re: Predicting the Chinquapin spawn?

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That sounds really late. That time I camped at Bruin, they were starting, and it was April.

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Looks like you're right. Found this little jewel on Caney. Caney being Chinquapin fishing heaven these days..

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Caney was once the undisputed heavyweight champion of Louisiana bass lakes. Now, it is the king of the chinquapin lakes. The big redears grow to mammoth sizes. Two-pound fish don’t even garner a second glance.

Caney guide Eddie Halbrook religiously keeps a fishing log, and a close examination of it reveals that the chinquapin have moved up the second week of April every year for the past five years.

“These fish have been in deep water around the mussel beds most of the winter,” he said. “When the water starts warming, they move up the creek channels, then turn off to their spawning areas. I’ve found that they return to the same areas over and over again.

“You can actually start catching them a little early if you fish the 12-foot water out by the channel. From there, they move up to about 8 feet, then in to 3 feet where they spawn.

“Once the chinquapins move in to spawn, they stay until they complete their business. It generally takes a two-week period for them to move in, spawn and get out. That’s why it’s so important to be there when they move up. If you wait too long, you’ll miss out.”

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LINK

Im beginning to think we catch them after they move back out after spawn because we always find them in the summer in deep water. Just assumed it was spawn because they seem to be beded up in heavy population. Think Ive had it wrong though.

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Im beginning to think we catch them after they move back out after spawn because we always find them in the summer in deep water.

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There's a guy that works for us who is a chink catching machine on Caney. He wears them out in the heat of the summer fishing deep water.

If you're catching them deep, they aren't spawning. The hang out deep on the mussell beds, then come into clear, shallow, sandy bottom water to spawn. For some reason big reds work best, but I have caught them on nothing but a gold hook, if I found beds. They normally come up the first week in April, and spawn the next. (at the first full moon in April).

Disclaimer: that is in AL. I assume LA would be about the same.

We call them shellcrackers. There was an old man that used to come to the public lake I worked at in college that called them shellcrappies. He fished for them with red-wigglers.

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they're called lake runners you silly rednecks

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That's a long arse name. I would shorten it to either "lake runners" or "you silly rednecks".

No one, I mean, no one calls them that here. It's either chinquapin or redear.

I have had several bream trips in Mid July where I found them bedded up. Lake Bisteneau...
Caught over 100 on those occasions.

Yall got me read to seee a cork slip under.

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If you're catching them deep, they aren't spawning. The hang out deep on the mussell beds, then come into clear, shallow, sandy bottom water to spawn. For some reason big reds work best, but I have caught them on nothing but a gold hook, if I found beds. They normally come up the first week in April, and spawn the next. (at the first full moon in April).

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So Ive heard

That would be cool. After all, this is the board of chicken beaked duck and 40 million cottonmouths.