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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 107
Lunker
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 107 |
I was considering adding pea gravel for spawning habitat to a shoreline and I am wondering what might be the best location. Has anyone noticed if bass or bluegill prefer a certain location in a pond to spawn. I have read alot of information about the depth that they prefer, but I have not seen any information about the north shore vs. the south shore, sunny vs. shady locations, or steep dam slopes vs shallow slopes. Is the pea gravel even helpful at all? My bluegill are only one year old, about 5" and I have not seen any nests, so I don't know what to expect. Any observations or comments are appreciated.
Jeff Gaines
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,748 Likes: 295
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,748 Likes: 295 |
Hey Jeff,
At my pond, I'd say 90% plus of all the bluegill spawing beds (that I can see) are along the eastern shore and the south eastern shore. I believe this is more due to the fact that my pond is the most shallow along the eastern shore and gets consistently deeper towards the western shore.
My blue gill spawning beds seem to be unrelated to shade from the sun.
As far as LMB spawning beds, I don't "see" them that often.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 199
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 199 |
what i did was put 3 dump truck loads in my lake.i put 2 loads on the north side of the lake and put 1/4 loads in different locations.i cannot tell the difference in one spot vs the other.my gravel starts in about 1 foot or water and goes to about 5 feet.i have noticed the larger bass/bream use the 5 foot section more than the smaller fish.one other thought is i find the 1 foot water holds most of the smaller bream and no bass.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 75
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Joined: May 2004
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My bg seem to spawn at around 18" - 2' with the bass a bit deeper. Not to take away from the question at hand, but I just aquired a nice large hollow log and was wondering at what depth the channel cats would like it?
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 59
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 59 |
Jeff, This past spring, I fished a couple crystal clear lakes in the Nebraska sandhills. From a standing position in my boat, I was able to observe LMB on their nests in 18" to 48" of water. Most of the nests on one lake were on the North shore, in flat bottom areas in the silt, close to or surrounded by reeds. Always the nests were in calm water. It appeared that they cleared away the silt to lay the eggs on the sand underneath.
In another lake most of the nests were on the South shore although similar cover existed on the North shore?
Both lakes contain huge bluegill, but I never saw one on a nest.
I had a ball dragging a jig through the nests, watching the bass pick it up to remove it, and then setting the hook. Caught and released over a hundred in two days, 2-1/2 to 5 pounds.
Hope this helps!
Brad B.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 107
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Thanks for the replies. I still have not seen any nests in the shallow water but I did net some bluegill fry this weekend, so I guess things are working well! One other thrilling observation. I put in 150 LMB this spring, all 1" to 2". I have not seen them until this weekend, in which I observed schools of bass 6" - 8" long chasing fathead minnows into the shallow coves. I have never seen large groups of bass, 20-30 in a group, gather together to chase down minnows. The water was boiling!
Jeff Gaines
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,587
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2,587 |
Jeff -- I call them "wolf packs" despite the fact that it is always the small ones. Aren't they fun to watch??
Dave
Subscribe to Pond Boss MagazineFrom Bob Lusk: Dr. Dave Willis passed away January 13, 2014. He continues to be a key part of our Pond Boss family...and always will be.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,892
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,892 |
Dave, I also call them wolf packs and anybody who sees them will understand. I once stopped up a creek (didn't work) and added 50 one to two inch LMB and a pound of fatheads. The baby bass immediately cooperated and 'herded' the minnows into a tight ball. Then started taking turns rushing in and picking them off. I don't really understand how the baby bass lived through it. They had fish tails sticking out of their mouths from eating fish almost their size. At one point, I was watching 2 bass that were side by side. All at once, one of them ate the other and had a tail sticking out its mouth. Mean little mothers.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ah Heck if you guys really want a thrill you should have feed trained bass you hand feed daily off the pier. My water has cleared considerably after the phytoplankton has been reduced due to a recent cold snap (relatively speaking for summer). Anyway, I have numerous 2 to 4 pound bass feeding just in front of me so close I can almost touch them when I throw out the pellets. Now that's a thrill! I brought customers out to see it and they can't believe it!
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,892
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,892 |
Cecil, That would be neat. I envy you.
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