when the spawn happens........

[turkeyhawk2005]

iam just wanting a idea ...what wet or dry flies to use for the smallies on the spawn in april and may ,...i know about anything in the crawfish lookin catagory but what about up top i fish over here on the sugar and elkin mac county

[hornyheadchub]

But they don't all spawn at the same time do they? Heck no.

That's right. As a matter of fact, many healthy, mature fish may spawn several times in a season. One female may drop eggs more than once (they have two gonads afterall), and you can bet that males will fertilize the eggs of several females each year.

Although the female may have disappeared, the male is protecting the eggs until they are large enough to swim to cover. If you see a particularly large fish guarding a nest, and you then yank it off with a hook, the offspring that carry the genetics of that specimen are lost, end of story.

Furthermore, the regulations that are in place to protect black bass from harvest during the spring are there for this exact reason.

Picking smallies off their nests is plain chickensh*t fishing. If that is the only way you can catch a fish, then do everyone else who loves to fish a favor and find a new hobby.

[turkeyhawk2005]

that is why i am askin cause i want to avoid the nesting areas and fish diffrent areas ....sooo what do i look for ..so that i dont "rummage thru the nursey"

[Danimal]

If you see a fish in 2 to 5 feet of water that doesn't seem to spook when you pass close by, then there's a good chance he's guarding a nest. If this happens, take a closer look --the nest will have "lighter" appearance than the surrounding gravel. Sometimes you can see the fry themselves (they look like tiny tadpoles). I hope this helps. Dan-o