Just curious where we are for the bass spawn of 2026.
Has the spawn come and gone on the smaller lakes but still happening on larger colder lakes or am I way off?

Any updates?
We start our paddle Sat morning.
thanks

Pretty sure it's done everywhere. Water temps on smaller lakes were over 70 degrees already in the first week of June

It happened quickly! When I was there the average temps were in the mid 80’s for like 12 days straight! Lower 90s one day! It was tough fishing cuz those bass were busy doing other things and not eating.

QueticoMike: "It happened quickly! When I was there the average temps were in the mid 80’s for like 12 days straight! Lower 90s one day! It was tough fishing cuz those bass were busy doing other things and not eating. "

It is consoling to hear that Quetico Mike had some tough smallie fishing, since we did too. We caught smallies, and some good ones, but not like we have on other trips. That weather was insane- hot, sunny, and calm, day after day. Hotter than July and August trips from past years. Sun shirts, gatorade powder, and shady campsites were necessary!

Water temp for bass preferred to start spawning is 60 degrees F..
Yes when you get those warm 90 degree days those eggs will hatch in a few days.

The best fishing of smallmouth I ever had though was it was moderately cool, than got super hot and everything spawned at once and fishing was crazy. Caught 27 fish over 19 inches in one day. Largest just short of 24 inches.
Felt kind of guilty catching so many and took a break. You could see 1000's of little smallmouth fry that just hatched everywhere.