so ive been fishing this local pond from the bank for the past month or so. boston area. early to mid may it was on fire. prespawn up very shallow aggressive and feeding. past week have started to see bluegills in the shallows and i expect the bass to be spawning, but i don't see them. the bite has also become very scarce (fishing 2-4pm) earlier in the month it seemed they were feeding all day especially in the muddy water. now the water has started to clear up, stained, not fully clear. my thoughts are now that the sun is stronger (if they are not on beds yet) that they are less active during the day and probably would be able to get them more in the morning and evening...just want to hear the collective thoughts and knowledge of others. thanks all!

Do they spawn this late there? Usually when I see bluegill near shore here it's because they (gills) are spawning. By that time the bass are pretty much done.

 

I'm still pretty new at this though so hopefully others will chime in. I can't catch anything this year (yet), literally nothing

 

45 minutes ago, schplurg said:

Do they spawn this late there? Usually when I see bluegill near shore here it's because they (gills) are spawning. By that time the bass are pretty much done.

 

I'm still pretty new at this though so hopefully others will chime in. I can't catch anything this year (yet), literally nothing

 

i think not quite yet. usually i can see when the bluegills bed. i am pretty sure the bass are now spawning or soon to spawn.

 

The so-called 'spawning season' is usually longer than most anglers realize.

In fact, most (if not all) the bass we catch during the spawning season

are bass in pre-spawn or post-spawn mode.

 

Roger

4 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

The so-called 'spawning season' is usually longer than most anglers realize.

In fact, most (if not all) the bass we catch during the spawning season

are bass in pre-spawn or post-spawn mode.

 

Roger

This 100%. Fishermen get so excited for the spawn, but spawning fish are so much harder to catch than prespawn fish. They lock onto beds and aren't interested in feeding. Sure they can be coaxed into biting, but if you can't see them, that's a tricky proposition. Postspawn fish can be tough at times, but I'd still rather chase them than spawning fish.

 

OP, your bass are probably spawning just out of sight.

i want to think that too...but i usually see beds every year in certain areas...i went today and i think they are shutdown. there are weedbeds close to shore...did the usual reaction stuff, but once i slowed to a senko i got a bite small ish one and then interestingly when i was pulling a small branch with my lure i saw a 2.5 lber lazily swim away...i think the recent weather has gotten them in a funk and they are hunkered down in the weedbeds that have just started to be visible from shore.

Understanding the physical anatomy of female bass the overlies develope eggs sacks in stages, not all the eggs are ready to be layed at the same time. A particular male bass is pre spawn before it moves up to build a nest followed by a female making it's initial egg laying attempt. The male stays on the nest guarding it. The female moves back into deeper water and waits for it's eggs to ripen then makes another trip into the nesting area laying eggs in a second or third bed with different males. The spawn cycle can take a few months in larger lakes usually less time in ponds do to the smaller population and more consistant water temps.

Watch the sites videos and educate yourself on bass spawning behavior.

Tom

 

If I had to guess I'd say your bass are postspawn. (A lot of them anyway). I saw a 2 and a 4 doing the dance on top of a flat rock tues. But mostly I've been seeing seemingly vacated beds in the ponds I fish the past week or so and.the gills are up spawning  (you can smell it). Also a couple of the bigger fish I've caught were on the skinny side.