The Spawn......

[burnett1988]

Temps rising. Full moon now and mid april. What's everyones predictions on when they'll start seeing beds ?

 

[derek81]

now

 

[burnett1988]

You've seen them on beds ?

 

[Springmillvol]

Lay time I was on the chick I wouldn’t have been able to see a bed if it had 4 posts and a canopy LOL. How has the water clarity been lately?

 

[RRB32]

once you hit mid to upper 50's fish will start.. obviously not all of them but you'll get some.. think of it as a bell curve.. you'll get your early spawners, then the big waves and then late spawners. Kind of natures way of ensuring survival.. not all will spawn at the same time.

 

[Savage78]

today fish are staging thinking about moving up. but heavily feeding on shad

 

[burnett1988]

I hope the weather stays warm so they start making visible beds in the next few weeks. 57ish water temp is getting close

 

[occasionalfisher]

From what I have seen in the past on Chick (the few times I have fished it) and on lakes on the Coosa River, when the water is still really low the fish will start to get in the staging areas they can get in, but that low water will hold the majority of them off until it gets up where they want to spawn. You get water temps getting mid to upper 50's and that first wave normally goes, but if the water is lower than normal then the majority of those fish will just stay staged. Once the water starts to rise the fish will move with it quickly and two warm nights in a row and boom they are on a bed and gone two days later. We have a small club tournament the day before the full moon in April at Chick and I hope it is not a post spawn kinda deal by then.

 

[jb366]

occasionalfisher - 3/28/2019 2:39 PM

From what I have seen in the past on Chick (the few times I have fished it) and on lakes on the Coosa River, when the water is still really low the fish will start to get in the staging areas they can get in, but that low water will hold the majority of them off until it gets up where they want to spawn. You get water temps getting mid to upper 50's and that first wave normally goes, but if the water is lower than normal then the majority of those fish will just stay staged. Once the water starts to rise the fish will move with it quickly and two warm nights in a row and boom they are on a bed and gone two days later. We have a small club tournament the day before the full moon in April at Chick and I hope it is not a post spawn kinda deal by then.

It'll be prespawn, spawn, and post spawn for your tournament in April. They'll be waves that go from now until June. The biggest wave will probably happen around that April full moon IF the water is good and stable by then and warm enough a few feet down so that a cold front won't kill the eggs.

Side note, am I the only one that absolutely hates fishing the spawn? I'd rather fish prespawn or a few weeks post spawn.
Good thing about chick is since it's so spread out I can sit back and catch pre and post fish while boats carousel in every creek and pocket looking for bedded fish

 

[occasionalfisher]

I am with you, I am not a big fan of it either. I think that if you are going to fish the spawn the MLF format is the way to do it, but I didn't make up the schedule. Luckily, we have a place to catch pre and post spawners more than bed fishing, but I am not a fan of it for a tourney.