Odd occurence...
 

Ok.... This one little backwater I like to check from time to time really
surprised me yesterday.

Lets get some history on it first. It had spawners very early. When most
of the river hadn't started yet this backwater had bedding fish and somebody
definitely came through and cleaned out the beds early.

Two weeks ago sunfish and bluegill moved into this little backwater like
they were getting ready to spawn. In fact I nailed a nice 4.5 pounder that
was feeding on them. Last night the bluegill and sunfish were still milling
around like they were getting ready to spawn. I didn't see any established
spawning colonies.

As I moved into the lake I spotted a few regulars in there. Bass that live
there at certain spots year around unless somebody catches them. As I was
heading back out of this back water I spotted 3 nice bass coming in. Nice
means probably around three pounds. Right at the inside mouth of this
backwater lake I stopped to watch the incoming channel. Over the course of
20 minutes I saw a dozen more decent bass come into this little backwater.
Water temp was 71.7 degrees F apx. Those I watched come in ran from 1.5 to
about 4 pounds judging from their profiles in the declining light levels.
There were probably more I couldn't see or just missed while I was looking
around.

Now here is a bit more history. We had front after front after front come
through during our peak spawning time. For us that is usually when surface
temps are in the mid to high 60s. The spawners kept getting knocked back
down by the weather.

So. all that being said do you think these were just fish moving in during
the lower light levels to feed on the sunfish, or do you think these were a
spawning migration moving in?

Remember this little lake already spawned once early.

--
Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com

Odd occurence...
 

Bob La Londe wrote:

So. all that being said do you think these were just fish moving in during
the lower light levels to feed on the sunfish, or do you think these were a
spawning migration moving in?


I definitely wouldn't rule out the latter possibility. In a lot of the
bigger waters in my neck of the woods, especially those where there's a
huge amount of very deep or flowing water associated with the main body,
isolated spawning bays or coves get multiple waves of spawners over a
couple month period. Remember, the eggs develop in relation to the water
temp where the fish lives, not where it's eventually going to spawn.