Bass on the beach. Spawned already?

[Fishing Rhino]

Fishing has been slow the past two weeks.

Yesterday it picked up.  Rainy, breezy, foggy, almost sunny at times.  Anchored at the usual haunts, and caught four to six bass at each w/o moving.

The females no longer had bulging bellies, and their vents appeared irritated (reddish tint).

Today, the bass were on the beach in some areas.  Caught a few, then tried a topwater (rage tail shad) with not a look.

As the canoe glided close to shore, several swirls indicated startled bass tight to the beach.  I let the boat glide closer and saw several hightail it for deeper water.

I backed off and cast an *** Beaver Craw, watermelon red, and the bass and pickerel attacked it.

Water temps 56 - 58.

This will be my first full year fishing freshwater in nearly 40 years.  Took up the pasttime again last July.

Seems to me the spawn is on, or has already occured.  

Would appreciate your assessment.

[djs fishing]

I actually was thinking the same thing today. I live in NH and I caught a bunch of fish already. None appeared to be egg ladden females. They look like males bass to me. If they were males this time of year the tails are usually wrecked from making the nest and these were not. I have not seen a single bed yet.

I would say we are still prespawn.

[Fishing Rhino]

I saw no beds either, but there are very few places in this pond where the bass can make beds in the very shallow water (less than three feet).  

Most of the shore is solid cobble, rocks and boulders to a depth of about four feet.

The areas that have sandy/gravel bottom in the shallows show no beds of any type.  The one place I launch had a bunch of beds side by each, but they were filled with leaves.   I assume they were from last years spawn of bluegills since they were quite small, about a foot in diameter.

It used to be a smallmouth only bassin' pond until someone introduced largemouth into it sometime during the last forty years.  Been that long since I started fishing again last year.

According to accounts, it's been years since a smallmouth has been caught there.

[Team9nine]

Not likely...still too early. Odds of nest success and fry survival at those temps are pretty poor.

-T9

[Fishing Rhino]

Not likely...still too early. Odds of nest success and fry survival at those temps are pretty poor.

-T9

Thanks.  I thought bass spawned around here sometime in May.  

Trying to get a handle on what is happening for future reference.

[WRB]

Pre spawn cruisers can be tough to catch, if bass run off and don't come back within a few minutes, forget them. You are better off fishing the first break line where the females should be staged.

WRB