It is that time of year again! To me YP are the most versatile, reliable, and hardy fish out there. They are also very good tasting, help clean up crayfish, snails, leeches, slugs etc, and very rapidly pellet train. It is also one of the only fish I know of that you can control population fairly easily by removing a portion or all of their eggs. But I digress,

I wanted to start the spawn tracker thread for 2023!

Please note your location, date, water temp or air temp if possible, and details about what side of the pond or how much sun exposure/shade in the area of the first eggs. Some idea on depth and what the momma used to lay the eggs on or around is also helpful. There are web pages that will tell you how many hours of daylight (photoperiod) you have in your area which is also an interesting possible trigger for laying eggs.



In 2020 it was a mild winter with early ice off. Snipe had the first eggs on March 7th quite early! Central Indiana it was March 13th

2020 YP Spawn site

In 2021 it was member bcraley in Ohio and the date was around March 12 or 13, Fayetville, OH had them on the 16th of March. Ohio led the way in 2021. My pond around March 16 or 17. Dr. Luke in Iowa, March 20.

2021 YP Spawn site

In 2022 I had several inches of ice yet on March 22, but Bill Cody had YP ribbons on March 17! JIMS SVT in Southern OH also had ribbons on the 17th. I finally spotted mine on March 24 in cold blustery conditions right after ice out.

2022 YP Spawn Site

Here's hoping many find YP egg strands soon, keep us posted!