Spawning Bass

[rleefelt]

When does everyone start going to Rayburn or Toledo in seach of bass beginning to spawn?  Late January seems a little early. What do you all think?

[crazy_cajun02]

GRANTED I NEVER FISH FOR BASS, BUT I THNK IT'S CLOSER TO JUNE OR MAY FOR SPAWNERS.  i'D IMAGINE IT ALL DEPENDS ON WATER TEMPS. 

[LP78]

For Rayburn, Febuary depending on temp. Best months seem to be March & April.

[Guest beat-em_deep]

its a lot of fun catching bass on beds

[wtmoody8]

when the water temps hit the high 60's bass should start spawning at Rayburn and TBend, The first wave could start as early as january and the last waves will probably be late april or early may..The bulk of it will most likely be March though

[gringo]

For Rayburn, Febuary depending on temp. Best months seem to be March & April.

I agree !

[CATS80]

I start wade fishing the north sides of the coves behind the buck brush mid march every year at Rayburn. and tear them up. But the water level has been about 5 feet low and holding for some time now. And the buck brush is now on land. so it may be interesting to see what they do with the water level between now and then.

[BABOLAT2]

Bass start moving in as early as late January and as late as April.  The bigger bass will usually spawn earlier, but some will go up during the later waves.  As for Rayburn being so low, what they are doing is they allowing for grass to grow in the shallow areas and then the water will rise back up to the normal levels to where are the new grass has grown.  By doing this, it allows bait fish to feed on the grass and have protection and the bass have food to eat on while spawning.  It might seem pointless at the beginning, but later on it will benifit.

[CATS80]

Bass start moving in as early as late January and as late as April.  The bigger bass will usually spawn earlier, but some will go up during the later waves.  As for Rayburn being so low, what they are doing is they allowing for grass to grow in the shallow areas and then the water will rise back up to the normal levels to where are the new grass has grown.  By doing this, it allows bait fish to feed on the grass and have protection and the bass have food to eat on while spawning.  It might seem pointless at the beginning, but later on it will benifit.

Do you have any inside scoop on when they will start raising the level of the lake. Because I was wanting to set a couple of trotlines. I use weights and jugs as tie points. and if the level rises to fast. It floats the weights. And I don't like having to much slack in the lines. Knowing when the level will be raised again would help.  I look at the web sight (USGS Real Time Data) everyday but it don't give a forcast of any raising or lowering of the lake levels.

[BABOLAT2]

I have no idea on when they are going to raise the water levels.  I am sorry that I can not help you CATS80.  I think they might just let rain water raise it as much as it can possible and then raise it the rest of the way if the rain can't get it back up to normal level.  Only advice I can give you on trotlines is either to take a chance or you could use noodles.  Sorry I was not more helpful.

[Guest 643DP]

When will the spawns start on Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn ?

I can hardly wait !

[Guest 643DP]

Sorry guys, I just started a new thread about the same thing.
It sounds like mid-Febuary though ?

[tvc184]

[quote name="643DP" post="315915" timestamp="1200402194"]
Sorry guys, I just started a new thread about the same thing.
It sounds like mid-Febuary though ?
[/quote]

That is a good place to start but I think a little later for it to start getting heavy.

[BIGDADDYDAVEHJ]

yea me and my buddy went this weekend and we whent into farmers and before we were actually in the cove you could see the grass line at the bottom it was horrible only caught 2 fish the whole day but anyways we usually start catching the spawners all through march

[bh89-2]

Surface temp yesterday was 64F in my privatate lake at work.  Caught 6 fish in about an hour and lost 3, one of them a big fish.  Found a few very new beds being made and had one about 5lbs that was red on the tail.  All fish were over 3 lbs.

Rayburn and Toledo should be close to the early spawners.  I would expect if the temp stays in the 70's during the day they will move to beds by end of month and into March.

Falcon Lake has already started seeing spawning bass.  Temp down there last week were 98F for 2 days.

[Guest EDOWD]

After this front moves on through, the bass will start spawning on Toledo/Rayburn. It should last until mid March.

Lent = spawn season

[Guest beat-em_deep]

Cant wait till it warms up a lil  8) 8) 8) 8)

[Guest beat-em_deep]

Talked to a buddie last night and he went to rayburn yesterday and said bass are starting to spawn  ;D cant wait to go

[BABOLAT2]

Went to Rayburn Sunday and there are some small fish that have moved in, but not a lot.  Most of the fish are still in the  Pre-spawn phase.  Give it another week and it should start getting a little better.  I caught a 5lb bass on a carolina rig lizard trolling.  Just give it a week or so.

[gringo]

Fished small local tourny on big Sam this Sunday.  Mid lake area - still no fish on beds in that area yet (maybe pushed off a bit after cold front).  Caught good fish (keepers to 4 1/2 lbs) in 3-4' heavy grass.  Also good numbers of smaller fish off secondary points.  Also got reports from south end of lake (Mill Creek area) not on beds yet.

[Cardinal Supporter]

Was up at Toledo Bend about 2 weeks ago and the surface temperature was anywhere from 54 to 59 deg. F. depending on where I was at the time. The wind, however, was at least 20 mph sustained and gusted much higher at times. Only stayed a little while in those conditions and caught only one bass. It was a male but in deep water, in the middle of a cove, and was not on any bed. We have had a recent cold snap and it is still pretty cold in the mornings so I hope the span will start soon if it has not already started.

[PuDdLeJuMpEr78]

im gonna be fishing in a tourn. out of caney creek this weekend and was wondering what kind of action has been happening on that end of the lake i havent fished rayburn in about a month and when i did i was on the south end. any advice would be helpful. i know the fish are close to spawn if not already started. Was just wondering?

[gringo]

im gonna be fishing in a tourn. out of caney creek this weekend and was wondering what kind of action has been happening on that end of the lake i havent fished rayburn in about a month and when i did i was on the south end. any advice would be helpful. i know the fish are close to spawn if not already started. Was just wondering?

Fish should be on beds by now.  Caney Creek is mid lake and you shouldn't have to travel much at all.  Get some good sunglasses and keep your eyes on the banks.  Good luck and let us know how it went!

[PuDdLeJuMpEr78]

Well we hit the banks hard early fri. mornin and caught a few solid fish but nothing great. It's not like it was last year this time. Honestly dont think larger fish have moved up yet. Everyone that we talked to including us backed out and caught there better fish in 6 to 10ft. of water mostly on traps and carolina rig.

[horndawg]

Anyone around here going to be fishing the McDonald's Big Bass Splash at Rayburn this year?