High Water + Spawn =???

As I sit here drinking a few beverages, looking at the flow charts and stage of Pools 2-5, a question comes to mind.

Is the extended period of high water we will be experiencing going to correlate to more successful spawns for various species? Pool 4 is going to be high well into the 2nd week of June, regardless of the weather going forward. I’ve heard it can be a benefit, but have always wondered if it’s true. In theory the high water expands spawning territory for fish and provides more cover for the fry. It could also lessen pressure on postspawn mature fish with the river at flood stage for a week or two. I’d think the crappies, gills, saugers, and eyes would all benefit from this. Is my thinking crazy…or will this help the 2017 year classes?

I’m concerned with the temp fluctuations that have associated these rising waters. More than a few times this spring weve seen water temps rise then fall.
Maybe its no big deal for the fry:???:

I’ve had as high as 65 on Pool 4 a week ago, and saw as low as 54 the middle of this week. I have no idea how temperature fluctuations impact fry though.

For crappies and sunfish it will depend on the water…lake, pond, river. The crappies on our local lake were just getting in the spawning mode, many already on nests, when we got doused with the heavy rain last week and the water levels shot up over a foot in a day. High water on this lake means muddy water so any nesting will have been negated. The dam at the end of this lake has issues with debris lodged in one of the turbine intakes so getting rid of the high water takes a lot longer and we’re still getting rain. The longer the dirt laden water stays the heavier the silt layer on existing nests. Then the water temps as mentioned will come into play too.

We have been in the low to mid forties for two days now with some pretty good winds so water temps will drop. I think many of the northern lakes got a decent spawn before all this weather set in, but down here our local waters have been like a yo-yo all spring between high water and water temps going up and down. Many areas like on the river the high water will simply create more [new] spawning areas and those fish will be ok. True lakes will probably be ok as well. Lakes with dams for controlling depths might see some issues regarding spawning fish. I’m not sure how this stuff works with bass.