Bluegills and the end of the bass spawn?

[Paul Roberts]

Where you live, do you find that the bluegill spawn signals the end of the bass spawn? How about folks in the far south? Same deal where you live?

[hawgenvy]

Seems like here in SoFlo it's the tilapia spawn that comes after the LMB spawn. Probably bluegill, too. And then the oscars and Mayan cichlids. And snakeheads.  It's all screwy here in south Florida -- mostly because of the invasive species. Now they're sayin' on the news that they've found Nile crocodiles near Miami. Alligators are as docile as bunnies compared to Nile crocodiles. The big crocs can take out horses and cattle. And they love people -- for dinner. They can be 18 feet long and weigh a ton. I've never been scared of the gators or the pythons. But Nile crocs, that's a whole different ballgame. (Sorry moderator: I've strayed. But I'm finished for now.)

[Catt]

Nope!

Take Toledo Bend for instance, bass start spawning on the north end as early as late March & on the south end in May. 

Blue Gill start spawning in April & May

There is an overlap

[hawgenvy]

Thanks, Catt. Now we're back on track.

[WRB]

Where I fish crappie spawn before the bass spawn starts and redear and bluegill start as the bass spawn starts to end, there is overlaps at both ends of the bass spawn that sometimes lasts over 3 months.

Our local coastal lakes all spawning is over, in the higher altitude lakes like Big Bear the water is in the low 50's, no spawning has started yet.

Tom

 

[MassYak85]

Here in Mass it seems like there is a couple weeks of overlap. Where you will still have males on beds while the bluegills start.

[Raul]

Down here bluegills and bass spawn pretty much at the same time, tilapias wait until late April when the water becomes really warm.

[Paul Roberts]

On 5/23/2016 at 10:38 PM, Catt said:

Nope!

Take Toledo Bend for instance, bass start spawning on the north end as early as late March & on the south end in May. 

Blue Gill start spawning in April & May

There is an overlap

What if you picked one location in the lake at a time? For instance, do the BGs follow the bass in the N end? And again for the S end?

 

19 hours ago, Raul said:

Down here bluegills and bass spawn pretty much at the same time, tilapias wait until late April when the water becomes really warm.

Raul, wow, you are pretty far S there in Leon. What months do your bass spawn?

[Catt]

13 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

What if you picked one location in the lake at a time? For instance, do the BGs follow the bass in the N end? And again for the S end?

Blue Gill spawn starts some time between April & May which means for the north end the bass spawn is pretty much over.

On the extreme south end they may both spawn together.

It's my opinion Crappie, Bass, & the Bream

[Team9nine]

More or less the case here. Bass spawn usually starts toward the end of April and largely ends by late May with a few stragglers that might even go to June. I usually use Memorial Day as the approx. timeframe for finding nesting gills beginning about a week before into the first couple weeks of June. As you know, nothing is absolute.

-T9

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks all.

[Raul]

On 24 de mayo de 2016 at 10:37 AM, Paul Roberts said:

What if you picked one location in the lake at a time? For instance, do the BGs follow the bass in the N end? And again for the S end?

 

Raul, wow, you are pretty far S there in Leon. What months do your bass spawn?

It´s quite south but on the other hand, it´s high above sea level ( 1800 mts above sea level ), believe it or not bass spawn earlier in the year more to the north of the country but at a lower height ( in Tamaulipas they spawn in late February early March ) here they spawn  during late March/ early April and high in the sierra ( 600-700 mts more ) during late April/ May. Back in the old days when I had time to go fishing pretty much whenever I wanted we ( my friend Pedro, his bother in law Alejandro and I ) used to "follow the spawn" throughout the country as it took place, Tamaulipas and Sinaloa Feb/ March, the coast of Jalisco late March and locally ( central Jalisco, Guanajuato and Quéretaro ) late March until June.

[Paul Roberts]

2 hours ago, Raul said:

It´s quite south but on the other hand, it´s high above sea level ( 1650 mts above sea level ), believe it or not bass spawn earlier in the year more to the north of the country but at a lower height ( in Tamaulipas they spawn in late February early March ) here they spawn  during late March/ early April and high in the sierra ( 600-700 mts more ) during late April/ May. Back in the old days when I had time to go fishing pretty much whenever I wanted we ( my friend Pedro, his bother in law Alejandro and I ) used to "follow the spawn" throughout the country as it took place, Tamaulipas and Sinaloa Feb/ March, the coast of Jalisco late March and locally ( central Jalisco, Guanajuato and Quéretaro ) late March until June.

Very cool, Raul. Neat how altitude works. Another variable for fishers to puzzle over. I'm at 2600M (8500ft) in Colorado. No bass up here. My bass are 40min and 3500ft below. They start to spawn in late April.

[WRB]

Big Bear lake is located about 100 miles south of where I live and fish in SoCal, altitude around 7,000 ft / 2150 m, the bass spawn there is usually sometime in May. This year I was up at Big Bear 2 weeks ago and the water temps were low 50's, it snowed a few days before, it's been a cold spring up there and the bass are still in the cold water period this year.

When you consider the lakes within 50 miles from Big Bear at altitudes less than 1,500 ft / 460 m, the bass spawn occurred in late Feb through March, 2 months ago. This is why I don't believe in photo periods and do believe in water temps.

Tom 

[gobig]

On 5/23/2016 at 9:32 PM, hawgenvy said:

Seems like here in SoFlo it's the tilapia spawn that comes after the LMB spawn. Probably bluegill, too. And then the oscars and Mayan cichlids. And snakeheads.  It's all screwy here in south Florida -- mostly because of the invasive species. Now they're sayin' on the news that they've found Nile crocodiles near Miami. Alligators are as docile as bunnies compared to Nile crocodiles. The big crocs can take out horses and cattle. And they love people -- for dinner. They can be 18 feet long and weigh a ton. I've never been scared of the gators or the pythons. But Nile crocs, that's a whole different ballgame. (Sorry moderator: I've strayed. But I'm finished for now.)

I hear crocs taste like chicken.

[.ghoti.]

4 hours ago, gobig said:

I hear crocs taste like chicken.

That's what they say about us.

[Cgrinder]

Alligator does taste like chicken. It's pretty good.

Also I've got Smallmouth and Bluegill on beds here.

[papajoe222]

On 5/24/2016 at 11:37 AM, Team9nine said:

More or less the case here. Bass spawn usually starts toward the end of April and largely ends by late May with a few stragglers that might even go to June. I usually use Memorial Day as the approx. timeframe for finding nesting gills beginning about a week before into the first couple weeks of June. As you know, nothing is absolute.

-T9

Here, when the cottonwoods start shedding, the gills are on the beds and the bass are pretty much done.

[Team9nine]

24 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Here, when the cottonwoods start shedding, the gills are on the beds and the bass are pretty much done.

We use dogwood blooming as the start to bass spawning down this way...

-T9

[Raul]

5 hours ago, Cgrinder said:

Alligator does taste like chicken. It's pretty good.

Also I've got Smallmouth and Bluegill on beds here.

Chewy chicken .... and it´s deeeeeeleeeecious !

[Cgrinder]

Just now, Raul said:

Chewy chicken .... and it´s deeeeeeleeeecious !

Yuuup. Alligator nuggets are the future.

[mnbassman23]

On 5/23/2016 at 0:47 PM, WRB said:

Where I fish crappie spawn before the bass spawn starts and redear and bluegill start as the bass spawn starts to end, there is overlaps at both ends

Tom

 

I have found this to be true in MN as well. Also when the cotton starts to fly I know the bass spawn is usually in full swing. 

[Paul Roberts]

23 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

Here, when the cottonwoods start shedding, the gills are on the beds and the bass are pretty much done.

Our cottonwoods haven't popped yet. Getting ripe though. Bass spawn is over in my smallest ponds.

23 hours ago, Team9nine said:

We use dogwood blooming as the start to bass spawning down this way...

-T9

I note the trees (maples) flowering when the bass spawn is imminent. Then come the wild plums which coincide with the spawn. Tree leaf-out is beginning then too. Problem is the plums bloom over quite a period, so you can't watch one bush. One may bloom 3 weeks after others. Just like photoperiod, and the Julian calendar, this appears to be mostly ballpark resolution. Good enough if you only can get out on weekends.

1 hour ago, mnbassman23 said:

Also when the cotton starts to fly I know the bass spawn is usually in full swing. 

Are you fishing lakes or ponds?

[mnbassman23]

On 5/26/2016 at 0:34 PM, Paul Roberts said:

Are you fishing lakes or ponds?

Lakes. Seems like guys all over MN are finding bass on beds right now and the cotton has really started to fall in the last 4 days. I noticed this about 4 years ago and so far it has held true each year since.