Northwest Fishing Reports

Okay, to first be clear, this is not meant to be an inflammatory debate, more so just a discussion on what people do during spawn in regards to photos of their bass during spawn.

I have noticed some photos where people put their fish in the live well and wait to get to dock to have someone photograph them with their 2 handed catch, but my question/concern is, what are the chances that the fish will make it back to their bed, will the male step in to protect the bed until the female gets back or vice versa?

Just curious is all, my method is to get that fish photo snapped and back in the water ASAP so it can raise its little 'uns to become bigguns.

excellent question! Cant wait for some answers on this one.

I completely agree, take the pic and get it back in the water quickly. Dont transport it away from its spawning ground. If you dont have the ability to take a quick pic then just be happy with the success of catching and release it. It will always be in that memory bank of yours.

I agree with what Lonnie said.

Zero chance of the Bass getting back to the beds. If it is a female, she won't be going back to the bed anyway, they don't guard the nest. If it is a male, then he can't find his way back from a couple of miles, or even a couple of hundred yards.

Everything I have read, or experienced, indicates that IF you fish the beds, catch, then release. I don't personally think that taking the time for a photo when they are on the beds is ethical. JMHO

You guyz would be surprize to know how many tourney guys that will take those bass back to there beds after photos & weigh-in are completed !! Happy fish makes Happy anglers ..

Bigbass Dez wrote:You guyz would be surprize to know how many tourney guys that will take those bass back to there beds after photos & weigh-in are completed !! Happy fish makes Happy anglers ..

Nice to hear that Dez, it is easy to make assumptions or want to jump on people who seem to have "Made it" in their profession, but I am sure there must be a percentage of these people with good ethics also.

Always catch, take a quick pic and release the fish back to the bed. If its a tournament, weigh the fish at the end of the day and do you're best at releasing it back on the bed.

Quick pic and release for me but to each his own of course. Guys should also be cafeful for other reasons. It's a FAT ticket if you're caught going over your legal possesion limit (1 smallie over 14" or 1 largemouth over 17"). You might be able to talk your way out of it but most gamies will assume that you were going to remove the fish from the lake if you don't have a tourney flag on your engine.

If it's a windy day, I've put her in the livewell and idled out in the middle of the lake to take a few pics, then took her back to her bed. I'd rather do that than get blown in shallow and hack up a bunch of beds with my bow mount trying to get out. That would be for a big pre-spawn female. I don't want her to lose her bed; the biggest fish get the best spots. My problem with not taking a picture at all is that my adrenaline gets going so good that i'll remember literally nothing about what that fish looked like without a pic.

I would rather fish for pre-spawn fish or cruisers/not bedding fish. If I catch bedding fish I always think of nest predators if there
is eggs or fry. I've caught the same fish multiple times off the same bed in a course of a day fishing, they will return to the bed.
No pics/just fish.

Good job to the bed slayers at American lake that leave dead smallies behind.You guys rock.

Here is a map showing pre spawn, spawn and post spawn across the USA. Check it out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/bass-spawn-map/

delyakguy wrote:Here is a map showing pre spawn, spawn and post spawn across the USA. Check it out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/bass-spawn-map/

I question how accurate this info is , The reason i question this is that it appears that they are basing the spawn in the Northwest based on water temps !
If thats the case im positive that the map in off , Our bass spawn based on lenght of day light not water temps like the lakes in the southern regions !! Hmmm maybe the guys over at Versus may need to take a trip to the great NW

Bigbass Dez wrote:

delyakguy wrote:Here is a map showing pre spawn, spawn and post spawn across the USA. Check it out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/bass-spawn-map/

I question how accurate this info is , The reason i question this is that it appears that they are basing the spawn in the Northwest based on water temps !
If thats the case im positive that the map in off , Our bass spawn based on lenght of day light not water temps like the lakes in the southern regions !! Hmmm maybe the guys over at Versus may need to take a trip to the great NW

That's why I didn't even look at the map. It's probably the same one that was on the tv last weekend. I just can't believe that map.

I think it very close to right on,they must be doing the 62* water temp thing?. In evry Lk I've been fishing the fish are in spawn or prespawn some of the bigger fish are in postspawn. If a male fish is caught off bed pic and let it go. The female bass in the Lk I was in Sunday are wanting to drop eggs but the male will run her out because he's not ready for the eggs. So this would be prespawn fish. There were some deeper beds with no fish on them these would be the postspawn fish. Hey lets just fish anyways!!!

Bigbass Dez wrote:

delyakguy wrote:Here is a map showing pre spawn, spawn and post spawn across the USA. Check it out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/bass-spawn-map/

I question how accurate this info is , The reason i question this is that it appears that they are basing the spawn in the Northwest based on water temps !
If thats the case im positive that the map in off , Our bass spawn based on lenght of day light not water temps like the lakes in the southern regions !! Hmmm maybe the guys over at Versus may need to take a trip to the great NW

have you looked at our length of days compared to the southern states? It's crazy how much it fluctuates. There's a lot of truth in what you said. Our longest days are longer than even Cali's by a couple hours, and our shortest are shorter by the same IIRC. Nothing beats summer in the north. It's the winters that suck..

Dustin07 wrote:

Bigbass Dez wrote:

delyakguy wrote:Here is a map showing pre spawn, spawn and post spawn across the USA. Check it out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/bass-spawn-map/

I question how accurate this info is , The reason i question this is that it appears that they are basing the spawn in the Northwest based on water temps !
If thats the case im positive that the map in off , Our bass spawn based on lenght of day light not water temps like the lakes in the southern regions !! Hmmm maybe the guys over at Versus may need to take a trip to the great NW

have you looked at our length of days compared to the southern states? It's crazy how much it fluctuates. There's a lot of truth in what you said. Our longest days are longer than even Cali's by a couple hours, and our shortest are shorter by the same IIRC. Nothing beats summer in the north. It's the winters that suck..

I finally found one of the pictures I've been looking for.

This is a slideshow and the picture to look at is next to the last, picture 20 of 21, with darkness on the U.S. other than the Northwest. This picture shows why it is still light later in the evening/night than it is on the rest of the West coast, due to the 'path' of the sun/rotation axis of the Earth.

Altho the discution where the pictures were posted were about why we had full daylight so late at night - 10 pm, and later than what Calif. gets.

http://www.slideshare.net/coolpics/supe ... from-space

fishnislife wrote:Uhhh, the spawn is based on water temps and has nothing to do with sunlight. If the water is too hot or too cold she wont drop her eggs. Nothing to do with daylight. If a bass does drop her eggs and an extreme cold or hot spell comes through soon after, the eggs and or newly hatched fry will not survive. The bass could be completely blind and know when to spawn. Most bass will spawn, once spring temps are ideal (for that fish), in the first full or new moon phase in the night time anyways.
Either way, typical daylight length corresponds with warmer days anyways. I sure would like to hear more or see your reasoning for thinking/saying this LittlebassDez. Feed me.
And Cali bass spawn way before here. So how does your info back that up when the days are shorter earlier in the year. And can spawn a couple times too later in the year when the water temps come down from being to hot.

As far as the topic of this thread, always release the bass back on or around their bed asap. Male or Female. If the male is caught and taken away the female will not drop her eggs and go stale. If the female is taken away and later released somewhere else, not only will she not find her way back to her nest in time, she most likely will loose all her eggs due to stress in a livewell anyways. Bass are pretty amazing when it comes to courtship and once they find a mate and nest they will not deviate from it or each other.



fishnislife

I have to agree. The bass at the pond are almost completly done spawning. No fish on beds even the males are deep. Its not the long days, well partially it is, but only because there's less time for the water to cool at night. If it was only the long days that made them spawn then big lakes and small ponds would spawn at the same time. For the record I think smallies pay more attention to longer days than lm. Lm go by night water temps and moon phases.