Please clarify "post spawn" for me...

[bassmajor]

Ok, this question is in relation to female's level of agression.

When does their post spawn "mood" set in? Right after they lay their first set of eggs, after their last set of eggs, or some amount of time after all of that?

I am right in the middle of this on my lake and having a difficult time catching anything that has spawned out and is not a bedded male. Been fishing deeper water off of beds with a variety of baits. Just wondering if I'm fighting a losing battle until they recover from spawning. I'm sure there are some other factors but just wondering what the general consensus is.

[NateFollmer]

They can be caught in post spawn, but it's like fishing after a nasty cold front rolls through. The fish get lazy and their strike zone gets tiny.

I hit the creek bed in the lake after spawn. I like to toss out a texas rigged tube or fluke. Usually it's easier to get a reaction strike out of them, so try and annoy them

As far as when 'post spawn' starts, I read somewhere when the fish leave the nest, they eat some of the fry to let them know they are on their own. As soon as that fish leaves, its post spawn time. This is obviously isn't going to happen for every fish at the same time.

[Jig Man]

Lots of times those big old girls move out and suspend in timber after they have done the motherly thing.  Zara spooks in the tops of cedars have worked well for me.

[Taylor Fishin 4 life]

I have been catching females lately on brush piles between there spawning grounds and their  summer grounds 

I have been using a 5 inch senko texas rigged with a 1/8 tungsten weight with 3 ought ewg hook. Just throw it down into brush piles and they will hit it on the fall

[WRB]

The act of spawning includes seeking a suitable bed site, usually in then same general area the bass originally hatch from and laying mature eggs. Ounce the female starts the egg laying process, they don't eat until they have finished. Sometimes the weather factors in and the bass don't lay eggs or don't finish laying all the mature eggs and bass becomes lethargic as a result. Egg laying is hard on the bass and some will die as a result, most recover after about a week.

Like nearly everything in nature, there is a plan and bass don't all move up and spawn at the same time. Big lakes could have several spawning cycles ongoing for about 3 months, so you should be able to find various stages of pre-spawn, spawn and post spawn during the 3 month time period. After the post spawn recovery the bass go into the summer transition, scattering to locations that suit them; good sources of prey and sanctuary from predators.

First check out the brushy or weedy areas near the spawning flats; this is where the young of the year baitfish should be located and easy prey for bass. If those areas don't have bass, the move out toward the deep breaks until you locate the baitfish and bass. This pattern should last until fall.

WRB

[Catt]

Main Entry: post-

Function: prefix

A : after : subsequent : later

Post-spawn is a time period following the laying of the last eggs and will last until the female is fully recuperated.

Locating post-spawn: the female will follow the same breaks/break line back to deeper water from whence she came . As with pre-spawn the bass are in transition and are effected by the passing of frontal conditions. Creek channels, points, weed lines and other features such as roadbeds or rows of stumps along what was once a fence row serve as highways for fish migration.

Catching post-spawn bass: The key to catching post spawn fish is to try to invoke instinctive (reaction) strikes versus feeding bites. This means fishing with faster baits such as rattle traps, shad raps, spinner baits and jerk baits then getting these baits right in front of their noses. However one should not over look instinctive (reaction) strikes from wacky rigs or weightless plastics falling subtly in front of bass.

[Nitrofreak]

Catt,

With a post spawn bass I know they follow the same path out to deeper waters but if you don't mind a question I would be interested in knowing if they sometimes group together and recoup and once you get one to trigger to a bite does it wake up the rest and get them started as well?

The reason I am asking is because I felt like that may have happened to me this past weekend in a 20 foot pocket that I had found.

I was having a real hard time getting them to react but one took the bait and after that it seemed like it was game on or am I way off base?

[Catt]

Just like during pre-spawn, post-spawn transition will be in waves because all bass aint doing the same thing at the same time.

With any predatory fish when one reacts to stimuli the others take notice

[WRB]

The Falcon Lake Elite tournament where Paul Elias set the modern record of 132 1/2 lbs, was classic pre-spawn/spawn/post pawn staging in the same location. Big female bass moving up to lay eggs and moving back to re stage. Ounce this process is over, the big females tend to be loners until they recoup. A good location can hold big bass for several weeks.

Getting a lethargic post spawn female to strike while she is recouping is very difficult, until the urge to feed returns.

Big bass often group up to corral and feed on fast pelagic baitfish schools, on lakes that have that type bait.

WRB

[Nitrofreak]

Thanks guy's that's great info, I was using a jig with several small spoons on it that explains why she hit that and not the other baits I was using at the time.

But it was a slower presentation I had used I was not burning it at all which confuses me but I have made a mental note of it so I can hopefully use it again someday

Thanks again !!!