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.

The actual act of spawning for individual fish takes only a couple of hours, but females rarely drop all their eggs at once. They may repeat the spawning ritual two or three times over a period of several days as eggs continue to mature and ripen within their body cavities, but under stable conditions most females complete the task within 24 hours.

The spawn is a relatively brief and variable period. In smaller bodies of water, the bulk of the spawning occurs within a two-week window. In huge reservoirs and vast, sprawling lakes—encompassing slightly different climates between the north and south ends of the lake, with crappies spawning everywhere from shallow interior bays within bays to deep main-lake timber—the Spawn Period could drag on for well over a month. In Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota-Ontario border, for example, crappies in the far south end of the lake often finish spawning while crappies in the north end remain in prespawn mode.

If spawning habitat is limited, crappies from different areas of the lake may occupy it in waves. The first to arrive (those that winter closest) spawn earliest in the low 60°F range and, as other areas of the lake warm at varying rates, more crappies continue to appear and spawn in the same area. This might leave the impression that the spawn is a long, drawn-out affair for individual fish. That isn’t the case. Each individual female generally finishes her duties within a day, sometimes within hours.

After laying eggs, females abruptly leave, filtering out into deeper water. Males remain behind to guard the nests and fan them to keep sediment from settling, and to maintain a steady supply of oxygen to the eggs, which hatch in about a week in optimal conditions. Males remain for several days after the hatch to guard the fry. When the males are harassed by too many anglers at this critical juncture, the result can be a poor year-class of crappies for the lake, especially in waters with limited spawning habitat. Unguarded, the young fry become easy pickings for other panfish, small bass, and a host of other species.

Most experts say fishing pressure has no effect on year-classes or overall spawning success, which is probably true on those “fish factory” lakes with a prolific population of crappies that produce consistently strong year-classes. Some lakes, however, particularly at the northern edge of crappie distribution, have limited spawning habitat, inconsistent year-classes, and pendulous swings in forage abundance. No states or provinces enforce spawning closures, and interest in crappie fishing peaks around spawning time in most areas. No effects have been documented, but harvesting or harassing spawning crappies on such lakes can’t be beneficial.

Postspawn Period

Water Temperature: Mid-70°F range

General Fish Mood: Neutral to negative

Depending on the body of water and local weather conditions, crappies may take a week or two to recuperate from the rigors of spawning. That doesn’t mean they aren’t hungry, but they aren’t inclined to chase. The energy deficit produced by spawning has to be addressed, and crappies will feed. But the spawning ordeal is difficult enough that many crappies don’t survive. Fungus-infested fish are common in some lakes during this period.

After leaving the nest, females filter across adjacent flats to the edge of deep water. Small groups of crappies may linger around shallow cover like brushpiles and weed clumps. In shallow lakes, those become key spots during this period of recuperation. In general, however, crappies move to the developing deep weedline or to the nearest drop-off into deeper water. It’s common to find them suspending 5 to 15 feet below the surface off the edge of the break, waiting for pods of small minnows or casually cropping off larger forms of zooplankton. It’s also common to find loose groups of crappies roaming the edges of channels, drop-offs, and developing weedlines, sometimes holding above deeper points.

Once the hatchlings leave the nest, males join the females in this roaming, casual feeding activity, as the Postspawn Period dovetails into the Presummer Period. At that point, the bite begins to heat up.

Presummer Period

Water Temperature: 70°F range

General Fish Mood: Neutral to positive

Resumption of regular feeding patterns marks the beginning of the Presummer Period. Water temperatures could be in the mid-70°F range or above. Presummer is the Calendar Period during which weedgrowth and food chains develop toward peak summer levels.

Feeding opportunities and patterns for crappies develop at different depths. Some fish are found in weedbeds, some on flats, some on breaks, and some are suspended—all at the same time. The Presummer Period is yet another time of transition for crappies. In deep southern reservoirs, crappies appear on primary and secondary points in the main lake, establishing ever-deeper patterns. Deep, timbered channel edges harbor steadily increasing numbers of crappies through this period, while the extreme shallows become nearly devoid of fish.

In northern natural lakes, crappies establish themselves in the habitat they use all summer long and show an increasing tendency to suspend farther from structure. In smaller lakes and ponds, points and turns along deep weededges draw increasing numbers of fish, and a classic summer pattern begins: Crappies suspend during the day, then hover near the deep weededge as the sun drops lower or the wind rises, moving to the weededges and over the weeds in low-light periods (evening, night, dawn).

The passing of the cool-water periods of spring into the warmest period of the year encourages crappies to switch to classic patterns that match the long, stable period of summer. A recent tracking study on Kentucky Lake revealed major differences between white and black crappies in habitat selected after spawning and in movement patterns. While white crappies quickly departed spawning areas and moved to deeper water near secondary river channel ledges and submerged structure, black crappies remained in the same type of shallow brushy habitat where they’d spawned. Interestingly, local anglers keyed on offshore patterns and had difficulty catching these increasingly abundant black crappies.