I caught these 2 bass in the last couple of weeks. The larger one is 5lbs 7oz, the other is 3lbs. I didn't have a measuring stick with me to get rw's. Does it look like a big head and small body to y'all.

Also I would have thought that she would have been full of eggs. Could she have already laid eggs? Water temp is now 61.

Also any suggestions for getting good pics when fishing solo? Hard to hold the fish and take a pic.

Thanks

Hi W, welcome to a fellow Georgian. I don't think the LMB have spawned yet, but that depends on your location. The experts will be along shortly, and will probably agree with your assessment - large head/small body. How big is the lake?

Thanks rmedgar, lake is about 100 acres.

Yes, that can be difficult for anyone other than Bruce Condello. The one tip that I can pass on is to carry a large base locking tape measure. If your fishing surface is flat and stable enough, you can stand the extended tape measure up and (try to)hold the fish next to it.

Both those fish look like spent females. Other than their tummies, they look perfectly normal, maybe slightly underweight, which is normal post-spawn. They look okay to me.

With a water temp at 61F one would normally think the LMB have not spawned. Normal spawning temp is about 65- 68 F. However it is not an all at one time event and spans a range of Temps. Some research on trophy LMB spawning indicates that the largest LMB may well spawn just before the rest. It is thought that this is a possible survival mechanism as the first spawned LMB yoy should have an advantage in feeding and size provided a cold snap does not get them or their early plankton food supply or a hungry predator. Based on the provided size of these fish they could be large early spawners. If so they may have lost as much as 30% of their per-spawn weight.

Thanks for the info. I didn't think they had spawned yet, but we had a warm streak a couple of weeks ago, then it cooled down a little. Maybe these spawned then.

It is possible the water temps were well into the 60's but has cooled back to 61 which could be the reason they spawned.