recovery after spawn.

[king fisher]

I have read that large female bass are not very active for awhile after they spawn.  Does anyone know how long the recovery time is after spawn?  When do they go back to normal activity?  How long does it take them to regain their strength, and weight?  Where is a good place to find large post spawn females, and what techniques work best?  I wasn't able to go fishing during the pre spawn, in my local lake, and I'm assuming by now most of the fish have spawned.  Last year I didn't start fishing the lake until June long after spawn.  I had success June thru August, with big bass suspended in deep water with trees.  After the rainy season the fish moved to shallow flats.  Water has been dropping since Dec.  I will be fishing this weekend. I'm trying to get an idea where to start.  The lake is a small reservoir with large shallow flats, rocky points, 35' deep near the dam, and many large submerged trees, in 20 to 30 feet of water.  Surface temp. will be around 74 degrees.  Afternoon winds 15 to 20 MPH.  Almost no sport fishing pressure, Tilapia main forage are netted year around.  Attached map made with Garmin Quick Draw.

[928JLH]

I believe the recovery time is a few weeks of the post spawn funk. The bass are finicky and hard to catch. If you know the routes and staging areas before the spawn, start those areas first working out shallow to deeper staging locations. I've had great days in the post spawn with a weightless Senko. Long casts to deeper structure letting it sink down with occasional twitches. Yes it's boring and slow but it works.

 

Don't forget to fish around the bluegill beds. You'd be surprised how many really big post spawn females hang around very shallow snacking on panfish. 

 

[Way north bass guy]

I think it depends on location quite a bit. Down where you are in Mexico, I’m sure the spawn is a longer, dragged out affair, so they’d likely take a bit longer to recoup. Up here in the North, they don’t have a real long growing season, so there’s no time to be in a “funk”.  Maybe a day or two then they’re usually right back to feeding. I’ve caught quite a few fish not long after they’ve spawned, and they are healthy, chunky and ready to eat. 

[king fisher]

2 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

I think it depends on location quite a bit. Down where you are in Mexico, I’m sure the spawn is a longer, dragged out affair, so they’d likely take a bit longer to recoup. Up here in the North, they don’t have a real long growing season, so there’s no time to be in a “funk”.  Maybe a day or two then they’re usually right back to feeding. I’ve caught quite a few fish not long after they’ve spawned, and they are healthy, chunky and ready to eat. 

I'm not sure how long the spawn is.  The water temp. never gets below 65 degrees so the spawn isn't dependent on water temp.  From what I hear from lodges on other lakes, the bass spawn mostly on the full moon in Jan. and Feb.  The few sport fisherman that fish the lake prefer to fish Nov, Dec, Jan. when the bass are in the flat west end.  The local tilapia fishermen attempt to net the bass during the spawn, but are not very successful, if the fish are in cover that tangles their nets.  Fishing is tough on this lake during the best time of year.  In June I would only get 2 to 4 bites a day, but almost all the fish I caught would be over 7 lbs.  If the fish are in a post spawn funk, it could be next to impossible.  I'm hoping a couple weeks is enough time for their activity level to come back.  I guess I will just have to go give it a try. 

[Sphynx]

1 hour ago, king fisher said:

I'm not sure how long the spawn is.  The water temp. never gets below 65 degrees so the spawn isn't dependent on water temp.  From what I hear from lodges on other lakes, the bass spawn mostly on the full moon in Jan. and Feb.  The few sport fisherman that fish the lake prefer to fish Nov, Dec, Jan. when the bass are in the flat west end.  The local tilapia fishermen attempt to net the bass during the spawn, but are not very successful, if the fish are in cover that tangles their nets.  Fishing is tough on this lake during the best time of year.  In June I would only get 2 to 4 bites a day, but almost all the fish I caught would be over 7 lbs.  If the fish are in a post spawn funk, it could be next to impossible.  I'm hoping a couple weeks is enough time for their activity level to come back.  I guess I will just have to go give it a try. 

I believe that it absolutely depends on water temperature, it just isn't a magic number in every lake, for example it isn't as though the spawning trigger temp in your lake is the same as mine, but there is a range that all lakes experience pretty much every year, and based on those numbers I am certain there is a correlation between whatever your winter Temps are, and a certain point on the temperature rise into spring that will factor heavily into when the fish begin to spawn 

[WRB]

1. Big bass tend lay eggs over 2 to 3 week cycle making a few trips to bed sits. Staging areas near spawning areas with a few hundred yards during pre spawn is where they retreat to during post spawn. 

A quick look at the map between the 11’ and 18’ bottom center location looks interesting. There is a light color box? and a deep ravine zone that should hold big bass.

Tom

[king fisher]

10 hours ago, WRB said:

1. Big bass tend lay eggs over 2 to 3 week cycle making a few trips to bed sits. Staging areas near spawning areas with a few hundred yards during pre spawn is where they retreat to during post spawn. 

A quick look at the map between the 11’ and 18’ bottom center location looks interesting. There is a light color box? and a deep ravine zone that should hold big bass.

Tom

Thanks Tom. I will give the area you described a try All winter the big bass were in flooded grass on the shallow west end.  Last summer they were suspended in trees in the deepest water on the east end.  Bass less than a pound every where top to bottom.  I'm not sure where the bass spawn.  Most of the lake has shallow areas with gravel bottom.  The west end is protected from the strong winds, but the water is dropping fast and most of that end will be dry in a couple months.  I don't know if the bass realize this and avoid laying eggs in dropping water.  There are a couple small bays protected from the wind with deep water close by.  I will try these bays, the points protecting those areas from the wind as well as simply cover most of the shoreline.

[Deleted account]

Keep in mind that when bass are found in places where the water temp stays warm, say over mid to high 60s degrees or so year round, they will spawn as the water cools, not warms, so it flips (or is it pitches) things around. I don't know how that affects things, I have fished in PR, Mexico and Africa for them, but not extensively. Here in the mid Atlantic/North East, I find that the post spawn funk isn't as long as most think, it just gets added in our heads to the spawn, I'd say a week, week and a half or so.