Mike McSwain
You’re drifting the shallows and there she is… She must be over 10 pounds, and she’s just lying there in 4 feet of water waiting to be caught. To many this is most exciting scenario possible, fishing for bedding bass during the spawn. It’s the magical time of year when bass move to shallow water to lay and fertilize eggs. It is thought, much like the rut with deer, to be one of the easiest times to catch largemouth.
When water temps hit 58-60 degrees, young bucks begin building nests. They then find a female with ripe eggs to nudge into the nest. She lays eggs. He fertilizes them, then looks for another female. He may get three or four females to spawn in the same nest. The spawn all occurs within cycles of the full moon.
The main trigger is water temperature, so the spawn and hatch occur at different times in different regions. In late January, when Virginia lakes may be frozen, northern Florida guides may see fish on beds.
“I may see beds in early January, and I may see them in April,” said Capt. Keith Austin, a guide from Crystal River, Fla. “There are so many factors you can’t pin it down to a specific period.”
Allen Martin with Florida Fish and Wildlife agrees. “Florida is its own world,” he said. “Winter swings are drastic, depending on where the weather comes from. We can have winter highs in the 70s, then a front pushes down and it’s in the 40s.”
Go 400 miles north and it’s a different story. It’s Feb. 5, and South Carolinian Dave Thomas checks water temperature at his lake. It’s 48 degrees.
“We’re right at the cold point,” he said. “It should start moving up this week. We’re looking at 60s and 70s this weekend.”
Thomas, a serious sight fisherman, fishes as much as career allows. “Probably mid March before we see our first beds, maybe earlier.”
Scott Lamprecht, a South Carolina fisheries biologist, agreed. “Mid March until mid May is a typical range for us in this region.”
The same day, Virginia fisheries biologist Scott Herrmann is out sinking brushpiles. The water temp is 46 degrees.
“Last year we had a really cold spring, with ice into March. That pushed back the spawn,” Herrmann said. “But generally the first week in April through late May is when it happens.”
Travel 700 miles from Richmond up the coast and you’re in Maine. The spawn here probably begins long after it’s finished in mid Atlantic states. Some regions here actually close fishing during the prime spawning period. According to Karen Estabrook, with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries, some sections of Maine close bass tournaments May 8 through June 18. A small recruitment window and contracted spawn make this necessary.
A few years ago, late in May, Guide Don Kleiner reported a water temperature of 54 degrees and estimated Memorial Day weekend to be prime time. This scenario could include fish on beds in early July, 24 weeks after the northern Florida spawn.
So starting in January in northern Florida and working north, you’ll have about 24 weeks of bed fishing. That is, of course, if nature cooperates. And if you succeed, there’s always smallmouth fishing in Canada!