Willard Crappie Spawn Question?

[DKStroutfitter]

With all the warm/cold weather we are having, will we see a good Crappie spawn this spring at Willard?
I mean fishing wise.
I'm starting to think that we won't.
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[AlexB]

The four year cycle of crappie and the fact that water levels were terrible up until last year probably mean that the Willard Crappie Spawn wont be good this year or next.

But you won't catch any if you don't try.
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[fishinfool]

Crappie fishing usually stays good as long as the water is up into the trees they use vegetation to stick there egg to so I think it will be good.

The weather will stabilize and they will eventually move in.

The things that reduce good fishing for them is over harvest and predation of the fry. If they have good spawns and there is enough of them things will stay good.

That's my thoughts. [fishon]
FNF[cool]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]It does not look like this is going to be a banner year for crappies. In the attached 2017 Willard annual report from DWR it shows the relative abundance of species from their netting surveys. Crappie numbers are way down from previous years.
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[Troll]

Thanks for the link Pat. I like reading that kind of stuff. Reminds me of when I was writing it.
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[DKStroutfitter]

So it looks like my suspensions will be right.
Slow year for Crappie.

That won't stop me from trying though.
Willard is close to home and offers a lot of other opportunities.
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[FishinFool53]

I'm not sure how accurate their netting survey is since they had to move their nets out past the weeds and sticks where alot of crappie hang out. I did pretty good last year and I'm hoping to do better this year.
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[fishinfool]

The numbers don't surprise me if you remember the low water created all that structure in the south and west shoreline. by now it has decade and no longer there.

Most the crappie are on the east shoreline I don't really agree with there count on crappie. the rest, the nets are in locations to catch most all the other species.

Glad to see walleye are way up and shad are down. should be some good fishing for them right. [fishon]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The counts are likely on target. There were a couple of years of good spawning about 5-6 years ago. The water level was up and the crappies could use the flooded brush and the rocks for spawning. Those year classes were evident in 2015 and 2016...when everybody was catching large numbers of good sized crappies.

In 2017 crappie numbers were definitely down. And since the water levels were higher it was tougher form most "average" anglers to catch many. Unless you knew how to fish the brush you usually didn't score at all. Always a few that fall to trolled wiper cranks, but no limits as in the past.

The DWR nets are set at approximately the same depths in the same areas every year. And it is well after the crappie spawn so they are not in shallow brushy water. They are in the same places as the other predators...looking for shad. So the relative abundance factors should be accurate.

Throughout the history of Willard Bay crappies have always come inside the protected harbors to spawn. And that makes them vulnerable to the hordes of happy harvesters. However, this year there is not likely to be quite the numbers of crappies leaving the lake during the spawn. We shall see.
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