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Going Deep in the Name of Bass Research
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photo: Mike Johnson

(2) The Male Is the Telltale
In the spawn situation, the male (which is the smaller fish) makes and guards the bed. The larger female typically lurks at the perimeter, not far away, and usually in deeper water. Interestingly, the male fish tends to indicate the position of the female as he guards the bed, pointing to her like a weather vane. Observing them as I drifted into view from a distance, I saw that until the males became preoccupied with my swimming (very close), they consistently gave away the females' locations. If I wanted to find a female, I just looked at the tip of the male's nose and scanned a trajectory about 20 feet out. Usually she was right there.

The lesson: When you see one fish on the bed and cannot see the other, but suspect "mama" fish is nearby, assume that he's looking right at her.

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Comment on This Article

At 1:00 PM, 2008-11-25, semion.dowl@gmail.com said:
HerboMart : The Ultimate Destination For All Health Needs Mark comment offensive

At 11:08 AM, 2008-04-18, Jesse Gossett said:
Fishing spawning bed is unethical?! you say. Not fishing is unethical. Quit apologizing for fishing. If your not a predator your prey. Mark comment offensive

At 6:28 PM, 2008-04-16, Mari said:
As you say the tournaments during spawn is not good, but then I want to know when they are ok. I've seen many end of tournments when the bass are released just to die anyway. Not good at any time. Mark comment offensive

At 2:23 PM, 2008-04-16, Bill said:
I live at Lake Havasu, Az. They are having Bass tournaments every week for over a month. I strongly oppose these tournaments during spawn for all the obvious reasons. Mark comment offensive

At 1:20 PM, 2008-04-16, Wayne said:
Fishing the spawn is as natural as hunting the rut. There's not a significant difference if you ordinarily practice cath and release. Mark comment offensive

At 12:13 PM, 2008-03-06, skitter said:
I fished spawning beds ONCE in my life and still feel bad about it!!! This is a bad idea to disturb the spawning fish !!! I know that some anglers dream about catching a lunker but that's definitely not an ethical way o do it. Mark comment offensive

At 11:34 AM, 2008-03-01, Rick O said:
Why on earth would you promote the removal of bass protecting spawning beds when you know full well this leads to predation of the eggs? Very disturbing. Mark comment offensive


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Spawning dates vary by region, but they are always closely tied to water temperature. Find out from your local fisheries manager when you can expect the following temps, and plan your days accordingly.

PRESPAWN: Right around when the water reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit, males move to shallows and start making beds. Females are bulking up. Use crankbaits, jerkbaits, and ¿¿¿¿swimbaits.

PRIME SPAWN: When the water hits 62 degrees, especially around the full moon phase, it¿¿¿¿¿¿¿s prime sight-fishing time (assuming the water is clear). Soft-plastic worms and jigs can elicit angry strikes.

POSTSPAWN: As the water warms into the high 60s and low 70s, the females move away from the beds, and the males stick around to guard the fry. Males are susceptible to the same jig or soft-plastic annoying baits. Females get selective¿¿¿¿¿¿¿try soft plastics in natural colors and hard-bodied jerkbaits in slightly deeper water.

POST-POSTSPAWN: The fish are eating, getting themselves back into form. Soft plastics and swimbaits work well on dropoffs and in deeper water. --K.D.

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