crappie eggs?

[Bobb-o]

would crappies be carrying eggs yet? We caught some very nice 12-14in crappies and i though the majority of them would be female but none was carrying eggs yet.

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Diplomacy - The art of saying "nice doggie" while you find a rock.

[CrappieJohn]

Crappies will have eggs in them, but the skeins will be very small....almost thread-like.The color can vary from a light yellow to an orange. In average fish the skeins will most likely be 3/4 inch or a bit less and perhaps 1/8 inch diameter. The color of these parts is quite noticeable, so if you are not seeing it, you most likely have a male fish.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[Bobb-o]

yeah none of these fish had the skeins in them, and i was looking. But wow, i would like to catch a couple females out of this lake now.

[juggs]

I fish crappies year round and don't think there is a time of year when the females I caught HAVEN'T had eggs. I'm not sure why, maybe they produce them as a survival instinctive in order to be ready to drop them at any time. Who knows?

[united jigsticker]

Early to mid February is when I typically start seeing eggs in the Crappies. (of course, that varies depending on yearly weather patterns and what area of the state you're in)

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[grfisherman2001]

also crappies are the only fish to spawn twice a year once in the spring and once in the fall
good fishin
grfm

[CrappieJohn]

grfm...They do not spawn twice in the northern tier states and whether they go twice in a calendar year in southern states carries a lot of variables. A second spawn down south might occur once in a while, but from what I have read, the conditions do not lend themselves to that activity every year. It's not the rule, but the exception.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[Corey Bechtold]

I can't believe anyone has said this, but larger panfish tend to be males. This is different from larger fish like Walleye, Bass, Pike, etc. Think of this... in the spring when Crappies are IN they tend to be good size. They are the males trying to clear out the baitfish and get the spawning sites ready for the lazy females. Then after the spawn the males return to guard the eggs. Personally I have noticed that most of your 12" plus Crappies have been males. They need to go back because they carry the good genetics for up and coming year classes. I also read that in a In-Fisherman magazine. Keep up the CPR on those Big Crappies and keep some 8-10 inchers for the dinner table.
Good fishin everyone!

[united jigsticker]

The only specie I am aware of where the male is the larger sex is sunfish and bluegills.

Crappies are the same as Walleyes, Bass, Pike...the female is the larger on average.

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[CrappieJohn]

Corey...I tend to agree with UJ on this. Try something this next spring. When you get on crappies that are fanning out beds that you can actually see, move out to deeper adjecent water- stuff you can't see the bottom in- and try fishing out there. Use the same bait, tactics, just much deeper. You might be surprised at what you will find. Much like feeding, the truely big craps are always at the top of the social ladder, getting the best food and the best spawning water( they are kind of like Republicans).And if you follow the rule that 66 degree water is when crappies start to spawn, you are going to miss the biggies all together! Begin looking for them in deep water at 58 degrees. You need to carry a thermometer with you attatched to a long line of about 20 feet so you can measure water temp well below surface temps. About 8 foot water is max for finding the sows in stained water, deeper in clear. About the temp. Use two thermometers....one as mentioned at eight feet and one doing the surface temp. When you find water with the same reading temp-wise on both, buckle into the fighting chair. This will signal that the dep water chill is gone from the body of water and that the day's heat is now sinking into the deeper water as the day progresses. It is then, in the deeper water later in the day that you will find your craps of much larger size beginning to seek out nesting sites. When you catch those big females and study the bottom edge of the tail. Look frayed? Nest building. I've seen hen fish with only half of the top of the tail remaining.Try doing the deeper stuff this spring. You might find something there you did even know was there!

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[This message has been edited by CrappieTom (edited 01-31-2004).]

[Corey Bechtold]

True, very true Tom. That does work great. I usually fish for Crappies when the Walleye season starts. The water temp is usually right there. I have noticed everything you noted on. I can't wait for the open water season. Even though I love the late ice scene for panfish.

[troutman]

If you're catching female crappies,and they are nice fish,they will have egg sacks in them and good sized ones too.A 1# female crappie should have two "sacks" about the size of a mans thumb.They are also very good eating.

[CrappieJohn]

Troutman....You and I are separated by only 60 miles and this is what I find. The spawn sacs will be long and narrow until the water approaches 46-48 degrees. The sacs then will begin to add mass quite rapidly, but will not get to the proportions you describe until the water has reached at least 55-58 degrees. The spawn at this point will be firm yet...you can cut it with a knife and not run all over. Each hen fish's biological workings kick in gear when the water temp nears 58 degrees with some fish spawning earlier, some later. At 58 degrees you will begin to notice distented bellies and runny spawn will appear when the fish is about a day away from actually spawning. Next year's spawn is visible within two days or so of spawning. The sacs will be very small and , as mentioned earlier, threadlike. They will stay as such until the following spring, growing only slightly, until after ice-out. The period of time the spawn is as large as you relate is a very short period just prior to spawning. I do agree that battered spawn is a treat that many enjoy. And if you do not eat it yourself, give it to your cats...they love it and it sure makes thier coats shine.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[This message has been edited by CrappieTom (edited 02-03-2004).]

[can it be luck?]

As long as the crappie eggs aren't "poached eggs"!

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[troutman]

2nd try at a response.Was my post deleted for some reason?Anyway,Tom.Are you getting these facts from a book or,are they your personal observations?My experience is drawn from many winters on a popular backwater lake that is no longer the fishery it once was,15 to 20 years ago.In those days,from December to ice-out,I routinely caught many large(1# plus}crappies.The females,both white and black crappies,had egg sacks the size of a mans thumb.I tell you no lie.My sons would eat them up until they got older and got kind of weird about eating stuff like that.Mike

[CrappieJohn]

Trout....This is from personal observations made in the se corner of Minn. The Miss.backwaters and lake Zumbro are my preferred areas to fish, but I have fished crappie all the way from Red Wing dam to the Iowa border and have found this to hold true. The only time I have seen large spawn skiens is that month prior to the spawn itself and this from fish well over the pound mark. And this observation comes from well over forty years of rigorous crappie pursuit with over twenty years of journaling. You may have a unique situation. You are not fishing near the discharge- chute at Prairie Island are you? : I have just never found any crappies with thumb-sized spawn in them outside of the period immediately (1 1/2 month) prior to the spawn. Spawn maturity, like a deer's instinct to breed, is governed not by how well it is eating, but by the amount and length of available daylight. Secondarily by increasing water temperature. I am not saying that you cannot see the spawn sacs in the fish outside of that period in the spring, as they are very visible when you clean the hen fish. Not huge, visible. After ice-out Mother Nature provides the required drivers to get the fish in spawning mode....lengthening daylight hours and warming water. It is when thes two criteria are met that spawn growth becomes rapid and shows up on the fish and is really apparent upon cleaning a fish.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[This message has been edited by CrappieTom (edited 02-04-2004).]

[troutman]

You're close Tom.North Lake to be exact but,still quite a ways from any warm water discharge.As I stated earlier,this lake is not the fishery it once was and it has been several years since I've done well there.I don't fish it like I used to because of this.I know that has nothing to do with spawn sacks but,I swear,it's all true.The lake still gets fished and I know guys still catch a few fish there.If it was anything like it used to be,I'd offer to meet you there as,having followed your posts,it is apparent that you are quite knowledgable about fish and s.e mn.period.Truth be told,I'm having one of the worst winters ever for getting into fish.I'm hoping to change that come the late ice period.I've never fished Zumbro and my experience fishing south of Red Wing is very minimal.I'd love to fish with you sometime. Mike

[CrappieJohn]

When we approach something closer to WARM outside, we can get together for a day on the Zum and I'll show you some dandy crappies. I start fishing that lake as soon as there is water open enough to cast and I know of just the spot. Like last summer, this winter has offered up some dynamic challenges for fishermen. Late ice, low water, no early snowcover on the ice...we've gotten it all this winter. About the spawn issue...I have never witnessed what you have described until springtime. I may happen randomly...who knows. I certainly do not want you to feel as though I'm stepping on your toes...I don't mean to do that. The whole thing is more a curiosity for me than an issue and I am always open to new info when it regards the craps. I have always inferred that no two waters are created equally....there will always be differences between all bodies of water no matter how identical they may appear. And we must remember, too, that we are dealing with fish and for us to fully understand the critters we would...have to be one. We are obviously not, so that leaves us with our speculations and theories and generalizations. This is a really good discussion and not a topic many are willing to look at seriously. Thanks. And, hey, e-mail me and we will set a date and fish. My address is in my signiture. Hope the winter does better for you late than it did early.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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