Willard and Mantua 4/4/19

[fly_fishing_nut]

Tried Willard North marina again this evening. We caught one nice crappie but turned him back because that was the only one. Got him outside the marina a little south. Only had two other small bites. Maybe try again tomorrow.

Mantua’s ice is all gone in case anyone is interested. Might give that a try soon also.
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[wiperhunter2]

Good to hear the crappie are turning on, I've been marking a lot that I think are crappie but no luck on catching them yet but I think that will be changing pretty soon. Did you notice many people fishing inside the marina? Usually when the catching really turns on there will be a lot of people lining the shore there.
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[fly_fishing_nut]

Not too many fishing in the marina yet. Maybe 5-7 people. It hasn’t turned on for crappie yet as far as I can tell.
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[TubeDude]

"I've been marking a lot that I think are crappie but no luck on catching them yet"

[#0000FF]Don't beat yourself up or turn in your fishing license yet. There is a good chance that any schools of fish you see at middepth could be shad. They start massing up near sandy shorelines for their annual spawn about this time too. Even though they can spawn clear up through June, some might start spawning by the end of April.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Based upon declining numbers in DWR nettings the past couple of years it would seem that the overall population and sizes of crappies are way down from the good fishing of two to three years ago. But another good high water year should help them get off a good spawn this year.
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[wiperhunter2]

If there were that many people I'd bet they are catching a few. That is how it usually starts 5-7 one week leads to 8 to 10 the next, until it it shoulder to shoulder in a couple of weeks. Of course that is weather dependant, and this week isn't looking the best.
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[wiperhunter2]

Of course that is always a possibility but we were seeing these marks in 14 to 16 FOW and they did not appear to be as big as a spawning shad would be. From what I understand, crappie don't mark well, not sure how shad mark or if they travel in singles, like we were seeing. I've seen plenty of shad, young of the year and spawning shad that are close to the bottom near shore, just never seen them at 7 to 10 deep in 16 FOW. Maybe I'm just not aware of what they look like on the finder, pre spawn.
When crappie have a good spawning year, how long does it take before that year class can spawn?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]From your description...singles at 9-10 feet over deeper water...I suspect they may be crappies. And they do mark on my Helix.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Age/spawn cycle? I seem to recollect from Chris Penne (DWR) that it is about 4-5 years until crappie are large but may spawn a year or two before that. But that is always dependent on food resources, etc. Shad are only on the menu a short time each year because they grow so fast. But the crappies do eat the young of other species...as well as clouds of midge larvae.
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes, we were marking them too just not a really strong signal and they were pretty small.
I was thinking that the marks we were seeing could just be smaller crappie that might not be big enough to spawn. Just thinking we had a good high water year two years ago but if it were crappie from that year, I doubt they would be very big.
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