Where And When To Go Fishing

A clear understanding of factors that trigger crappie spawning is essential for successful spring fishing.This article will tell you something about fishing knowledge.

Step1 Water temperature is one primary key. Most experts quote a figure of 56 degrees as the temperature at which nesting activity begins. But spawning's peak may not occur until the temperature climbs to 58 or 60 degrees.

Step2 The exact time when the water reaches this temperature varies from year to year, latitude to latitude, and one body of water to another. It is important, therefore, that crappie anglers determine when ideal spawning temperatures are most likely to occur and do some on-the-water investigation that will lead to a visit during peak nesting time.

Step3 Looking at sunrise-sunset tables can be helpful. I learned this from Steve Wunderle who wrote the excellent guide, New Techniques That Catch More Crappie.

Step4 The first [crappie] nests to appear had an average of 13.2 daylight hours, and the last nesting sites occurred when the daylight averaged 14.6 hours. In other words, you can determine when spawning will begin and end, and therefore postulate when it might peak, by calculating the number of hours between sunrise and sunset on a given day.

Step5 Finding areas with these characteristics is the key to finding crappie beds. Nests often are near a log or other large object over a bottom of sand, fine gravel or interwoven plant roots. The depth where nests are found can vary considerably, from less than 1 foot to as much as 20 feet. But most will be in 1 to 5 feet of water.