Dont know what all yall have seen but yesterday saw the whole process take place. Was really cool to see in the wild. was fishing my neighborhood lake and saw this big tail sticking out of the water next to the bank. Was moving in a tight circle, big fish. then it kinda paused and just sat there, shaking a litle. then it moved off and a smaller male moved in over the spot, and stayed there just looking at my lure, neither of them chased anything. I'm actually glad they didnt bite. Bet the male is stil there guarding the eggs. Other than that its geting pretty active out there. probably caught a dozen or so small ones and some good sized crappie. Any way the spawn is on where I live.

what sux about that is when people see them off the bank and catch them to keep esp in a small lake or pond. Saw a guy catch a 5 pounder last spring that was a few feet from her male who was nesting and he kept the fish, really gets under my skin. I'll focus my attention more on the post spawn fish

Agreed, I dont keep any of them any way right now, gonna start keeping some of the smaller guys though and try to thin the herd a little. there are alot of 2 lbs or less in my lake. My boss wants to eat 'em so gonna start keepin em soon.

I just posted up because I had never seen it in the wild before. Pretty sure we saw her drop her eggs, then the male fertilize and start guarding all in about 5 mins.