water temp for bass to spawn

[geallen]

my first post. have been perusing for a month or two. what are the water temps for bass, crappie, and bluegill to spawn? answer me polo. also forum's preference between 1 1/2 gulps and panfish assassins. thanks kgemoScratch emoScratch

 

[Fishheadspin]

i think it has more to do with amount of daylight hours than water temp. i have seen bass on the bed in 58 degrees so i would say 58+
bluegill 65+
crappie 53+

 

[sprestwood]

To further complicate the matter, the temps for spawning are probally measures of central tendecy (ouch, that's stuff like averages and medians).
We dont get to know what the range of spawning temps are.

From my log the water temp shot up past the temps of several different species spawning temps, perhaps there is a little too much competition for the spawning real estate. Many fish seem to use the full moon-new moon cycles for spawning, but there are internal processes the seem to signal when the fish will spawn also. So the temps were right, and there was a full moon, but maybe the eggs were not done "cooking".

 

[Fuzzy]

I can add an interesting note; I fished Center Hill a few weeks back, waster temp was around 64 degrees. We seen lots of "bedding" bass and didn't touch them (had a tourney). When we fished for them the next day, we (and everyone around us) found out they were all Spots, didn't see one bloody tailed largemouth weighed in...

Fuzz

 

[geallen]

thanks for the input. looks like crappie 55, bass 60, and bluegill 65 but dont forget to add all those other varibles. kg

 

[polo-dog]

Here's a link to approx. water temps where TN fish species spawn: http://www.state.tn.us/twra/fish/FishFacts/spawn.html If you do a web search for the spawning temps for each species that you would like to know about you might find sources that vary a few degrees above and below these numbers. The numbers in the table seem to be commonly quoted numbers. Sorry that it took me so long to respond. I think that a large proportion of the bass spawned this year in the 65 degree temp range. I would expect that this was due to the cooler water this year and a quick warm up right before the new or full moon this year. Usually all of the fish in each speciesdo not spawn at the same time, but usually they spawn in waves during the new and full moon phases when the water temps are in the optimal range. It's interesting to see when the fish are being caught on the beds and with what. I think that this year a significant number of bass and crappie spawned with the same new or full moon phase but often one species will have a big move to the shallows each of the full moon phases in spring once the water temp gets into the 60 degree range. First crappie, then bass, then bluegills/shellcrackers, then the channel catfish.

 

[polo-dog]

To weigh in on the panfish assassin and gulp minnow debate, I like the panfish assassins for the crappie. They skip incredibly well while shootin' the docks. They also must have a great action when you pause the retrieve because most of the hits come on the pause. I have used some gulp minnows but only in the bigger sizes for the spotted bass down in the river. they seem like a great bait but since they are long and skinny I would expect that they would be tougher to skip while shootin'. They are a great bait though and are impregnated with scent which is a big plus. They are made of tough material too which keeps them from tearing up when you catch fish. Panfish assassins get torn up pretty quickly, not necessarily from catching fish but when you set the hook and miss a fish it tears the front part of the bait. I tend to move the hook position as the front part gets torn up and once it gets to where I can't keep the bait running right I bite the head off and use it shorter. I find that once the bait is too torn up in it's shortened condition that I trash it as a bait that's been shortened twice won't hold the hook any more. I can usually catch a bunch of fish per assassin though, especially if I can keep from setting the hook and not hooking up.