6 lbs. and plum full of eggs yesterday

[quote=FishinBoo;329758]I think I know exactly what spot you are talking about! Pipeline about 5 or 6 feet deep with gravel on it runs across a narrow portion of the lake. I haven't been out there this year, done any good?

I just talked to my father in law last night. His buddy fished a big tournament at Kentucky this past weekend. After the weigh in they had quite a few dead bass they were going to throw away...(I guess the warm weather made it hard to keep em alive) His buddy took some home and filleted them. He said about half of them were full of eggs....pretty surprising, but he has no reason to make it up.[/quote]

Heck yeah! This has been a very good year so far, almost as good as 4-5 years ago. Things have slowed since the water dropped but that's ok with me. I think you know the spot!

[QUOTE=Jbyrd;329762]The fact the the fish was caught out of a small lake makes it even more possible that the fish didn't have eggs in it. The water temp raises in small lakes faster than big lakes such as barkley as the gentle man said about the 2 he caught last week. Thorefore the spawn is earlier and the fish feed back up and get fat sooner. The small lake usually means more stable water and thus ideal conditions for an early spawn
As for baseing the facts just on being fat you have never seen a bass caught on dale ,cumberland or barren in november . They are ready to explode and are not looking to spawn. Just gorging them selves on shad and living thru the winter.........[/QUOTE]

jbyrd, i am not a novice here as you might think.im not trying to be arguementative with you either. however, i saw the fish with my own eyes and i have been bass fishing for a long time. i would bet my house on it that fish was full of eggs. i know everything you have stated is correct with lake conditions and the size of the lake. but i also know believe what i saw. and to let u know, i have saw many bass caught in november on dale. and i know they may be big, but let me tell you again, they were no way near as big as the fish i saw.

With the widley fluctuating temps and water levels, even small bodies of water have bee affected, it is not impossible for fish to still be spawning. They will spawn when they are ready to spawn and nature has programed them to spawn when it is the best time for their eggs and fry to survive. Just because our calender and our prior seasons say it is time to spawn, fish do not read. They go by natures clock. Are seasons have been different the last several years and the spring has been weird latley. too cold in March and also cold in April. A few years ago I caught one over 11lbs the first week of June that just came off the nest. She had just spawned out when I caught her, I also caught her buck, he weighed over 4.5. And yes she had been on the nest and it was a small bodie of water. trolling motor only. So there is really no set time for them to spawn, they will spawn when the time is right for them.