Hours of Daylight Affecting Spawn

[FIN-S-R]

Over the past few years, i have noticed that the arrival of 11hrs of daylight is the key in spring (considering you have acceptable H2O temp and quality) to getting the spawn moving for largemouth and btw 10 and 10.5 hrs for smallies. Has anyone else every noticed. Also, it seems the first period around the full moon associated with these day lengths are the hottest spawning times. Does this sound familiar?

[Catt]

With Toledo Bend being some where around 65 miles long I can start fishing bedding bass up north in February  then continually move south until late April.

[Valascus]

This has been a topic that has been debated here before in past springs. What causes the spawn? A certain magical water temperature? In some part...I think that plays a factor. But as you have eluded to, I think photoperiod has much, much more to do with when fish will begin to spawn. I have found that around here I can find spawning bass anywhere between late March to as far as late May.

Here are some threads that have been devoted to this debate in years past.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1141841858/14#14

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1140509022/8#8

[Raul]

It is a combination of factors, the ammount of light hours and the water temperature, and both are correlated, more light hours means that the water will become warmer.

Many factors that seem to be a mystery to you are not a mystery for me beacuse I 'm trained to understand those mysteries. In the anatomy of the fish in the brain there 's an organ called PINEAL GLAND, the pineal gland is programed ( by nature and evolution ) to begin to generate hormones and activate all the mechanisms that prepare the animal for the spawn, the pineal gland detects the ammount of light hours and acts like a biological clock, only when the right ammount of light hours are reached the pineal gland activates the mechanism. The right ammount of hours matches the rise in water remperature in the spring.

This mechanism has a practical application, for example: egg laying hens, if we allowed the hens to follow their biological clocks the ammount of eggs produced in a farm would diminish greatly during the low light months of the year, a farm produces a steady ammount of eggs every day but why the production doesn 't diminish when it 's supposed ( according to natural rules ) to ? because we cheat the hens by turning on the lights compensating the missing light hours so they can lay 6 eggs in 7 days.

It 's the same mechanism that causes your dog to shed it 's summer coat for it 's winter coat.

[RatONaStick]

If light has such a profound effect on when fish spawn how do you explain the fact that fish will spawn in December or January in a power plant lake that is heated?

I fish a power plant lake here in NC regularly. This lake never gets below 60 to 65 and gets as hot as 115-120 degrees in the summer. The fish spawn when the temps go down, not up like they do in a normal lake.  

[Chris]

That's right RatONaStick ;D

Water temp, stable conditions, and moon phase is what effects the spawn.

[captgene]

In Florida I have always noticed that the first major amount of a warm rain in Dec. Jan. and Feb., followed by a warm front and a extended warm stable weather pattern for more than a week triggers the big bass to spawn. Bass do not all spawn at once in the south and in fact most fish will spawn several times a year in Florida , if conditions permit it.

A good rule of thumb is to average the low air temps, in the area that you live in and keep notes as to when the spawn starts or fish in your area become more active. Then look for a forecasted approaching warm spell that is forecasted in your area. Noaa has past weather data and it is easy to graph low air temps. A 30 day chart works well.

The middle of the lake water temps. can be very misleading as to spawn temps. and times of the spawn. It is a must to pay attention to the shallows because that is where the spawn takes place. The shallows both warm and cool quickly prespawn . Warmer than average temps, with overcast nights hold the heat best in the shallows and are a good clue to look for the spawn to take place.

Sitting and watching an area on a calm day instead of fishing it can put you on to a prime spot. Just because there are tons of fish in an area does not mean they will bite well at times, but in time in your area you will learn what to use and how to use it.