Cast your jig or minnow gently next to a reed, stump, etc. On more complex bodies of water, crappies may spawn … If you find this to be the case, choice of lure color/size is not as important due to the male crappies’ aggressive and indiscriminate nature.Although it may be super easy (and super fun) to catch a lot of crappie during the spawn, it’s important to remember that over-fishing an area can really hurt a lake’s crappie population. During a wet spring, some waters turn muddy and crappie build nests as shallow as 6 inches. Crappie generally will spawn at a depth just below the point where sunlight begins to lose penetration. This is due to different crappies beginning the spawn at different times.
If a lot of males are removed while they are defending their fry, the eggs will be damaged or eaten by predators. Undeveloped shorelines with canopy cover are often found close to crappie nests. I favor lures in chartreuse, chartreuse and orange or red and chartreuse hues for fishing dirty water. During my spring excursions, I’ve seen temps vary in an area just 100 feet apart. Undeveloped shorelines with canopy cover are often found close to crappie nests. Once you hit a nesting location it can be non-stop action until you head home. In many cases this will be less than 5 feet. Both fish will quiver, the male will release his sperm (aka milt) and the female will release her eggs.During a spawn, the female will release tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of eggs. Nesting sites are usually along pea gravel banks protected from wind and waves. My home waters of Lake of the Ozarks lacks natural cover, but has plenty of man-made fish attractors and ideal spawning areas that produce consistent springtime crappie fishing … Twitch the rod every few seconds if using a jig.Many of the hits you get during the crappie spawn may be defensive strikes from males who are guarding their nests. Another factor to consider about the crappie spawn is that crappie like to spawn right on the edge of light penetration into the water. Try fishing a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig or a small minnow. If the water is 3 feet deep, set the bobber to 2 feet. This is because crappies go through a “gorging phase” a week or two prior to the spawn. To test this, you can lower a white jig into the water and make a note of the depth at which you lose … Whenever I have a question I need answering about crappies I can usually find it in one of these:CrappieFisher.com is a participant of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program – it is designed to provide an aid for the websites in earning an advertisement fee – by means of advertising and linking to Amazon.com products. Chances are they will be back.Although almost every source I found has a slightly different answer for this, they are all usually within a certain range.Crappies will begin spawning when the water temperature reaches 56-60 degrees Fahrenheit.The crappie spawn will peak when water temperatures reach 61-72 degrees Fahrenheit.Fishing for crappies before the spawn can actually be better than fishing during the spawn.