Page 49 - South Mississippi Living - February, 2023

The spawning process takes considerable energy.
While spawning, fish eat very little so they must build up their reserves by eating whatever they can catch before spawning. They particularly like minnows, shad and other small baitfish. In addition, pre-spawn females reach their maximum weight before releasing their eggs. At any time just before fish spawn, anglers could catch their personal best.
Crappie usually spawn when water temperatures reach about 60 to 65 degrees. In South Mississippi, some might begin spawning in late January or February, but most start
Males look for a cleared spot with a firm or gravel bottom. They collectively clear out a place in one to six feet of water close to cover, such as weeds, stumps, brush piles, fallen trees or docks.
Giant females swollen with roe stage in slightly deeper water. Look for them at the mouths of small tributaries flowing into larger rivers. When ready to spawn, these fish head shallow. In early spring, fish the transition zones that provide access to both deep and shallow water when looking for crappie.
Use electronics to find fish staging in deeper water. Fish
in March depending upon the weather. Spawning peaks from mid-March through early April.
Not all crappie spawn at the same time because waters warm at different rates. In some waters, the spawn could run all the way into June. In a vast and complex system like the Pearl or Pascagoula watersheds, crappie might spawn in one cove today and not until weeks later elsewhere. Major rivers carrying water from farther north tend to run colder, so crappie would likely spawn later in those streams than they would in lakes or ponds with stable water levels.
Still shallow waters warm quicker than deep flowing rivers. Crappie in a shallow sunny cove might spawn earlier than
in cold water won’t chase baits far or fast so anglers almost need to tickle their noses with temptations to make them bite. After finding good fish, use long poles to vertically present tiny soft-plastic jigs or small live minnows to them. Some people sweeten their jigs with live minnows.
Flies or hair jigs also make excellent enticements for early crappie. They create very subtle action. Just the slightest natural water movements can make the hairs twitch enough to provoke a strike.
Crappie typically look up to feed. Let the bait slowly sink to a depth just above where the fish want to stay. Whenever possible, fish all around any structure. Crappie might hold
their cousins holding on deeper ledges in main channels with current. A shallow backwater or sunny flat on an oxbow lake makes a great place to look for early spawners.
When water warms sufficiently, smaller male crappie usually head shallow first to look for good places to spawn. Unlike bass or bluegills, crappie don’t make or guard nests.
on one side of an object today and the other side the next day. Fish living in tidal systems could change positions every few hours.
In many ways, chasing crappie on cold days almost seems like hunting. Anglers first need to find the fish, but once they do, the coldest days could produce the hottest action.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
February 2023 | 49
LEFT: Tim Blackley, a professional crappie angler, shows off a crappie he caught on a jig while fishing a Mississippi lake.
ABOVE: A Road Runner jighead spinner tipped with a live minnow makes an excellent combination. RIGHT: Roger Thomas shows off
a couple crappie he caught while fishing on a cold February morning.