Lower Lake 5 /2-3

[curtisce]

Went ouut of Indian Point and fished lower lake up to schooner creek for 2 days. Lots of wind Tuesday, couldn't hide from it but still fishable. Caught most everything on Ned if you could keep it out of the algae. we had about 40 total but they didn't come easy. Today hardly a whiff of wind, same story on the fish but we only had 8 each. Question here, the water temp is runnin right at 60. The cooler nights bring it done each morning to maybe 58. Water viz is about 12 ft but were not seeing nests or bank cruisers. The fish we do catch are shallow ,4-6 ft but not on a bed. You have to make  a long cast to catch them. The fish we catch are not fat but don't look like they have been on beds either. So is the spawn over and the beds gone or is it yet to come?

[curtisce]

Didn't take many pictures 

[Dutch]

We found prespawn smallmouth on Beaver yesterday with low 60s water temps.  I had one spot that was egg laden.  I’m not sure what is going on.

[bobby b.]

I had not been out since Saturday when fishing was good (SM in 10 fow) but went out this afternoon around Indian Point area for an hour in preparation for the next couple days.  I could not locate fish where they were Saturday nor in any of the normal spots for this time of the year.  

[Bill Babler]

Guys there are lots of beds in the SK area to point 9. Deep, you can just barely seem them 9 to 12 feet. Always happens this time of year. 

Yes lots of the shallow beds are empty, but lots of spawning is out there. 
 

[Bill Babler]

For those of you wondering about the spawn, JT Kenny just mentioned the anglers on LOZ are seeing beds as deep as 15 ft. in the clearest water. 

At times our fish will bed at least that deep. 

Good point by JT. 

 

[curtisce]

I've seen beds as deep as 18 ft in past. I''ve also caught smallmouth in 10 ft that I know were on bed but I couldn't see them. these 2 days the only fish we caught were 4-6 feet , never caught anything 8 feet or deeper and we tried. 

[Quillback]

Seems to be a weird year.  Smallmouth on Beaver yesterday were in less than 10 FOW.  They had not appeared to have spawned yet, but I am sure some have.

[Dewayne French]

Don't try to reason with the fish, they make us look like idiots everyday. They live by instinct us by reason and those 2 methods don't go together.  I have been on Norfork a little lately and have some spawned out fish, not all. But not many decent fish on beds either, they look to mostly small males. I have a high school tournament Sunday on Table Rock with my boys. Hopefully they can find some fish that are hungry and not very smart (the fish not the boys) .😃😁😆.

As with what Bill said I would hedge a bet that most fish spawn deeper than we think. I do think that they won't spawn shallow in clear water that is being pulled, just a thought. 

[waterpossum]

I'm glad to see this topic about the spawn addressed. I was in a bass club, SW Missouri bass club for about 30 years. Once a year in the first week in May we sponsored the Kidney Foundation tournament out of Campbell Point. It was apparent every year the spawn had taken place. In the 20 something years the weights were nearly identical with maybe one or two fish that weighed 4 lbs. The 10" strawberry worm was the ticket. Last weekend a small 18 boat tournament was held on Stockton lake (where I live) It was a four fish limit. The winning boat had a little over 9 lbs and the BB of 3 lbs. That led me to believe that the spawn had ready occurred here. Then I look at the Joe Bass tournament on Truman and there was a ton of big fish. Like wise on Mark Twain that same weekend. Stockton has never been known for its abundance of Big Bass. Tournament pressure on Stockton is not on the level of TR or LO, but is is also just half the size of those two lakes. I think the tournament pressure has an impact on fish quality