can see them, I am going to fish them, and yes, it is hit or miss usually. It is a good time to mention, that spawning crappie areas tend to cover basic needs, cover from predator fish and cover from land/aerial predators as well. New water should have these types of cover.
If crappie spawn on the dam at your lake...slowly troll along the dam and look for spawners (not carp) racing into deep water...if you see that....fish for them shallow. Otherwise, fish for them deeper (normal spawn areas).
If you have docks on your lake, fish the docks that always produce for you first, then move on to docks that may be flooded/submerged...I always seek out old broken down docks for some unknown reason. I only occasionally fish lakes with docks, so my knowledge is limited, other than good crappie spawning docks are always good spawning docks, as long as the crappie can reach them.
Knowledge of how a local lakes spawn is affected, Is achieved by time on the water. Seek out fishermen with experience on your particular lake, and it will help dial in this general theme, that I have outlined here. Basically, higher water in a lake usually means cooler water, so I start looking for staging crappie and work my way into the spawning areas, them I stay on my normal spawning areas, until I am convinced they are not there, but they usually are, just deeper in the water, then I go look at the new water, with a keen eye on rocky shore lines. Overall, local lake knowledge is the best experience, so go buy your old local fisherman (iprefer elder statesman) a breakfast and cup of coffee and ask them the same questions...you may be real surprised at what they have to say! Furthermore, it may just fill up you freezer...hope this information helps.
