The Prespawn Period

Surface temperatures: 50°F to 63°F

General fish mood: Neutral to positive

As the water warms, the focus of crappies shifts toward spawning activities. Crappies require (1) a sufficiently soft bottom like sand-marl—but usually not muck—where they can sweep out a nest; (2) some form of cover (stumps, fallen trees, brushpiles, reeds, or the stalks of old weeds) at (3) the appropriate depth. Depth is determined to a large degree by water clarity. The clearer the water, the deeper crappies spawn—down to about 20 feet in the clearest lakes and reservoirs. In average water clarity, crappies spawn at about 3 to 6 feet. In muddy conditions, the bulk of the spawn may take place in 2 feet of water or less. The right depth is just below the point of maximum sunlight penetration. Light penetration is required down to the depth of the eggs, providing warmth for the optimum incubation period. If the hatch is delayed, survival is affected. But eggs placed too shallow are subjected to additional ultra-violet light, which also affects overall survival rates. Lakes with widely variable clarity in spring tend to have inconsistent year-classes of crappies.

Bays, coves, and backwaters with woodcover and the right substrates (gravel-sand, sand, sand-marl, sand-silt) draw the most crappies. Without the right substrate at the right depth, or in the face of competition for spawning areas with other species, crappies sometimes spawn on the limbs of submerged timber. Female crappies begin moving in and out of the primary cover, often holding on the deep fringe around these sites as the surface temperatures broach 50°F. Males tend to move right into the cover and stay put at this point. When males first arrive, they may mill around and spook easily. As the water warms, they become more aggressive and territorial.

Males turn dark as hormonal changes occur. As the water broaches the 60°F mark, the males often bite like tigers, becoming easy to catch with a variety of bobber systems and, in clearer lakes, vertical techniques. This is especially true after the males select a spawning site and begin clearing and defending it. The females remain edgy, slipping in and out of cover, but they often bite a carefully presented bait quite well until the water nears the mid-60°F range. Females finally join males on their selected nests, but not until they’re ready to spawn. In most bodies of water, spawning takes place when surface temperatures read somewhere between 64°F and 72°F, but some conjecture exists as to the importance of temperature. The most important factor determining when crappies spawn could be day length. After a cold spring, crappies may spawn in water colder than 62°F if that day-length window is about to close. Conversely, if the water warms exceptionally fast in spring, crappies may be forced to spawn in water warmer than 72°F. Over tens of thousands of years, nature culls late spawners out of the gene pool because their progeny have insufficient time to grow large enough to survive the rigors of winter. Genetics over time fine-tunes an optimum “day-length window” that corresponds to the same specific week or two on our calendar—the human calendar—every year.

The Spawn Period

Water Temperature: 64°F to 72°F

General Fish Mood: Negative

All the crappies in any given body of water do not spawn at the same time. Those that spawn in fast-warming bays and coves spawn first, followed by crappies using the north-facing bays, and finally by spawners on main-lake shorelines that warm slowest. In any given area, actual egg laying can be completed in as little as one day, or could be spread out over weeks or more if cold fronts continue to interrupt.