March 14, 2007
Article

Do Spawning Fish Bite?
By Adam Johnson

Do spawning fish bite?  That's a good question.  Many anglers don't think so because they see those largemouth bass on the beds and when they run a lure by them, the fish just ignore it.  Schools of spawning muskies in the shallow bays won’t look twice at a lure that cruises by.  But what about those bluegills that are sitting on top of those nests?  They don't seem to hesitate to smack a wax worm or a piece of nightcrawler you dangle in front of them under a bobber.

Crappies also seem aggressive when they're stacked up in the shallow bays during the spawn.  Maybe it's just the gamefish that won't bite when the spawn is on.  Maybe the panfish stay hungry through this ordeal.

In fact, during the actual spawning process fish of every species tend to quit actively feeding and choose instead, to put all of their resources on procreation.  In fact, those panfish that are biting are actually in the pre- or post-spawn phase and will be feeding.

Those bass on the beds are in a protection mode and will hit a lure if you rest it right on the nest.  These fish have no desire to eat the lure; they just want to move it off the eggs.  This is why a plastic lizard that sinks slowly dragged over the top and left to settle on the bed will often elicit a strike.

One of the best largemouth-on-the-bed techniques there is consists of a plastic lizard on a drop-shot setup.  You can cast the rig past the nest and pull the lizard right up onto the nest and with the sinker holding the lure in place you can twitch that plastic lizard until the bass gets frustrated and picks it up to move it.  You can tell that this is all about sight fishing.  You have to be able to see all of these steps happening. 

Bluegills are more aggressive about protecting their beds and will hit anything that comes close.  You can catch a lot of big bull bluegills when they're bedding just by suspending a thirty-second ounce jig a foot or two below a bobber and pitching it out to the nests.  What usually happens is the bluegill will scurry off the nest when the bobber plunks down.  It quickly returns, spots the lure and grabs it.  As soon as that float twitches you should set the hook.  The smaller the bobber the better.  Too big a splash when it touches down might spook the fish into not returning or quit biting.

Walleyes move up feeder creeks in rivers and reservoirs and will converge on the shallow rubble bars in lakes to spawn.  Dragging a Roach (live-bait) Rig in these zones with a minnow or leech will generate bites.  It's not the spawning walleyes that are taking the bait, but the pre- or post-spawn fish that are staging there.

As far as the pike are concerned.  If you see pike in the shallow bays and they're moving in formation in groups of two, three or four, forget it.  The only way you'll catch these fish is with a snagging hook, and I can't think of any states where that's legal.  There might be some pike staging in the deeper water in front of those bays and those fish will eat.  Dangle a sucker minnow in front of one of those pre- or post-spawn pike and they will grab it.  The pre-spawn fish will be much more aggressive than the post-spawners.

Do spawning fish bite?  No, but fortunately for us those fish that are right in the middle of the spawning ritual won't be in that phase for long.  And, not all fish of a particular species spawn at the same time, so there are always plenty of opportunities for pre-and post spawn fish.  The key to targeting fish during this period is to know where in general they'll  be during the spawning process relative the to body of water you're on, and work that area with techniques that suit the mood of that species.  It's not about being in the right place at the right time during this period, it's about being in the right place with the right presentation.