when to start going deep again?

[cjam93]

So I know this time of year a lot of places are in the spawn. Im wondering what water temp usually tells you its time to start looking out towards deeper structure after the spawn?

[NHBull]

I do thanks think you can assume that after spawn they all go deeper.

Follow the food! 

[WRB]

Bass are shoreline or dermasel feeders may not move out into deep water. Smallmouth and Spotted bass for example tend to roam hunting food and can be anywhere at any given time period. 

Lakes with pelagic baitfish like Shad the bass population tends to follow their food source. Shad tend to hide in over during low light darkness and move out into deeper water following plankton, the bass move out with the baitfish and may stay on isolated structure if abundance of a variety of prey is available at those locations.

When you don't find can't bed sites with bass, they have moved.

Tom

[Catt]

6 hours ago, cjam93 said:

So I know this time of year a lot of places are in the spawn. Im wondering what water temp usually tells you its time to start looking out towards deeper structure after the spawn?

 

Depends on the size of the body of water!

 

On larger bodies of there are bass that spend their entire lifetime offshore, they even spawn offshore.

[greentrout]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

Depends on the size of the body of water!

 

On larger bodies of there are bass that spend their entire lifetime offshore, they even spawn offshore.

how deep with the spawn? .... 

 

good fishing ...

 

 

 

[WRB]

Whatever the depth of light may be.

Tom

[jbsoonerfan]

If I am in 10 FOW I am in DEEP water! lol

[Sam]

CJ, you start going deep after the spawn is over and the big ladies have recuperated, have had time to eat and rest, and then go deep for safety. After a few days the females will start their normal routines and milk runs.

 

The male bass will go deep after they leave the beds and the fry which is during the spawning time, which can continue for a month in some waters, and the males will become aggressive and start to feed after they move off the beds.

 

You test the waters based on water temperature, with the spawn beginning in the low 60's, to its peak in the mid 60's, and then it is over in the high 60's to low 70's.  Just remember, as stated above, each body of water is different and the spawn can go on for over a month for individual bass.  In other words, they all do not spawn at the same time.

 

How deep to fish?  Each lake and river is different and a 5-foot depth can be "deep" for one body of water while a 50-foot depth is deep for another body of water. So don't think about a specific number to find your bass "deep."  You have to know your bodies of water and where they are deep and shallow as compared to other places within that one body of water.

[Catt]

7 hours ago, greentrout said:

how deep with the spawn? .... 

 

good fishing ...

 

 

 

 

There are studies showing bass spawning offshore on Toledo Bend on 8-10'.

 

Always keep in mind all bass aint doing the same thing at the same time. Most generally bigger bass spawn first so they're the first to move back "deeper".

[IgotWood]

Typically, bluegill and other panfish and baitfish spawn right after the bass finish their spawn. I've noticed on my local lake that the bass stick around in the shallow water throughout these other spawns. It seems like the bass begin to look for cooler water after the other spawns are complete. Here in southern VA, once the temps get into the mid-upper 80's is when I notice less bass in the shallows. That usually occurs around mid to late May. However, I still catch most of my summertime bass (and BIG ONES TOO) on or near the banks. Just need to slow down your presentations, and focus on things that provide shade, ie; wood, grass, mats, etc.

 

 

[blongfishing]

Either stay shallow or move out deep after spawning. One thing that I have found is that the secondary point you find them on prespawn are the same points you will find them post spawn. This weekend I had a tournament and fished the same places I fished a month or so ago when they were prespawn. 

[greentrout]

Fishing The Post Spawn

It isn't hard to quickly recognize there are a lot of variables influencing bass during this period.

By Ronald F. Dodson, Ph.D.

 

The post spawn period offers some interesting challenges for the bass fisherman. Some folks offer the concept that this period actually is somewhat akin to the dog days of summer in that the bass tend to get very finicky in their feeding habits. Actually things are usually relative to something and in this case it is the more reliable patterning that bass adopt in the summer.
   In part, the consistency of the early and mid-summer is because things get stable. Baitfish school often along the same structure, at the same time on subsequent days. The bass also tend to reorganize from the scattered spawn and post spawn period into schools, and often show up at the same time and place to feed on concentrations of forage.
   Things aren't the same for the post spawn period. For starters there are still fluxes in the weather including the passage of weak, but distinct fronts.

 

bassresource >> https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/post_spawn.html

[scaleface]

water temps in the morning are different than the afternoons , so I dont know what temps they move out  deeper . I fish by elimination . If they are done spawning I first look for the mouths of coves or cover near spawning areas .  Then go out on deeper points .

[GreenPig]

Water temp on my primary lake is 69 to 72. Deep (110' max depth) grassy lake with 2' to 6' visibility. We still have spawning bass but I'm catching my larger bass in 15' to 20' fishing slow. Catching great numbers of small bass 6' to 12' water fishing fast.

[Troy85]

On 4/27/2019 at 9:32 PM, Catt said:

 

Depends on the size of the body of water!

 

On larger bodies of there are bass that spend their entire lifetime offshore, they even spawn offshore.

Please refer to "So Yall want to learn Toledo Bend" for much much more information on this topic.

 

 

There ya go Catt, added a critical piece of info to your post!  

[Black Hawk Basser]

I don't think there is any hard and fast rule to this;  I feel like during the weeks before, during, and after the spawn, there are shallow AND deep fish wherever I go.  I don't exclusively fish deep water until its really evident that I am not catching any in the shallows.  And even then, there still will be some fish shallow almost all year, especially at peak feeding times, and where there is thick weed cover or laydowns.

[TnRiver46]

Not soon enough! I think I might have seen a small male largemouth on a bed Saturday in inches of water. Then of course I Caught two nice smallies about 15-19 feet where they always are........

On 4/27/2019 at 11:53 PM, jbsoonerfan said:

If I am in 10 FOW I am in DEEP water! lol

10 feet is too shallow! Haha. But seriously most places near my house your boat would almost have to be touching dry land to get a 10 ft reading on the depth finder 

[Harold Scoggins]

I was out on a couple of lakes at our local refuge today and found some girls who were spawned out and hanging on structure just out from some beds in 8-9'. They were not in a feeding mood.