Crappie, Carp & Willard

[whit210]

Me and the Bro-in-law hit Willard this morniing around 6:30 and headed straight for the shallows to see if the Crappie have moved in. My bobber hadn't hit the water and it was already headed to the bottom. Didn't get a good hook set and lost him. Next cast, down again, but this time into the trees and busted off. The BIL got a hit and up came the standard (as Tubedude would say) cookie cutter kitty. On a jig? Oh well, they will eat anything. Excellent start to the day. And Then!

For the next hour or so nothin! moved several times and tried a couple of different depths and lures, still nothin.

Decided to switch over and troll for a while to see if we could pick up some wipers. About 5 minutes after starting to troll the starboard pole bent and up came what? a crappie, go figure. Trolled for about another hour with no results and headed in with only two.

Here is the question. There was a ton of carp everywhere in the shallows. Does the spawning habits of the carp interfere with the ability of the crappie to set up their spawning beds ? How does this impact the crappie numbers in lakes like Willard?
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[Troll]

Those are good questions that I don't have an answer to.

They don't look that big when your BIL holds them!
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[Warchild]

Glad to hear to caught fish instead of just fished for them.
I would have to say yes and no to your question.
Yes if the carp are trashing the shallows and covering up the eggs with silt the crappie lay on the foliage. Or if the carp are actively feeding on them. or just rooting up the foliage.
Ive been to powell and seen an entire back bay that was producing smallies and crappie and greenies the day before turn into nothing but a mud hole due to carp. It was crazzy there had to been tens of thousands of them in there splashing and walloring around.
No if the crappie are spawning next to deeper water in the foliage.
Im not an expert but that's my opinion.
the crappie number should be good for the next few years due to the new habitat due to the low water years before.
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[Springbuck]

The carp are spawning, too, or about to. And yes, they congregate in the shallows and they feed on stuff like eggs at the same time, if they find them.

Many carp species prefer to eat vegetation, and I've seen them actually pulling weeds and grasses over in several feet of water, then sort of rasping them down and eating them, stripped stems popping back up eventually. That can't be good for any eggs, fish or insect, etc.. in the area.
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