When was the smallmouth spawn last year in most q lakes? Is it typically after memorial day?

In my experience it is early to mid June. Last year I went in June 19 and on the lakes I fished the spawn had already occurred.

~JOE~

appreciate it Joe!

(Just my 2 cents.): You should remember that 2012 was warm very early -- starting with the very early ice-out -- so it might not be a "normal" year. If you get the BWJ or have access to back issues, Stu usually talks about the spawn when writing his annual bass-on-topwater-lures article, and has mentioned water temps (55 degrees?) as the key.
--Goose

appreciate the feedback goose!

butch

Butch: In looking through back issues of BWJ for my own trip planning purposes, I ran across an article by Stu (the editor) which describes the changes in canoe country from May through October. (Spring 2004 issue, pages 9-17.) He discusses all the major fish species (as well as weather, bugs, etc.) but here's what he says about your topic: "The end of May, call it Memorial Day weekend, typically finds the male smallmouth guarding the oval nests in 3-10 feet of water." Goes on to mention it's prime time for topwater action in "late May to early June." However, he later says that his favorite ALL-AROUND time period for fishing would be June 10-30. --Goose

last year was an early spring as far as snow melt but it was a fairly long drawn out cool temperatures after that. I planned two spring trips, the first being the 1st weekend in June and we hit the top water action pretty good. I would say that maybe we were a day or two early on the lake that we choose, but did have our best trip in many years. I also did a trip the 2nd weekend in June and on that lake we did not have a ton of luck. I think the water temp was still very favorable for good top water action but the air temp was in the 90's!

I am planning to do the same thing again, go the first weekend (usually Thur - Mon) and the second weekend (Fri-Mon). Between the two trips I usually will hit 2 or 3 days of really awesome fishing!

The other thing to point out is that the photo-period (amount of and intensity of daylight) is just as important as the water temperature for optimal spawning conditions. The two factors do not meet under ideal conditions every year. Thus some years we have a good spawn and some years you don't.

CP: In regard to the a "photo-period," I recently heard a talk by a crappie fishing guide from Oklahoma (I think) who said the same thing about crappies and the photo-period. I think all these fish -- crappie, bass, etc. -- are in the same family, so it would make sense that all would be affected by length of days/sunlight. --Goose

Goose-I caught the spawn in sturgeon bay last june. They were nesting, some in less than a foot of water. It was unbelievable.

Sounds good. I've never hit it right up north, just locally in farm ponds.