Hard to say what the hell that fish was thinking or doing but, I have crappie in my pond and they are spanning. I have lots of little minnows swimming around the edges of the pond. Crappie like to spawn there eggs on structure such as trees, branches, rocks, ect... I have never seen one on a spawn bed. I know that there the first to spawn from what I have read and seems to be true from what I have seen. Look very closely around the edges of the water and if you look hard enough you should be able to see little minnows. My wife couldn't see them untill I pointed them out for her.I have 5 cedar trees weighted down with cinder blocks around one of the edges for structure for fish and I think thats where they like to hang. The pond is 16' deep where the trees are weighted and rarely do I see any crappie swimming in the water, They seem to stay deep. I know that the perch ,bg, and bass are enjoying all the little crappie and maybe thats why they stay by the edge of my pond due to survival tactics.ha ha..lol