Spawning Crappie

[Bubfisher]

What is the concensus of the crappie spawn, has it passed yet or are they still spawning. I know that fishing has slowed down a bit, and fish have moved a little deeper. does this mean that it is over? just wondering what some opinions were on this topic thx.

[Dutch]

None of the females that I caught on Thursday had spawned yet though they looked close.

[straw hat]

I was just going going to post about the same thing when I saw your entry. The last two weeks the wife and I have been fishing around the Ruark area and I would say that 95% of the females we have caught have spawned. Today we decided to drive around the lake and check out a few new spots. One spot near the state marina we picked up 8 or 9 spawning crappie about 5' deep!! The water temp was 56F. That is further north then we have been fishing, maybe that made the difference. What general part of the lake were you on Dutch?

[Dutch]

I was just going going to post about the same thing when I saw your entry. The last two weeks the wife and I have been fishing around the Ruark area and I would say that 95% of the females we have caught have spawned. Today we decided to drive around the lake and check out a few new spots. One spot near the state marina we picked up 8 or 9 spawning crappie about 5' deep!! The water temp was 56F. That is further north then we have been fishing, maybe that made the difference. What general part of the lake were you on Dutch?

Up the Little Sac but it was a few days ago and they looked ready to pop.

[straw hat]

WOW, I am really confused now. (That doesn't take much though-lol). That water up the little Sac should even been warmer than where we have been fishing around Ruark. The only think I can think of is that the post-spawn fish the wife and I have been catching spawned before the heavy rain and that cold front. Before that weather we had been catching spawners in that area. The ones spawning now must have waited and held there eggs until the weather warmed back up. If that is the case then the upper end of the lake should still have plenty of fish left ready to spawn. What do you guys think??

[Shad Attack]

father-in-law went out on this past thursday. all the females we caught had spawned and very few were shallow. we were in the high point area

[Dutch]

Maybe depth is the key. Not all fish spawn at the same time and I don't fish shallow so maybe I got the late spawners. I never even fished shallower than about 15'.

[Thunderin Gobbler]

Heading up the the CC area this evening after work for a few hours. It's supposed to get pretty windy on the lake today, so hopefully we can get out of it there. Has anyone been doing any fishing in this area lately? I haven't been up there since before turkey season, and the crappie were biting like crazy then, but that's been almost a month ago.

[straw hat]

Heading up the the CC area this evening after work for a few hours. It's supposed to get pretty windy on the lake today, so hopefully we can get out of it there. Has anyone been doing any fishing in this area lately? I haven't been up there since before turkey season, and the crappie were biting like crazy then, but that's been almost a month ago.

The wife and I drove there on the way home Saturday. Lots of boats still. Water color is pretty stained but fishable. There were a couple bank fishing by the launch who had caught a couple that looked like post-spawn. Didn't get to talk to any boats. Good luck.

[hooked on crappie]

What is the concensus of the crappie spawn, has it passed yet or are they still spawning. I know that fishing has slowed down a bit, and fish have moved a little deeper. does this mean that it is over? just wondering what some opinions were on this topic thx.

We caugh crappie in about 4 feet of water Sunday. The females were full of eggs and the males were still black as coal. The water was 66 degrees and murky. Hooked on crappie