By next weekend I think the spawn will be full on, if not over on some bodies of water. You should be able to find fish in shallow spawning area real easy by next weekend. The smaller males should still be around in the shallows anyway. Your water temp was only 55? we hade 61-64 in smaller bays on all 4 lakes I fished this weekend here in the Saint cloud area.
got to 88!
Whoa that really warmed up. 30 degrees in a few hours lol
We had 60.5 degree water this morning and the crappies were in the spawn very heavily. Any water on shore with a little shade held numbers of fish. The lake we were on will be done by Weds.
According to a warden who came and launched while we were pulling the boat, yesterday was a zoo and the fish were, like today, big into the spawn.
Easily another 150+ fish morning here. I’ll bet we caught 75 sunfish in the 9 to 9-1/2″ range too. The sunnies were in shallow and the males spraying.
Had 58 this weekend , a back bay had 60. Crappies were not in yet still out a little.
Seen 66.5 yesterday, Forest lake area. All the males were real black and none we kept were females. I think they were done and you could see the males protecting there little circle of sand in the weeds.
Was out yesterday at a local lake and the crappie spawn is full on in the shallows right now in my area. Lots of extremely black colored fish guarding beds like crazy. We caught fish in every spawning area we checked. Mostly smaller male fish. It was fun to get up in the new reeds and sight fish them. no fish were keep.
It was 58 yesterday and the crappie were on fire. They have been all week
Id be surprised to see the crappie spawn over at this point in the year in MN. We caught crappie with eggs in them on Rahtbun in Iowa last year over memorial day weekend. Water temp was 70°. Perhaps white crappie and black are a little different. Or maybe the water warmed up so fast and they were never going to drop those eggs.
On the bright side, sounds like good fishing for you all!
All crappies I’ve caught lately have been full of eggs but we are catching them suspended over 22 ft of water plus.
The water temps on the lake we fished yesterday was 66-67 Deg. I’m sure they will be some late spawner’s, there always is. But my guess is the majority of the spawn on this lake will be over rather fast. When the males turn this black of color, they are nearing the end.
It was 58 yesterday and the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie were on fire. They have been all week
Surprising that the temps in your are are still that low. Most all the lakes that I’ve fished in this area are in or near the mid 60’s. At least in the smaller bays. Main lake water may still be a little lower.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
It was 58 yesterday and the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie were on fire. They have been all weekSurprising that the temps in your are are still that low. Most all the lakes that I’ve fished in this area are in or near the mid 60’s. At least in the smaller bays. Main lake water may still be a little lower.
Didn’t see fish shallow so we fished main lake. It could have been warmer shallow but the fish were not there.
That lake was 63 to 64 this afternoon and the kids and I crushed crappies again. 1/16 jig and 1.5 inch paddle tails pitching worked and dragging. 12 plus ft of water, females appeared to still have eggs.
65 degrees and the crappie gods were finally kind to me. 2-3fow marked a bunch deeper too. Most were males.
Did very well on tonka this morning. Water temps were 67 on the garmin. Most females were still holding eggs. 4-6 feet of water. 1/16oz jighead w a Kalins tickletail in jimmys fav color.
My 2nd weekend of fishing panfish near Cass lake over the weekend. Water temps are running 60 to maybe 65 degrees. Still finding lots of males in shallow bays. Have not caught a female yet. Plenty of nice sunnies mixed in with them. Some very nice bass with them to. Just about any panfish bait you want to throw at them, even minnows but they are slow on minnows. Sunnies running 8 to 10″. Pies 10 to 13″.
We got certian groups of reed beds we find them on but spend a little time every trip looking for new areas. So many good looking areas but limited time to spend on them. It still amazes me how there will be an entire area of the same looking weeds but those fish will us just a small spot of it. Our main spot is in the center of a weed filled back bay. Depths running 5′ max. Weed beds everywhere but the crappies are using one spot that we can find. Then they move around on that spot.
Back at it again this coming weekend then on to other fish. Guessing next weekend the cabbage weeds will be up more in the 8 to 10 depths and plenty of crappies will be using them. If the wind lays down we might stop and cast at the stalks of cabbage. Our other approach is to slow troll beatle spins or other jigs through them.
I thought maybe I hit the end of the spawn with warm temps on Fri and nothing being squirted at me by the crappies. Mix of dark black and regular coloring, Fish were in about 6 inches to 4 feet of water. Good action until the catfish started coming in in the evening.
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Guy I work with says it will be a great year for Crappies. 2 years of tough ice fishing because of crazy snow & poor ice plus a year of extreme heat-This guy has caught some true slabs this year so I am listening.
Nice Pies Rat. I’m back at it again this weekend north of Cass. Have not caught a female yet. Thinking we will be targeting some different structure this weekend and see what comes of it. Everyday we will spend a little time searching new areas trying to find the little spots they like to use. This keeps us from just beating up the same old spot over and over again. Sure is a slow process of locating new fish but the pay off is worth it.
Rvrrat- I almost had a panic attack looking at your pictures… Get that reel out of the sand!!!! 
Guy I work with says it will be a great year for Crappies. 2 years of tough ice fishing because of crazy snow & poor ice plus a year of extreme heat-This guy has caught some true slabs this year so I am listening.
Then let us know what he says and how’s and why’s.
Ok-his point is pressure on crappies has been way down because of conditions.The lack of pressure should make it a great year. How? He uses pretty average gear and even though he has a boat he probably won’t use it ’till June, he has 3 maybe four spots that he shore fishes depending if it is early, mid, or late spring.
It’s been a numbers month of May. I’m not sure of the various spawns, but schools of different species in shallow water rack up those numbers.
Got some nice specks-water temp still stuck at or below 70. Wind was annoying but seemed to help in the shallows.
Fished a lake that has a c & r rule in place since last year. I don’t know if that is the reason for the increase in quality, but over 45 fish in 3 hrs. One thing that blew me away were the tight schools seen on the sonar in 7′ and the fantastic strikes/fights at that depth by sunfish and crappie. I then hit the outter weed edges near the shore in 5-6′ and more sunnies slammed my modified soft plastics rigged on 1/16 oz jigs. Everyone else in boats or kayaks were beating the banks, which is understandable without sonar on board.
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