By LOY MILAM
I’m convinced that more bass are caught during the period of the spring spawn than at any other time of the year. But I’m also convinced that the more we understand about the different stages of the spawn, the more productive we can be.
What fishermen generally call the spawn can actually be broken down into three stages: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. The overall process can begin as early as early March for smallmouth bass and last well into May for largemouth. Basically, we must understand the spawn as a series of migrations. To begin with, a certain amount of sunlight is required in order for the deposited eggs of the female to hatch. That sunlight is not available in deeper water, so fish are forced into shallow water. But it is not an overnight trip. During the pre-spawn period, both the males and females begin to filter up submerged creek or river channels; leaving their deeper winter haunts to move toward spawning territory. As experienced anglers know, this is a prime time to catch large concentrations of fish staged, or grouped, deep off points. During the early pre-spawn period, these groupings are more common off main-lake points, but will progressively move toward secondary points (points off the main lake on the inside of bays or hollows) as the water temperatures warm. Late in the pre-spawn period, the males are the first to move up into the extreme shallows as they search for suitable bedding locations. However, this is a period of aggressive feeding for both the male and female bass as they prepare for the rigors of the spawn.
As the water reaches the proper spawning temperatures (from 65 to 70 degrees for largemouth, in the mid to upper 50’s for smallmouth), males will have selected and fanned out suitable beds and the females will move in to deposit eggs. After laying their eggs, the females will then filter back to the pre-spawn staging areas and the males will remain at the nest until the eggs hatch and the fry leave the nest (normally a period of up to two weeks). Male and female bass are normally separated during this period of the spawn and often display rather marked differences in attitude.
After filtering back to pre-spawn staging areas, female bass are rather spent, and thereby, less aggressive. But in spite of being deeper and less active than males, females may be the most catchable at this time. Over the years, I have observed males guarding their nest that refused to take any kind of bait offering. Casting live minnows directing into those guarded beds, I’ve had males simple mouth the minnow by the tail, remove it from the nest and then quickly return to their post; definitely not interested in feeding. Females, on the other hand, will respond to bait offerings, but presentations must be both slow and precise.
The post-spawn period can be the most difficult time to try and take bass. Many refer to it as the post-spawn blues. Bass are spent from the rigors of spawning and can be very tight lipped. But more than that, it is a period when the majority of the fishermen are fishing above the fish. We said earlier that the spawning period is a series of migrations; to and from shallow areas. During the post-spawn period, many anglers make the mistake of fishing depths that the spawning fish have already left, when in reality, the fish have already returned to the same staging areas where they were located during the pre-spawn period. Working deeper off points, especially if deep cover such as submerged treetops is present, should put you back on the fish.
Post-spawn is a period when experienced anglers turn to topwater baits. Topwater presentations worked slowly off the deep ends of points, or around treetops in deeper water, are hard to beat. Another technique that has proven productive is to swim smaller baits like leadhead grubs or fly-and-rinds down points into deep water. The key to fishing the post-spawn period is to work your baits slow... slow... slow. In addition, post-spawn bass seem to be more aggressive during the early-morning and late-afternoon hours.
Understanding the spawning period as a series of migrations from deep to shallow water, then backtracking to deeper water after the spawn is completed, can help anglers put together a game plan to stay in productive water.
Loy Milam is a Coast Guard Charter Boat Captain and licensed Kentucky/Tennessee fishing guide, web site www.loymilam.webs.com
