Why not another pre-spawn question

[Catt]

Do y'all think when the males are up shallow cruising & building nest & before the females move shallow looking for nest, do they both stop feeding?

[NHBull]

Never thought about.....

Our spawn usually starts just before Memorial Day.

I am usually  on the water when parts are still ice covered...usually the first week in April.  I seldom see a lone bass.  Most that are visible are pared.  It doesn't  answer  your question, but I do fish early pre-spawn off   beds.

I am curious to see what others think

[DitchPanda]

I've seen it here when the males are up cruising the bank making beds and I've been able to catch the females holding on cover on the first transition...so one pond in particular I fish is max depth of 9 ft I've seen males up in 1 to 2 ft and caught females around brush in 5 or 6 ft

[WRB]

I know cruising females are very frustrating to catch when they are not hunting. 

Tom

[Paul Roberts]

Dunno. They sure hit lures well. I assume they will feed, if not too preoccupied and/or out of position to feed. When males are on beds and guarding, they generally don't feed; It's not the priority it seems But this doesn't mean they won't feed, if given the chance. They are opportunistic but opportunities for cost effective feeding aren't all that frequent for bedding bass. I video'd a guarding male attack and eat a large water spider that happened across the surface above his bed. Looked like a purposeful feeding strike to me.

I also found a dead, distorted, young painted turtle in the bed of a large tending male (w/swim-up fry). The turtle looked to me like it had passed through a gut. In fact, here's a pic. You can see the fry too. So, that male had been tending that bed for a good two weeks, and the turtle appeared at swim-up (Day15). What do you think? Did he eat that turtle? 

 

As to females, I think they feed right up to, and right after, spawning.

 

[WRB]

Back when we ate more bass for food it was obvious that bass before the spawn had excessive body fat and after the spawn were lean with no body fat. To me this is a clear indicator the bass were not feeding but striking lures or live bait to kill intruders instead of eating them.

We also know from experience the bass population isn't all on the same schedule so there will be a percentage of aggressive feeding bass at the same time spawners are guarding nest sites.

Tom

[Mobasser]

Catt, I sometimes think the entire spawning process is misunderstood by many folks- me included. I've caught scores of bloody tail rough looking male bass over the years. I've seen very few big females on the beds. The ones I've cast to usually ignore everything. Good question but I'm not sure on the correct answer....

[Catt]

The males we saw up shallow were cruising the shallows but not locked on nest even though there were nest everywhere. They wasn't really spooked by our presence, they would move off a distance but returned rather quickly.

 

I could see larger bass on electronics holding in about 3-6' which I assumed were females.

 

We left the area for a couple hours & still couldn't get either to bite anything.

 

This time there was a rather large female locked on a nest but no male. I pitched to her for about a hour, she would nose up to the lure, roll on her side, circle the cypress tree, & return. But never made an attempt to pick the lure up to move it.

 

Definitely strange! ?

[Mobasser]

Catt, I also think that the reason so many of us struggle to catch bass consistently is due to springtime weather. Pre spawn bass can be hard to pattern. It seems like there's no sure way to predict how they will act. Hot summer fish are much easier to pattern

[Sam]

i believe when they are on their beds they will not eat based on hunger but they will try to kill your bait.

[Koz]

9 hours ago, WRB said:

To me this is a clear indicator the bass were not feeding but striking lures or live bait to kill intruders instead of eating them.

 

 

A few years ago I had a male bass come off the bed and grab my Whopper Plopper 130 sideways (between the trebles), carry it off a few feet and then let go of it. Fascinating to watch and amazing he didn't get stuck in the side by a treble hook.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Catt, I also think that the reason so many of us struggle to catch bass consistently is due to springtime weather

 

The weather was ideal, the water temperatures were 69-71°. 

 

Other than the one female none were locked on beds, even the males were in the area but not on nest.

[Kidflex]

I believe there are in all stages of the spawn. Some on beds, some starting to make beds. Some already guarding. And definitely bass still waiting to move up. I’m just thankful for the ones that bite. I’ve seen a lot of beds with fish on it recently, but those wouldn’t bite and I didn’t spend much time with them. The females that did bite where probably on beds that I couldn’t see. 

[papajoe222]

I don’t believe they feed during the actual spawn cycle. That being from the time they pair up until the fry hatch for the male and for the female, when she no longer assists in guarding it.  With stable weather, it moves along without interruption, ,but fluctuating weather can extend that time frame considerably.  When you add the fact that not all fish spawn at the same time, it may seem like they don’t feed for a month. Highly unlikely, but then again I’ve never seen scientific evidence one way or another. 

[WRB]

Female bass in my experience have little to do with guarding eggs or fry, they lay eggs in stages in more then 1 nest and move on. Lucky to see a female hanging around a nest site more the 48 hours.

Seeing a big bass around the nest you may be seeing a long skinny old male, hard to determine girth without catching the bass, length is easy to estimate. If a big female is around a nest without a smaller male something happened to the male bass.

Empty nest usually indicates 2 things; 1 the spawn is nearly over or 2 a severe cold front occurred shortly before the spawn started chasing off the males for a few days.

Near the end of the spawn cycle bluegill nest are starting to show up, no small nest and cruising bass then it's the start not the end of the bass spawn.

Tom

 

[Sam]

8 hours ago, Catt said:

 

The weather was ideal, the water temperatures were 69-71°. 

 

Other than the one female none were locked on beds, even the males were in the area but not on nest.

Man, can they drive you crazy or what?????

[Catt]

Well finally got to talk to a fisheries biologist & here's his opinion based on my observation.

 

First I needed to understand Toledo Bend water levels had been low for an period of time, then came up rather quickly, & then processed to slowly drop before becoming somewhat stabilized. Despite ideal weather & water conditions this delayed the spawn. 

 

There is a time frame in which the females become less interested in feeding, & back off of feeding becoming less aggressive as the hormonal changes in their body take place as they prepare to actually lay their eggs.

 

He's opinion was we witnessed the actual beginning of the "spawn" process. It is difficult to be on the water 24/7 therefore many people never observe this part of the spawn.

[Mobasser]

Catt it's interesting how different factors can delay the spawn. Explains why some may think the spawn is happening, when it's actually not.It can be a tough time to fish. I've probably gotten skunked more in pre spawn than any other time of year.

[Mr. Aquarium]

13 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Catt, I also think that the reason so many of us struggle to catch bass consistently is due to springtime weather. Pre spawn bass can be hard to pattern. It seems like there's no sure way to predict how they will act. Hot summer fish are much easier to pattern

You’re not kiddin. Hate the rollercoaster weather.  50s and 60s 1 day, next day 30s then back to the mid 40s. Up and down. Rains then sun. 

[WRB]

Over looked water level changing, that is a big factor!

Tom

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

You’re not kiddin. Hate the rollercoaster weather.  50s and 60s 1 day, next day 30s then back to the mid 40s. Up and down. Rains then sun. 

Yep. Spring cold fronts can be a killer.

[Mobasser]

Over the years, I've become convinced that the bigger females don't feed during the actual spawn. I don't bed fish intentionally, but I have made a few cast at the very few that I've seen. Most times, I havnt gotten a clear look at the bedding bass, sometimes a shape or shadow . Once years ago, a bed fish did pick up a plastic worm I cast close to her. She blew it out in a heartbeat. She didn't want to eat it- only move it away quickly. I know some guys can catch them, but I havnt had any luck at it. It confirms how fast a bass can pick something up and reject it, before a fisherman even knows what's going on.

[Mr. Aquarium]

15 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Yep. Spring cold fronts can be a killer.

Worst part is I’m seeing everybody slaying big fish locally. I’m fishing everything from 9 inch swimbaits to 4 inch ned rigs. I can put the pattern together and figure out where they are. I’ve been getting bit. Just all small fish. 

[MassYak85]

On 3/22/2020 at 11:52 AM, Mr. Aquarium said:

Worst part is I’m seeing everybody slaying big fish locally. I’m fishing everything from 9 inch swimbaits to 4 inch ned rigs. I can put the pattern together and figure out where they are. I’ve been getting bit. Just all small fish. 

You and me both. I've been running into small males, especially the ones making an early push shallow on those warm days. But the second I try and pull deeper to those textbook "pre spawn" locations I'm striking out on finding big fish. The water is still a bit cold, but I just feel like I'm looking in the right places but not having any luck. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

32 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

You and me both. I've been running into small males, especially the ones making an early push shallow on those warm days. But the second I try and pull deeper to those textbook "pre spawn" locations I'm striking out on finding big fish. The water is still a bit cold, but I just feel like I'm looking in the right places but not having any luck. 

Yep. I try deeper and get nothing!