Is anyone seeing spawners yet?

[Wayne Ek]

Thought it would be interesting to see what stages the bass are in around the state. Sat on the dock yesterday evening with a glass of good red wine and watched to beds, both had a pair of fish working in and around them. Those are the first fish over 1.5 pounds that I've seen around the dock. From ice out to now the dock area is usually loaded up with panfish,bass and a few musky. This year not so much.

[bassinator]

I was seeing fish on beds on Pool two on Saterday, just a few were locked on. Saw quite a few of them on beds out on Clearwater also, think we are going to be dealing with a mostly post-spawn bass opener

[bassfshin24]

I did not see any fish on their beds on Mille Lacs this past weekend Pike fishing. The water was crystal clear in on the southeast side of the lake. Saw a lot of smallies cruising the shallows and saw a few giants hanging out closer to deep water. I'm guessing they will be spawning by the weekend. Not sure what opener is going to be like.

[Stick in Mud]

This is a terribly stupid question, but where exactly do bass spawn? After ice out until the weeds get too thick in June, I canoe around the shallows in a very clear lake looking for panfish. The lake is loaded with bass, too, but I've NEVER seen a bed.

Sorry to hijack the thread...

[DLD24]

Saw a ton of bass over their beds on a lake near Cloquet, pretty cool seeing them chase away bluegills...Carmike they were way in the back of the bays on the lake I was on,very shallow many of them you could see the swirls in the water as they were chasing gills away...fun in the kayak

[Juan Grande]

Lots of males in the shallows last night scoping out spots. Water temp was 67.

[slopmaster]

I was fishing this past weekend and found a bunch of big females up shallow, by far more females than males. Not a lot of beds, but some. Water temp was 59.5-61.2 were I was. I'll post pics later, but let's just say I'm glad the body of water I was on was open for bass. I would have been crying if not lol.

[st.crioxfishin]

Anyone ever hear of the dogwood tree theory? When their flowers start to bloom - the bass are on their beds? Well our back yard has a dogwood tree and I've been watching it like a hawk for the past month - the flowers just started to bloom about 4 days ago...

[corncob]

I've always watched the lilacs for the quide to spawning time for bass , and, they are just starting to bloom.

[thatoneguy]

griz, you and me should get together and fish some this summer. I was just thinking about the lilacs thing, too - they're blooming in my back yard.

[Mons]

On a Wright County lake this past weekend I saw a bunch of 1-2 pound males up on beds. I'm pretty sure the big females were still prespawn as I caught a fatty on the first break while pike fishing.

[Smallie Hunter]

I fished a tourney in Wisconsin last weekend and there were lots of fish on beds in the afternoon. They wouldn't stay on them when you casted to them.

[Superduty]

I was (legally by the way) catching both smallmouth and largemouth off beds 2 weeks ago on pool 4.

[corncob]

Thatoneguy....That sounds good....You could give me a tour of your area of Leech.....Right now I've got my boat tore apart replacing the floor and upper deck....More of a task than I bargained for....LOL

[Larson15]

I found fish on beds 3-4 weeks ago on pool 2 and 4. Was out last weekend on a small lake and most were post spawn

[KickNBass]

Hit a relatively clear north metro lake Friday and Saturday and saw males on beds but no females yet (unless I completely missed the boat and it's the tail end of the spawn). 67 degrees water temp.

[CCGinMN]

The bass are now spawing on North Bay on Tonka. I'm not sure about the rest of the lake.

[ShoreGuy1984]

took a walk around crytal lake in burnsville last week and have noticed a few small bucks swimming around beds. Was out there two nights ago and seen a bunch of bluegills on beds and some bass swimming through the shallows. biggest bass was about 2lbs.

[KickNBass]

My buddy thinks I was seeing the end of the spawn...hope not. Guess I don't get out enough...

[catchin'whopper]

You guys have water temps in the area lakes?

Prior Lake - Eastern Bays were 70 degrees this past Monday, looked like more sunfish beds than bass. Not many bass seen in shallows too.

[mainbutter]

I've NEVER seen a bed.

get out the swimming gear.

Nothing helps me analyze a lake better than actually viewing it under the water.

On a particular lake in Michigan that I know well, the bass spawn in the shallows, shallower than the weed beds, in sand, near and under structure. They dig little pits to deposit eggs, and the fry stick around there until they grow up a bit.

In typical metro lakes around here with milfoil covering all of the shallows... *shrugs* I haven't taken a dip to have a look for myself.

[LegattoAD]

Fished Bald Eagle yesterday and it was right around 64-65 for temp. Sunfish are up spawning right now and I didn't see a single bass bed. My guess is that the spawn is finished there. Changes my strategies a little, but not a lot.

[TonkaBass]

There are pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn fish happening all right now.

[KickNBass]

In the Grand Rapids area this weekend saw a decent number of beds, they didn't look super clean but not see a single fish on them all weekend. One lake was 60 degrees, deep gin clear lake and the other was a clear lake, can't remember the temps there but I think it was around 62-64.

So, I'm a bit confused. Were they done? Were they just starting and the weather chased them off the beds? Last year this weekend I think they were just starting because I went two weeks later and there were still fish on beds but less and smaller fish.

[thatoneguy]

I covered a LOT of water on the west side of Leech this weekend - much of it good spawning territory - and I did not see a lot of beds, and only saw one with a fish on it. Water temps were right around 60 degrees. It's possible that the wacky weather has kept temps down enough that the spawn has been delayed up here?