Aldrich 5/2

[bologna]

Fish are finally showing up.  Crappie caught out on flats mainly in 12 foot of water on cranks.  Catfish, a stray white, and a few drum as well.

 

They should be heading for the banks soon I think.

[MrGiggles]

Water temps were 66 at the dam yesterday. I think the spawn is close to being over and done with.

[fishinwrench]

6 minutes ago, MrGiggles said:

Water temps were 66 at the dam yesterday. I think the spawn is close to being over and done with.

What?   Not a chance.  

There will be bass & crappie spawning until water temps are in the mid-70's. 

Peak spawn activity typically is around 72° 

[MrGiggles]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

What?   Not a chance.  

There will be bass & crappie spawning until water temps are in the mid-70's. 

Peak spawn activity typically is around 72° 

That has just been my experience fishing Stockton, 55-65 is best, much warmer than that it gets tougher, for crappie anyways. I don't know much about bass.

I caught a jet black male with totally ragged out fins on Friday, like he had been tending a bed for some time. If they are on the beds up by the dam, pretty good assumption that they have been there done that further up the lake where it's a few degrees warmer.

[bologna]

13 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

What?   Not a chance.  

There will be bass & crappie spawning until water temps are in the mid-70's. 

Peak spawn activity typically is around 72° 

All I know is the females we caught yesterday were full of eggs.  I'm up at aldrich every weekend, the crappie there haven't spawned yet as far as I know.

 

Most of the weeks before the crappie were deep in the bottom of the channel until now.

 

 

Best of luck to all.

[straw hat]

Research

https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/crappie/crappie-tips-fishing#:~:text=Crappie%20may%20spawn%20as%20early%20as%20mid-March%20in,spawn%20as%20shallow%20as%201%20or%202%20feet.
Missouri Conservation Department The spawn generally occurs when water temperatures reach 55F. 

Siefert, R. E. 1968. Reproductive behavior, incubation and mortality of eggs, and post-larval food selection in white crappie. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 97:3.
Spawning begins when water temperature reaches 13–14 C (55-57F), with peak spawning occurring at 16–20 C (61-68F)  (Siefert 1968). 

My records

The water temperature I got last Saturday was 65F in the twin bridges area.

The records that I have kept over the last 35 years show that I catch most spawners at 56 to 64F. My records show that anytime the water temperature drops more than 5 degrees during the spawn a significant number of eggs are reabsorbed and a poor spawn occurs. From April 9th this year to April 23rd the water temperature appearred to drop 7 degrees in the CC area (61F to 54F). I certainly hope that reabsorption of eggs do not occur. 

[Dutch]

This agrees with you straw hat, but what do they know, they are only fisheries biologists who do this kind of thing for a living.😇

https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/crappie/crappie-tips-fishing

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Dutch said:

This agrees with you straw hat, but what do the know, they are only fisheries biologists who do this kind of thing for a living.😇

https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/crappie/crappie-tips-fishing

Keep track of what you experience this year, and let's see.  

How long (how may springs) have y'all been fishing, anyway?   You never paid any attention before?

That's just crazy🤔

[straw hat]

I have been fishing Stockton since 1987. 

[Dutch]

I started fishing it in 1969 as soon as they closed the dam, though I do not profess to have knowledge about the crappie spawn, neither do I maintain those types of records.