spawing spring bass

[JRSwillow]

anyone got any pointers for me?/id appreciate it

[ghosttown]

What kind of pointers are you looking for?

[crappie66]

Fish areas where you see their beds.  
Use a lizard type bait if you are trolling and casting the shoreline.  
If you see the males on the beds and can get close enough without spooking vertical jigging a spinner up and down will get them to strike.
If you want to use live bait a small bluegill or shiner on a hook sitting on their bed will usually bring a strike.

I am sure this topic will get alot of negative feedback from the C&R only bass fanatics. 

[weidner21]

red lipless cranks..jerkbaits..... jigs

[Steuben1]

Ah, this is "Iceshanty.com"  please don't talk about spring bass fishing, it makes me depressed!  I hope the ice stays until May 2010!   


Steuben1

[gaddabout]

still catchin bass thru the ice saturday...just a live minnow on a tipup.....

[wax_worm]

Indiana has some of the most highly pressured bass in the USA.  Last I heard there were more bass clubs in Indiana than any other state besides Texas and we don't have near the water they have.  Fishing for bedding bass will try your patience as most the fish you see will have been caught 1 to 10 times already by someone else.  Unless you are fishing private waters, you will catch more fishing for the post spawners and pre spawners vs. those that are on beds.  If they are locked on or guarding fry they are fairly easy to catch if they haven't been stuck by someone else already.  There is definitley an art to catching pressured bedding bass on artifical lures.  Some are alot better at it than others.  You better be stealthy, a good caster, have good eyes and be ready to spend alot of time on one fish just to get a bite.  Then you got to hook him and get him in the boat.  There is no worse feeling than spending 45 minutes to get one to bite and miss the strike or have them come unbuttoned on the way to the boat.  That will make you cry!   

[stanton21]

Why dont you leave the fish alone and let them do what they do so there"s
 more fish to catch. Better yet why dont you speare them on the beds.

[A- bomb]

Why dont you leave the fish alone and let them do what they do so there"s
 more fish to catch. Better yet why dont you speare them on the beds.

i'm sure you meant spare them not spear them...thats illegal! fishing for them...
because its legal here and so we do.. only a small part  of any lakes fish are bedding at any given time. you have channel bass, bay bass, grass bass and main lake structure bass. all spawning at different times. the actual "spawn" is a bout a 20 min period and then the female is done...gone...bye bye.
Mostly the channel bass and shallow spawners get hit around here while alot of main lake bass might not get touched. The studies have shown to have little or no adverse effect on the fisheries. So other than a few personal feelings...not founded with research...there is nothing wrong with whacking some bedders IF RELEASED.
Michigan and other states have opened up some catch and release seasons because the SCIENCE proves its sustainable...not feelings!
Heres the link:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/Bass_on_Beds_Final.pdf

3. Does removing a female bass ripe with
eggs in the spring reduce egg
production and does catch-and-release
fishing of females, either through
immediate or delayed mortality, reduce
egg production?

No. Female largemouth bass begin egg
development in the fall and continue to
direct energy into egg production throughout
the winter up until the time of spawning.
During spawning they are not involved in
nest construction, maintenance, or protection
of the eggs or newly-hatched fry. That role
falls upon male bass. Therefore, catching
and removing any specific individual female
bass at any time during the year has the
same effect on egg production. Eggs that are
carried in a female bass caught and kept by
an angler in the fall or winter are lost from
production just as if the female had been
taken during spawning. Likewise, removing
any female right after spawning or during
summer also removes her potential to
produce eggs the following year.


nothing personal twards anyone just tired of this dead horse and armchir biologists making monday morning calls...


that being said...patience is the key!! and a 6" trick worm to go with it!

[crappie66]

Why dont you leave the fish alone and let them do what they do so there"s
 more fish to catch. Better yet why dont you speare them on the beds.

So should everybody stopping fishing for salmon when they start their journey up the rivers, stop catching gills off their beds, stop fishing timber in the spring when the crappie are spawning, afterall they are doing what they do, as you put it.

It seems that the bass people are the only ones who have an issue with fishing for the spawning fish.  This trend of strictly C&R of bass leaves the waters over populated with 10-14 inch bass.  In the old days when more people actually havested the bass you noticed the overall average size was bigger.  I love seeing pictures of harvested bass, it shows that some people truely do care about the overall health of a fishery allowing more of those average size bass to grow up to be hogs.  If it was really all that harmful don't you think they would put a season on bass or prevent the harvest overall. 

[bassman508]

Look for warm shallow water. People fish for them in Michigan they just can't keep them. Also all the big walleyes,perch and pike guys are posting are pre spawn. Most of them have eggs and are moving to there spawning area. It is not a big deal to fish for spawning bass, or any other fish just don't be greedy.

[drk_denman]

Best thing i have found is a very small 2 inch pure white crawfish soft plastic on texas rig hit them a few times with it make them mad and they will inhale it.  The pure white crawfish soft plastics are very hard to find and if anyone know where you can find any please let me know i have bout a hundred left that i bought 1000 of 6 years ago and need to restock but that is my go to on beds just my 2 cents..

[wax_worm]

So should everybody stopping fishing for salmon when they start their journey up the rivers, stop catching gills off their beds, stop fishing timber in the spring when the crappie are spawning, afterall they are doing what they do, as you put it.

It seems that the bass people are the only ones who have an issue with fishing for the spawning fish.  This trend of strictly C&R of bass leaves the waters over populated with 10-14 inch bass.  In the old days when more people actually havested the bass you noticed the overall average size was bigger.  I love seeing pictures of harvested bass, it shows that some people truely do care about the overall health of a fishery allowing more of those average size bass to grow up to be hogs.  If it was really all that harmful don't you think they would put a season on bass or prevent the harvest overall.  

Actually, most bass fishermen don't have any problem with spawn fishing.  Don't think that because tournament fishermen (like me) release our bass to fight again, we are oppossed to spawn fishing.  If you catch a keeper bass, are under your limit, and want to keep it, go ahead.  I don't need or want to keep bass to eat.  They are not as good as perch, gills or even crappie, so I throw them back for someone else to enjoy the way the strike, jump and fight.  

Back in the day when people harvested bass, there was not nearly the pressure on the fisheries that there is today.  The technology and advances in tackle and equipment have made it easier to catch bass.  If you don't think a group a skilled bass anglers could hurt a lake by keeping their limit every time they fish you are wrong.  Look at what has happened at Lake Falcon and Amistad in Texas.  In many lakes the bass is the top predator.  If you take too many of them out the gills will overpopulate and get smaller.  A 14" bass takes 4-5 years to get that size in Inidana.  I think there should be a slot on bass.  Keep your 5 fish limit of 10" to 14" fish.  Anything bigger or smaller should go back.  We don't have to worry about the bass stunting around here.  The Amish keep everyone they catch!!!

Science supports that spawn fishing is not detremental to the overall fishery.  It does not matter if you kill the fish in the spring, summer, fall, or winter, it will not contribute to the fishery any longer.  

[Mr.Waxy]

Gulp sinking minnows

[crappie66]

Wax, I think you are onto something here with the slot for keeping 10 to 14 inch bass.  That would sure shake up the tournies if you could only weigh in fish in the 10 - 14 inch range. 

I hear a lot about the amish keeping everything.  I wonder if they intend to do that or if it is the alcohol impairing their sense of measurement.  I don't believe I have ever actually seen the amish fishing anywhere but Wawasee, and each time they just seem to go out and get hammered.

[A- bomb]

FISH FEAR THE BEARD!!

[drk_denman]

I have watched them clear hold beds in an area out of bluegills and then they would just keep moving from beds to other beds and wipe them all out on Sylvian.

[Fish_Tko]

FISH FEAR THE BEARD!!

And for a group that lives off the land they sure are not too conservation minded.

[wax_worm]

I hear a lot about the amish keeping everything.  I wonder if they intend to do that or if it is the alcohol impairing their sense of measurement.  I don't believe I have ever actually seen the amish fishing anywhere but Wawasee, and each time they just seem to go out and get hammered.

They fish everywhere.  Wawasee yes, but I have seen them on at least 10 other lakes just raping the gills and red ears off the beds while I was bass fishing.  They don't stop at 20 each....more like 100 or more per person if they can find them.  I have seen the catch more than 25 red ears per person in the boat, called the DNR and by the time they got there, they had left.  It is not only the Amish that do it, but I see them bed fishing more than anyone else.

[JRSwillow]

Why dont you leave the fish alone and let them do what they do so there"s
 more fish to catch. Better yet why dont you speare them on the beds.

man thats the best time for whoppers spare your typing skills

[Jigmup]

I catch and release because they taste like sewage burgers! Of course the 12 inchers from private ponds fair well on the table. Its really about the sport when it comes to Bass, they are fun....'nuff said.

[Retired-UAW]

Ah, this is "Iceshanty.com"  please don't talk about spring bass fishing, it makes me depressed!  I hope the ice stays until May 2010!   


Steuben1

We can still talk bass .Only the one's that come out of the ice. Like this 5lb 3oz[/img]

[wax_worm]

like when do you think they start spawing in the shallows

Every lake is different.  They warm at different rates depending on bottom content, depth, size, wind exposure etc.  Clear lakes the bass will spawn deeper and therefore they spawn later.  Some will be on the banks or in channels, but main lake fish will be later.  Dirty water they will spawn shallow.  You can't always go by water temp either because that can vary greatly within one body of water.  I would look for spawners in in most bodies of water from early May (warm spring) to the end of May (cold spring).  Normal time would be mid to late May on most northern indiana waters, but I have seen bass on beds near the end of June before.  As Abomb said, not all bass will spawn at one time.  Always look around the full or no moon in May and June for spawners. 

[river_scum]

start fishing the ponds as soon as the ice is gone then you will see how the season progresses. when the water is super cold i start with a small suspending stickbait and use long pauses. fish afternoons on sunny days in spring. the sun warms shallower areas more and fish swarm to them. rain can also turn them on. an inlet creek or even a field tile will sometimes hold a few. they like the food and warmer water entering their world.

[popnfish]

I quit fishing for spawners years ago, it's a good time to catch panfish

[Fish_Tko]

i find it tough to not be, fishing lake michigan, erie, picking mushrooms, or hunting turkeys in may...man that's a busy month. I got no time for bass

[Steuben1]

i find it tough to not be, fishing lake michigan, erie, picking mushrooms, or hunting turkeys in may...man that's a busy month. I got no time for bass

Exactly TKO!  I don't have time to chase them either and pretty much the same reasons.  Although you left out shed hunting.


Steuben1

[Fish_Tko]

Black, grey and yellow morels

[Fish_Tko]

Exactly TKO!  I don't have time to chase them either and pretty much the same reasons.  Although you left out shed hunting.


Steuben1

i do that in march before the squirrels destroy em.