Yesterday I got to fish a highland reservoir in Northern Arkansas (Beaver Lake).  We fished in an area down towards the dam in clear water.  We caught around 40 bass and all were smallmouth.  I normally fish merky water in the north end of Table Rock lake.  Largemouth and spots are 99% of the bass there.

 

The surface water temp is around 60°.  I expected to see females with a belly full of eggs and males with worn tails.  We didn’t see any worn tails and only two that looked to be egg laden.  We caught most on Keitech swimbaits in 4-10 fow.  Fishing deeper didn’t get any bites.
 

So I have two questions for you smallmouth knowledgeable folks:  1.  Is the spawn yet to come?  2.  Do smaller or larger females spawn first or is size and time irrelevant?  Thanks for your input.

If water temps have been steady and I would assume a reservoir would be then it sounds like the spawn is really just beginning.

And I havent noticed big females to be early spawners but I'm way up in Canada, your results may differ.

My experience with smallies in lake Erie was lake surface temps nearing 60 degrees coincided with the beginning of the spawn. My opinion is your just starting the spawn on Beaver lake. Regarding your second question I have never noticed what size smallies spawn first. 

If visibility was 10ft plus, you should be able to see fish on beds if it is that time. 

They are just beginning  I think and no, size doesn't matter.

Our water isn’t clear so I have no clue when they spawn. Probably right now because they aren’t biting well 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Our water isn’t clear so I have no clue when they spawn. Probably right now because they aren’t biting well 

I haven’t had much luck on the susky either. It maybe due to lower then normal spring conditions. I also haven’t and much luck shallow.

2 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

I haven’t had much luck on the susky either. It maybe due to lower then normal spring conditions. I also haven’t and much luck shallow.

My buddy and i got out on Thursday. He caught 4 and I caught 3, in 7 hours. Biggest was 14 inches, the others were 10-12 inches. I believe they were all males. We were fishing from shore, but in places that are generally a spawing areas this time of year. We threw lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits, squarebills, and topwaters with no luck.  I also threw spinnerbaits, and dragged a jig, and tried a chatterbait. I tried wackie rigs, and weightless plastics (fluke, worm, paddletails) with no luck.  The only thing we could get a bite on was a 1/8 or 1/4 oz  ballhead jig head with a mister twister 3 inch grub tail in chartreuse or yellow. At least we were not skunked, but all in all a pretty slow day.

2 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

My buddy and i got out on Thursday. He caught 4 and I caught 3, in 7 hours. Biggest was 14 inches, the others were 10-12 inches. I believe they were all males. We were fishing from shore, but in places that are generally a spawing areas this time of year. We threw lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits, squarebills, and topwaters with no luck.  I also threw spinnerbaits, and dragged a jig, and tried a chatterbait. I tried wackie rigs, and weightless plastics (fluke, worm, paddletails) with no luck.  The only thing we could get a bite on was a 1/8 or 1/4 oz  ballhead jig head with a mister twister 3 inch grub tail in chartreuse or yellow. At least we were not skunked, but all in all a pretty slow day.

When I was getting them it was either on Ned’s or drop shot. They all seemed to be on the edge of deeper water. It’s just been really slow compared to how it normally is this time of year.

40 Smallmouth! What an "Epic" day! Way to go and keep it up!

On 4/22/2023 at 10:50 PM, Darnold335 said:

I haven’t had much luck on the susky either. It maybe due to lower then normal spring conditions. I also haven’t and much luck shallow.

I believe this as well. My feeling is the up and down temps right now. 2 weeks ago water temp was 65, friday 62, yesterday 60. Going to get colder this week, here in pa, with overnight temps in the 30s and day temps high 50s low 60s.

30 minutes ago, Jordan Seacat said:

I believe this as well. My feeling is the up and down temps right now. 2 weeks ago water temp was 65, friday 62, yesterday 60. Going to get colder this week, here in pa, with overnight temps in the 30s and day temps high 50s low 60s.

Yeah it’s not looking good. Water temps and water flow is low for this time of year.