Spring Crappie and Bass

One of my favorite times of the year! Everyone knows that you can catch crappie close to the bank when they spawn, but the question is, what is the exact time to start catching them in the shallows. Well, in the last two years I have learned so much about this topic from my soon to be father-in-law. When the water temperature heats up to 55 degrees, the crappie start moving in from the deep water to the shallows to find a place to spawn. First off, the big black males fan out a bed for their big fat honeys. They are the funnest to catch in my opinion, as any crappie fisherman knows, they are the meanest. The sows sit and wait in deeper water for the males to finish making the bed, and then they move in to lay the eggs. This is the time of year when at any time it's possible to catch a 3+ pound crappie. Once the eggs are laid, the male moves back in to protect the eggs. At any point during this time, if you drop a jig anywhere near these beds or eggs, it will get destroyed quickly. It's not that the males or females are hungry, it's that they don't want anything near their eggs that they think is harmful. Also, keep in mind the best time to fish this time of year is in the evening, as the sun heats up the water temp throughout the day to the right temp. Anywhere from 55-65 degrees, (ideally 62-65 degrees) you can catch big crappie on the spawn. Every body of water is different on the temperature, as obviously the smaller bodies of water heat up faster then bigger bodies of water. This concept is the same for bass, although they like the water temp to be a little warmer (63-68 degrees).