BeddingFish

[Got Fish??]

 Anyone seeing fish close to shore yet? Or maybe seeing fish messing around in bedding areas. I know my ponds on our golf courses. Warm up faster than the lakes do. I'm starting to see fish along the pond shores.

[jgip087]

I've been seeing them for two weeks now everywhere I've been.  I was walking along Reeds Lake in Grand Rapids over a week ago and two were spawning and Thursday I saw 6 of them spawning there during a walk....

[Jay-MadWags]

Last Saturday I witnessed first hand the whole spawning ritual on Commerce Lake.  One three pound male had two 4 pound females and one 5 pound female all around his bed.  The females were bursting with eggs.  When I spooked them one female had about 10 eggs fall out of her.  Very interesting to watch.  The water couldn't have been 53 degrees.  I'm sure those fish will move back deep when the rain and cold weather comes this weekend.

[fishes_everyday]

where I live, here in western Michigan, I havent noticed anything yet, I might have missed it but the local River/lake I fish the most is Pigeon lake, the Pigeon river flows into lake MI, but the only thing is that it will flow backwards for about an hour then stop then flow back the other way, its kind of annoying and it keeps the water very stained. when i lived in texas there was a creek near my house and the water was so clear that i could see the bass all over the place. it never got fished much because it was private property but I always found a way to catch some. everytime i go fishing up here, Ill catch one Bass then nothing else after that. yesterday i was at the Holland state park on lake Macatawa and i saw a guy catch a nice size bass prolly 3 pounds, and you know what this moron did? he cut the bass and used it as bait to try to catch catfish. Im not sure if its illegal or not but, Ettiquete wise....this guy was a doosh....maybe i should have said something but i didnt...

[thedude]

it was illegal. I have the the RAP line programmed in my phone, it never hurts to call if you think you see violators.

[djkimmel]

Bass are catch and release only right now in Michigan until the Saturday before Memorial Day for most waters. Michigan Department of Natural Resources RAP 800-292-7800

[Got Fish??]

 I fished a lake near 23 and 59 last week. Lots of males up on shallow flats' With large females just off  the brake suspended in deep water.

[Skulley]

I fished a lake near 23 and 59 last week. Lots of males up on shallow flats' With large females just off  the brake suspended in deep water.

Did you see any beds??  If there were beds, then the males are guarding them as the females have already spawned.  If there were no beds than the males are up there fanning new beds for the upcoming moon phase which is when the big females will come up.  Remember not all the bass in the lake spawn at the same time.  They come in waves as long as the water temperature and conditions are right.  A cold front will pull them off the beds because that shallow water will drop in temp quicker than deep water.  The water temp has to be right or it won't be happening.  I am sure with the way the weather has been that the bass on that lake have spawned.  I would go out on a limb here and say that you have bass that are in pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn.  That means the fish are scattered and you can target almost any part of the cycle.  The pre and post-spawn fish will be hanging in the same areas.  Friday on St. Clair I caught a post-spawn fish that was big and skinny and then in the same area I caught a pre-spawn fish that was fat and full of eggs.  It's just mother nature doing her thing................a little early this year but still doing her thing.  And we caught fish on beds too.  So which is it.........pre-spawn, spawn, or post-spawn.  I say it's all three.


BD                        

[djkimmel]

I have been saying I don't think temperature is as important as we have been led to believe but that is too simple. I have seen for years now bass in Michigan spawning in 50 degree water. I'm now seeing more references by biologists and other thinkers that Northern bass will start spawning in colder water though a few studies on a few lakes have shown those might not be the beds that actually add new bass into the population year to year?

I have seen largemouth bass spawn on one lake every year as soon as the water hits 50 degrees often right around the first week of April and more so if it is around a full moon. But as you point out, it is just some of the bass, not all the bass. I once saw perfect water temps, more than a week of sunny weather and a full moon merge causing the largest number of bass I have ever seen at one time on this same lake! It was amazing! More like bluegills spawning. Of course, bass are just a big bluegill.

I have also seen many bigger smallmouth lakes and on the Great Lakes where smallmouth bass are swarming on beds in the low to mid 50 degree range. I have seen them leave the beds on some lakes at a cold spell and not make a difference on other lakes during a cold spell.

Some studies say the early spawners are the bigger bass and if the fry hatch, they may be more likely to survive and add to the population because they have longer to grow larger which many studies have shown is more important to adding new bass - having fingerling bass large enough to survive the winter.

In the end, it is just fun to get on the water and see what is going on, isn't it?!?

[Skulley]

And there is always something different to learn about what's going on when your paying attention to detail.


BD                                           

[jgip087]

I completely agree with you Dan.  I have been catching bass from 54 degree to 76 degree water temperatures for the last 5 years.  It seems like some of them move up the near the first full moon in April (which was early this year), the majority move up around the 1st full moon in May, and the stragglers come up around the first full-moon in June (first weekend this year).

[Skulley]

Which you are very good at ( when you're not watching soccer) I've seen this first hand. It would be interesting to C&R beds with you BD.

I really don't target beds as much as I go after pre-spawn or post-spawn fish.  It's tough to do when you catch spawning fish in 7 and 8 feet of water.  Today the staging fish which were mostly big males were coming up for the next moon phase.  No beds but they were all over bedding areas.  Didn't see any beds although I know there were some and there were fish on them.  Out deeper again there were pre-spawn and post-spawn fish. Caught them too.  Also caught fish bedding in deeper water.  Great day out there today.  Between my partner and I we boated easily over 100 fish with a couple dozen in the 4lb range and about 6 or 7 in the 5lb range.  At the end of the day I lost an absolute sow at the boat as she came unbuttoned.  Would have like to have that one.


BD