Classic Pre-spawn ,spawn or post spawn?

[1simplemann]

I'm a student of the sport. I try to learn on the water and also here on BR. I also try to learn from watching tournaments in other areas and how the pros break things down. Watching the Classic this past Weekend was very interesting for since the predictions suggested that the fish would be in all stages of the spawn. They also suggested some anglers would have some difficulties finding them. Spot on prediction. After that I got a little confused. Zona interviewed Hack. His take on it was that he saw very few bedded fish and no fry at all so either the fish spawned very early and already back out deep or more likely they were right on schedule and just starting to spawn. He backed that up by saying E2's and KVD's lack of catching them during morning shad spawn. The bass they were catching had moved in to spawn over night. Also a lot of anglers were commenting on the way of fish they saw move up on Sat afternoon. Most of these observations were based on the main lake where the water temp was cooler. Up north in the river the temp was much warmer so that explain why those guys caught em shallow the first couple days and then it dropped off on Sun. All of that makes sense to me and I think he made some good observations. Here where I get a little confused, Jordan Lee was fishing the main lake and it was obvious that his fish were coming to him. I would've thought his fish were just getting there about to make their move shallow. Which would fall in line with what Hack said but JL said  he believed all his fish were POST spawn. Judging from the photos and the weigh in, those fish looked nice and fat with bulging bellies. I would've guessed prespawn but what the heck do I know? From what I saw, Hack was spot on but JL's theory doesn't fit Hack's. Any ideas? I ask because the spawn is so tricky for me where I fish and I would like to get better at catching  those big springtime girls.

[WRB]

The spawn on larger lakes happens in stages over a few months. The earliest pre spawn females move up first and depisite about 1/3rd of thier eggs, the retreat back into deeper water and stage. The same females move up again along with a new group of initial spawners and lay another batch of eggs. Now you have all 3 groups of spawners moving in and out, it doesn't happen all at ounce.

Tom

[1simplemann]

But would you have all three stages at once in same area? Did you see pic's of JL's fish? Would you say they were post spawn? I'm no expert but I would have figured they were pre-spawn.

[Glenn]

I was talking to Aaron Martens after the Classic, and he said the first wave had already spawned, and he was expecting the 2nd wave to be positioned near spawning areas in deeper water, waiting to move in.  However it was clear in day two they were already moving in shallow. He said he saw them moving in packs into the creeks - something that he discovered too late.

[Catt]

Early pre-spawn started in February which would put this tournament in mid to late spawn & post spawn.

 

Post spawn is what accounted for so many Pros getting skunked!

[1simplemann]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

Early pre-spawn started in February which would put this tournament in mid to late spawn & post spawn.

 

Post spawn is what accounted for so many Pros getting skunked!

I don't think so. If JL's fish were post spawn, he obviously didn't skunked. 

[Catt]

2 minutes ago, 1simplemann said:

I don't think so. If JL's fish were post spawn, he obviously didn't skunked. 

 

Did you even read what I wrote?

 

"mid to late spawn & post spawn"!!!!!

[1simplemann]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Early pre-spawn started in February which would put this tournament in mid to late spawn & post spawn.

 

Post spawn is what accounted for so many Pros getting skunked!

I read what you wrote. You said "Post spawn is what accounted for so many Pros getting skunked"   Did JL's fish look post spawn to you? To me, no. I think they were still coming. Hack made the interesting observation that he saw no fry up shallow. He said every thought the spawn was going to be early but according to his observations they were right on schedule. Based on what I saw on Live, I have to agree with him. 

[Catt]

5 minutes ago, 1simplemann said:

I read what you wrote. You said "Post spawn is what accounted for so many Pros getting skunked"   Did JL's fish look post spawn to you? To me, no. I think they were still coming. Hack made the interesting observation that he saw no fry up shallow. He said every thought the spawn was going to be early but according to his observations they were right on schedule. Based on what I saw on Live, I have to agree with him. 

 

Did JL get skunked?

 

I live 2 1/2 to 3 hours from Lake Conroe & have dozens of friends who fish it.

 

Ya keep dwelling on "post spawn" while ignoring "mid to late spawn"!

[Montanaro]

I doubt hackney spent his entire classic looking for fry.....

 

There was a lot of fish movement and anglers couldnt pin them down.  Lee found an offshore staging area for pre and post spawn bass which explains his somewhat consistency (only had 4 on day 2).

 

The bass would stop at these points and brush piles and be gone a few hours later to spawn or drop into deeper water. 

[Catt]

27 minutes ago, Montanaro said:

I doubt hackney spent his entire classic looking for fry.....

 

There was a lot of fish movement and anglers couldnt pin them down.  Lee found an offshore staging area for pre and post spawn bass which explains his somewhat consistency (only had 4 on day 2).

 

The bass would stop at these points and brush piles and be gone a few hours later to spawn or drop into deeper water. 

 

Somebody paid attention

[Paul Roberts]

12 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

But would you have all three stages at once in same area? 

Yes. Particularly the further south you go the more protracted the spawn season will be. Up in Montana, the same thing will happen but the spawn will be much more contracted in timing.

 

You can look at timing from two perspectives: That of the population, and that of the individuals. The popn of bass in a given water will take 6 months to spawn in the far S of the LM's range. In the far N the whole  popn may be done in a month. However, the larger the lake -or greater volume- the more protracted the spawn season will be for the entire popn.

 

Larger individuals tend to spawn first, and are most apt to accomplish multiple spawns. Multiple spawns are more common in the S than in the N.

[new2BC4bass]

16 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

I'm a student of the sport. I try to learn on the water and also here on BR. I also try to learn from watching tournaments in other areas and how the pros break things down. Watching the Classic this past Weekend was very interesting for since the predictions suggested that the fish would be in all stages of the spawn. They also suggested some anglers would have some difficulties finding them. Spot on prediction. After that I got a little confused. Zona interviewed Hack. His take on it was that he saw very few bedded fish and no fry at all so either the fish spawned very early and already back out deep or more likely they were right on schedule and just starting to spawn. He backed that up by saying E2's and KVD's lack of catching them during morning shad spawn. The bass they were catching had moved in to spawn over night. Also a lot of anglers were commenting on the way of fish they saw move up on Sat afternoon. Most of these observations were based on the main lake where the water temp was cooler. Up north in the river the temp was much warmer so that explain why those guys caught em shallow the first couple days and then it dropped off on Sun. All of that makes sense to me and I think he made some good observations. Here where I get a little confused, Jordan Lee was fishing the main lake and it was obvious that his fish were coming to him. I would've thought his fish were just getting there about to make their move shallow. Which would fall in line with what Hack said but JL said  he believed all his fish were POST spawn. Judging from the photos and the weigh in, those fish looked nice and fat with bulging bellies. I would've guessed prespawn but what the heck do I know? From what I saw, Hack was spot on but JL's theory doesn't fit Hack's. Any ideas? I ask because the spawn is so tricky for me where I fish and I would like to get better at catching  those big springtime girls.

 

Not picking on you specifically because a lot of people do it.............but an occasional paragraph makes a long post easier to read, IMHO.  

[1simplemann]

13 hours ago, Paul Roberts said:

Yes. Particularly the further south you go the more protracted the spawn season will be. Up in Montana, the same thing will happen but the spawn will be much more contracted in timing.

 

You can look at timing from two perspectives: That of the population, and that of the individuals. The popn of bass in a given water will take 6 months to spawn in the far S of the LM's range. In the far N the whole  popn may be done in a month. However, the larger the lake -or greater volume- the more protracted the spawn season will be for the entire popn.

 

Larger individuals tend to spawn first, and are most apt to accomplish multiple spawns. Multiple spawns are more common in the S than in the N.

You bring up a good point that I hadn't considered. Our spawn up here is very contracted. River spawns 1st, then the lakes. There are no waves of spawners. They're there, then they're gone. I'll have to keep that in mind when I try to compare spawning situations.

[1simplemann]

14 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Did JL get skunked?

 

I live 2 1/2 to 3 hours from Lake Conroe & have dozens of friends who fish it.

 

Ya keep dwelling on "post spawn" while ignoring "mid to late spawn"!

Catt, Only reason I mentioned "post spawn" is because JL did. Mid to late spawn to me indicates the spawn is almost over. Before the tournament began, most of the pros predicted the same thing. Hack's observations seemed to indicate that the spawn just the opposite and just getting started(or at least in the main lake area) If that that were the case I wouldn't have expected JL's post spawn fish especially in the same area. Maybe I should I should have asked if you have all three stages of the spawn in the same area?  PR brought up a good point about southern spawns and northern spawns. We don't see waves of fish coming and going. Up here they all come at relatively the same time and leave at the same time. It's like a light switch. here one day, gone the next. 

[Catt]

@1simplemann

Down here early pre-spawn started in February & can continue until mid to late April.

 

With his 30th place finish Hackney was not the only angler to misread the lake. Gerald Swindle caught 1 bass in 3 days on the water, 

[Clinton john]

Like Catt said, they missed read the scrip for the most part.

 

Bass are in all stages of spawn at this point in time and will continue to be so till mid to late April.

 

They come in waves and start at the top of the lake first.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, A5BLASTER said:

Like Catt said, they missed read the scrip for the most part.

 

Bass are in all stages of spawn at this point in time and will continue to be so till mid to late April.

 

They come in waves and start at the top of the lake first.

 

Most anglers even the Pros assume the farther south the sooner the spawn starts. Like Toledo Bend & many Texas lakes the spawn starts north first & works it's way south.

[Ski213]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Most anglers even the Pros assume the farther south the sooner the spawn starts. Like Toledo Bend & many Texas lakes the spawn starts north first & works it's way south.

Why north to south in your opinion? Warmer water on north banks from sun angle kind of thing, or something else?

[Catt]

9 hours ago, Ski213 said:

Why north to south in your opinion? Warmer water on north banks from sun angle kind of thing, or something else?

 

North end is shallower & off colored ...south end is deeper & clear

[Paul Roberts]

Yeah, in one lake -even a big one- it's not due to latitude but to limnological factors.