Here is a bit of information regarding angling for spawning Crappies...

Crappies will start spawning when water reaches into the 60's but prefer water temps from 64 to 72 degrees. The actual act of spawning for individual fish takes a couple of hours. 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. Most females complete the task within 24 hours under stable conditions.

After laying eggs, females abruptly leave, filtering out into deeper water. Males remain behind to guard he nests and fan them to keep sediment settling and to maintain a steady supply of oxygen to the eggs which hatch in about a week. Males remain for several days 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.

No states enforce spawning closures ad interest in Crappie fishing peaks around spawning time in most areas. Harvesting or harassing spawning Crappies can't be a good thing.

Angling ethics play a role in the future of Crappie fishing. Look at the lakes you fish and think "can this lake take the pressure and is it a good thing to pick on these spawning fish".

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

As soon as the males are seen in the shallows by themselves, I assume they are on a nest. Their hyper aggresive demeanor is a dead give-away to them having eggs/young under them.

I usually begin to target backwater bass/northerns then....perhaps a day of sauger or walleye, but I leave the crappies alone for a couple of weeks.

Something to consider Corey is the "old school" mentality surrounding catching crappies in the spring. For others, they simply haven't a clue as to how to approach a crappie except when they are vulnerable.

I do a lot of cpr in the spring, personally having had two small meals of crappies since before the ice went out and none of those fish were over 11 inches. Still, I see the same boats with the same people in the same spots day after day taking limits. And yes, calls are being made.

I'd like to see a c/r season only from May 1st thru June 15.....statewide. And artificial only.

I agree with you Tom. I wouldn't mind a closed season but the bait stores might. I often wondered what a reduced limit from April till June would do. Maybe have a 5 fish limit on Crappies and 10 on Sunfish. This way people could still get a meal but leave some of those fish in the shallows to do their thing.

One thing that I have noticed lately is that hard core anglers are starting to be selective and put bigger fish back. This is very promising.

It helps to get the word out regarding Selective Harvest/Catch and Release.

Good fishing,

Corey Bechtold

In an ideal world, selective harvest would be a concept that is self-regulated throughout the fishing community. Unfortunately it is not.....slots are prime instances of where manditory regulation forces compliance. We still see those who double dip or fish and keep full limits every day even though the freezer is full.

One of my beliefs is that, un-like the walleye where reproductive strength falls off with size and age making maintaining genetic superiority harder to keep in the water, crappies and panfish like crappies and sunfish hold onto this genetic and reproductive ability. BUT, nothing is there to protect the largest fish, those that so many anglers feel they need to take home.

For those that might voluntarily set size limits, many still are throwing live bait to bedding fish. Most artificial users that I know agree that bait gets taken deeper and increases mortality likelihood on all sizes of sunfish and crappies and use the artificials to enhance the ability to return fish unharmed. Perhaps this idea won't make baitshop owners happy for a month, but they can stock productive plastics to make up for dropped bait sales. And still being open is better than being closed.

The easiest way to regulate anything is to mandate rules. The panfish have been taken for granted for years and only within the last couple of decades has the push been toward self administered size and numbers regulation begun to become popular. The concept is not universally popular though and that leaves open a lot of doors.