Do bass or bluegill spawn first?

[wasabi_VA]

Do bass or bluegill spawn first?

[N Florida Mike]

Bass bed Dec- April in Florida. 

Bluegills start in may and wrap it up in aug./ early sept.

Timing would vary in different areas, but bass are first in the calender year.

[Harold Scoggins]

The bluegill around here should start spawning anytime but I didn't see the signs last time out, maybe the cold fronts are slowing them down. Bass spawn first and then the bluegill follow up mid to late April. They (bluegill) will spawn more than once throughout the summer.

[BoatSquirrel]

Usual order, at least in TN, gizzard shad first at around 60 degree water, then bass second, threadfin shad, then bluegill last. 

[fishballer06]

Bass first, then bluegill a few weeks after. And from what I've heard from multiple sources, bluegill can/will spawn every full moon throughout the summer. 

[J Francho]

Bass beds are somewhat scattered, usually more than 10' apart.  Blue gill bedding areas look like honeycombs, with clusters of beds close to each other.  Bass definitely spawn first, but I've seen the spawns overlap. 

[Hog Basser]

Good article on spawn: https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/spawn-rolls.html 

[fishballer06]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Bass beds are somewhat scattered, usually more than 10' apart.  Blue gill bedding areas look like honeycombs, with clusters of beds close to each other.  Bass definitely spawn first, but I've seen the spawns overlap. 

[J Francho]

I can watch bedding blue gill endlessly.  They're so funny.  Reminds me of my cichlid tanks.

[WRB]

Bluegill normally spawn after bass when the water is stable above 75 degrees, in water 6"-18" deep. LMB bass 62-75 degrees in 1'-8' water depth*. Crappie start at 58 degrees before bass and threadfin around 75 degree water temps in brush or wood areas.

Carp can spawn anywhere between 70-80 degree water. Lots of spawning activity in wind protected spawning flats.

Tom

[J Francho]

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Carp can spawn anywhere between 70-80 degree water. Lots of spawning activity in wind protected spawning flats.

Carp spawn way earlier than that.  They start at around 50° and it tapers off around 75°.  There's always a few straggling pods that disrupt bass beds.  Carp spawn again in the fall.

[the reel ess]

Tha bass here are in full-on spawn mode right now. But I'm seeing and smelling bluegill around the same areas. Can anyone else smell bream? The bluegill hang around the bass beds waiting for a delicacy of bass eggs. But in a little more than a month, the bass will have their revenge and hang around the bluegill spawning areas picking off easy meals.

[WRB]

We have mostly Black Crappie and they tend to start about 5 degrees cooler water then LMB out here. Agree nothing in nature is set in stone, too many variables and all we can do is use averages.

This has been a cold wet year for most regions and SoCal is in that cycle. Lake Casitas located a few miles from the beach the LMB start to spawn a month befor lake Castaic further inland. Big Bear lake (where grew up) is 100 miles further south, you would think it would warm faster, however at 7,200 altitude it was iced over until the end of March this year and don't expect the LMB spawn to start before June.

Tom

[A-Jay]

Spawning carp help nourish the post spawn pike, muskie and bigger walleye.  The spawning panfish help nourish the post spawn basses.

Most excellent the way mother nature set this food chain thing up.

A-Jay 

[the reel ess]

It should be noted that bluegill are only one of the family of panfish sunfish. There are 8 established "bream" species in SC and they can be hard to tell apart. So here the spawn goes like this as far as I know:

 

crappie (April), bass (April), redear sunfish (shellcracker-May), bluegill (near the full moon all the summer months). There are warmouth as well, but I don't know how or when they spawn. We don't see them in shallow "beds". It seems when I fish in creeks in the summer I see a lot of redbreast that appear to spawn all summer long.

 

 

 

[NYWayfarer]

3 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I see a lot of redbreast that appear to spawn all summer long.

They are the rabbits of the fishing world.

[The Bassman]

17 hours ago, the reel ess said:

Tha bass here are in full-on spawn mode right now. But I'm seeing and smelling bluegill around the same areas. Can anyone else smell bream? The bluegill hang around the bass beds waiting for a delicacy of bass eggs. But in a little more than a month, the bass will have their revenge and hang around the bluegill spawning areas picking off easy meals.

I've smelled bluegill beds many times. It's that fresh fish slime smell you get on your hands after handling fish.

[N Florida Mike]

18 hours ago, the reel ess said:

But I'm seeing and smelling bluegill around the same areas. Can anyone else smell bream? The

Yeah , it's a distinct odor. Specks  ( Crappie ) also, but theirs is different.This pic is upside down and is of copperhead bream bedding.

[TOXIC]

If you stop and think about it, the different spawn times are like opening the Chinese buffet for those species not spawning.  Mother Nature keeping everything balanced.