Where are the females in the early to mid stages of the spawn? Went to a lake yesterday and all I caught were tons of small, mid sized males. Are the big females cruising nearby? Any tips on where the mommies are would be greatly appreciated! Thx~JT

Upstate NY here, and that is all I am catching is big fat females.

Those big fish can be stubborn and just refuse to hit.  Structure ,   cover  and food is what I always pay attention too no matter what time of year .

They are protecting their nest where I am fishing. Half of my catches are hooked in the side of the face. Not even a barb in a lip, all face. That's telling me they were just protecting the nest and swatting at it.

So where the males are there should be females near by

 Where I am they are undercover or hanging out in the middle deep. hard to get them to bite  slow approach is always best. they are not gonna take things like spinnerbaits or buzzbaits.

 slow moving plastics work best like  Senkos-creatures-flukes-crawfish  all GaryY plastics if you can its worth it!!

Floating jerkbaits especially the jointed 1's the chicks like those.

 Swimbaits!!   but not for your average angler and I myself only use 'em when i already have a couple fish caught. 

Turn around, the big bass are out in deeper water very near where you are fishing and staged as pre spawner's.

Tom

What Tom said. Think somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-15' deep, possibly deeper. Check primary points in the main lake/river and secondary points in creek arms for staging females. I usually drag a Carolina Rig  or fish a jig/dropshot, but deep cranking and slow rolling heavy spinnerbaits can be effective if the fish are active.  

 

If you're consistently catching bucks, back out to the nearest point with quick access to deeper water like a creek channel. If there is hard cover in these locations, all the better. Deeper is relative. In some bodies of water deep is 6 feet, while in gin clear lakes deep may be 30+ feet or more. 

from my experience this past weekend, like everyone else is mentioning, they are deep. caught 2 big females this weekend in about 10-15 feet of water. one on a jig, the other on a shaky head 

Big females are all over southern indiana, lol

Big females are all over southern indiana, lol

Lots of big gals in NW Arkansas well. No need for a fancy Lowrance with Structure Scan. Just go to your local Walmart.

If you're asking about those lakes in southern Kansas, they're probably done spawning, we're all but done with it in NE KS. Look for areas just outside where they were spawning and they should be there trying to get their first post spawn meal. 

One of two things is happening; they're either in pre or post spawn mode and from Bluebasser's response and a quick water temp. check, I'd venture a guess at the latter.  Either way, check out the first drop to deeper water out from the spawning area and remember that deeper is realitive to your waters. A quick change in depth is what to look for.  Post spawners are tough to entice a bite from as they are resting up, but the still must eat. Slow and small is the way I tempt them and I find that they will suspend out and off the breakline rather than tight to the bottom. Get your drop shot out and adjust the length until you find how far off the bottom they are as you'll need to put your offering right in front of them.