Fish Spawning Temperatures: When Bass, Walleye, Crappie, Bluegill and Catfish Spawn

The chart

Spawning is set by water temperature, and the agencies that manage these species publish the thresholds. Read top to bottom and you have the spring in order.

The two agencies are 1,000 miles apart and their calendars differ — Texas spring comes before Wisconsin’s — but the temperature order is the same in both. That is the useful part: a thermometer tells you where the season is on your own water, whatever the date.

Walleye: first, cold, and at night

Texas Parks and Wildlife calls walleye early spring spawners and puts the trigger at 45 to 50°F, with spawning typically on riffles after the fish have moved upstream, or on rip-rap dams and reefs in lakes. There is no nest-building and no parental care. At 57°F the eggs hatch in about seven days; Wisconsin’s DNR adds the cold end — 26 days at 40°F, 21 days at 50–55°F.

Wisconsin’s guide gives the picture on its waters: between mid-April and early May walleye migrate to wind-swept rocky shorelines, flooded wetlands or gravel-bottomed inlet streams, sometimes travelling far — Lake Winnebago fish may swim 100 miles up the Wolf River. Males arrive first and outnumber females seven to one; a female spawns out in a single night. Texas notes the same thing: most walleye activity, spawning included, is nocturnal. Our walleye fishing guide covers why that carries through the rest of the year.

Bass: the 60-degree line

Both black bass move onto beds as water approaches 60°F, per Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Largemouth spawning begins when water reaches about 60°F. Males build nests in two to eight feet of water and prefer quieter, more vegetated places than other black bass, using any substrate except soft mud, including submerged logs. Once the female has laid — 2,000 to 43,000 eggs — the male chases her off and guards the nest, then shepherds the fry for several days after hatching.

Smallmouth males move into spawning areas when water approaches 60°F, nesting near shore in lakes and downstream of boulders or other current breaks in streams. A nest holds about 2,500 eggs on average, up to 10,000; males may spawn with several females on one nest. The hatch rate is the sharpest temperature illustration on this page — about 10 days in the mid-50s, 2 to 3 days in the mid-70s — and the male guards the nest until the fry disperse, up to a month.

Our largemouth vs smallmouth page covers how to tell the two apart when you find them on beds.

Crappie: 61 to 68, deeper than you would look

Wisconsin’s DNR: crappie spawning activity peaks in May and June, at 61 to 68°F, and can continue into July. Nests sit deeper than any other sunfish’s — 1.5 to 6 feet or more — in colonies of as many as 35, spaced from a few inches to six feet apart. Males defend them aggressively, chasing and biting intruders, which is why the agency describes spring as the easiest crappie fishing of the year. Find one nest and you have found a colony. Our crappie fishing guide has the tackle.

Bluegill: 67 up to 80

Wisconsin’s DNR describes male bluegill moving into shallow water in late spring, when the water temperature approaches 67°F, to claim spawning grounds. They sweep out saucer-shaped depressions 2 to 6 inches deep and up to a foot across, which from shore look like groups of light spots on a dark bottom — the agency compares a colony to craters on the moon. Spawning peaks in June and may run into August, but normally stops once water passes 80°F. Females may lay in more than one nest; males fan and guard the eggs. The panfish guide covers the fishing.

Catfish: about 75, last on the list

Wisconsin’s DNR: catfish spawn from May through July, when the water reaches about 75°F. They seek obscure, sheltered spots — hollow river banks, rock overhangs and ledges, submerged tree roots, hollow logs — and clear a nest with their tails, even using their mouths to move debris. Channel catfish make long upstream migrations to find sites; flatheads nest inside their home range. At optimum temperatures of 75 to 80°F the eggs hatch in six to seven days, and the male guards and herds the fry. The agency notes flatheads feed most actively from May to early June and again July through September — before and after the spawn, in other words. Our catfish fishing guide covers both windows.

Using the chart

The temperature is the thing to watch, and our water temperature page explains where to read it and why a small dark pond runs weeks ahead of a big clear lake beside it. Lake turnover covers the spring mixing that precedes the whole sequence.

Then the rules. Many states close waters, protect spawning areas or require catch-and-release during the spawn, and the dates differ by water. Your agency publishes them; our licences and regulations guide shows where. If you do fish bedding fish, our catch and release guide covers getting a guarding male back on the nest quickly — the agencies are clear that an unguarded nest is a lost one.