Spawning

[crusian]

On 22/05/2020 at 17:50, commonly said:

Licence 

Fox edges wide gape. Size 5??? Only ones I could find that weren't out of stock!! 

Shrink tube, tungsten putty & sinkers. 

Roll on next weekend!!! 

 

On 22/05/2020 at 17:56, Highy said:

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday me...canny wait

I fished Friday night into Sat. morning , and the water temp was over 18C .

I didn't see any spawning behaviour i.e. fish chasing / following each other , but here in Suffolk spawning time cannot be far away .

Maybe you fellas could have a back up water you could go to if your first choice water is suddenly shut while the fish spawn ? .

😃

[commonly]

19 minutes ago, crusian said:

have a back up water you could go to

It's over 200 acre reservoir, the manager seems to believe they've already spawned in the hot weather back in April, they may go again but he doesn't close. 

I'll just enjoy learning my new venue for the first time, come what may👍

[elmoputney]

I've got a similar spawning dilemma tbh, they have spawned last week on the main lake I want to fish, they haven't closed it so technically I could fish it next week but should I? Or fish one of the other ones that hasnt started yet?  I'm probably looking at Wednesday this week I think so it will be about a week since they spawned 🙄

I could treat it as a recon Session and fish a new swim to find features or maybe go and try and fish the lake I fished last week and try and fish a swim where I can fish at a longer range and try out the plastic baits for a session I dunno what to do 🤔

[crusian]

3 hours ago, commonly said:

It's over 200 acre reservoir, the manager seems to believe they've already spawned in the hot weather back in April, they may go again but he doesn't close. 

I'll just enjoy learning my new venue for the first time, come what may👍

Hi , Commonly .

Oh to have a memory ! , I'd forgotten about your exciting project .

As you say , go forth and enjoy ; maybe Nick knows if spawning time on a huge reservoir means you get a chance to view some of the stock close up and personal ? .

😃

[crusian]

2 hours ago, elmoputney said:

I've got a similar spawning dilemma tbh, they have spawned last week on the main lake I want to fish, they haven't closed it so technically I could fish it next week but should I? Or fish one of the other ones that hasnt started yet?  I'm probably looking at Wednesday this week I think so it will be about a week since they spawned 🙄

I could treat it as a recon Session and fish a new swim to find features or maybe go and try and fish the lake I fished last week and try and fish a swim where I can fish at a longer range and try out the plastic baits for a session I dunno what to do 🤔

Hi Elmo .

As I understand it , you are supposed to leave the fish 2 weeks after they have spawned before fishing for them again , as the fish will be in vulnerable condition , and need some quiet time to build their strength back up .

Your recon. session plan could work though , as not all carp spawn every year ? , and  if you are fishing in deeper water far out from the margins ? .

😃

 

[salokcinnodrog]

17 hours ago, crusian said:

Hi , Commonly .

Oh to have a memory ! , I'd forgotten about your exciting project .

As you say , go forth and enjoy ; maybe Nick knows if spawning time on a huge reservoir means you get a chance to view some of the stock close up and personal ? .

😃

Yes it does mean you can see some of them. Uncaught fish often show up at spawning time

 

April is unlikely when they spawned, larger and deeper waters take longer to warm up to the temperature carp need to spawn, so even now some may not have spawned yet, and if the carp are area residential, they may not be ready.

 

Not every carp in a lake spawn, although @Levigsp has written about an exception,  or they do not spawn all at the same time.

The exception is if new male fish have been stocked into the water, the next year all female fish will spawn. I must say though, and I am not disagreeing with Frank, but in a large reservoir it would be difficult to prove that.

 

So if not every fish in a lake spawn, there are some that can still be fished for! In fact to be honest I am not totally sure of the need to close a fishery when fish spawn, other than to stop anglers casting into splashing bundles of spawning fish. Some aren't spawning, some are munching mates fish roe! In fact it is likely carp seen splashing in April, could well have been eating perch, roach or other fish spawn that do not require such high water temperature.

Not all carp appear to spawn in the same area, although there is often one feature that provides the right environment, be it rushes, lily beds, overhanging waterside grass, then most will spawn there, but on larger waters like reservoirs then there may be more than one spawning area.

 

 

Pretty much as soon as the major spawning is done, fish go on a munch, energy and protein hunt, protein for tissue repair, and energy as first requirement.

Carp may also spawn more than once if the temperature is warm enough. As soon as they are emptied, the body starts producing eggs again, so they can go off again. 

[yonny]

On 25/05/2020 at 07:04, salokcinnodrog said:

Uncaught fish often show up at spawning time

I agree, often you'll find there are many more fish in a water than you thought. Not always monsters either. This water I'm fishing is said to hold 30 originals and 30 stockies. Based on what I saw during spawning last year there are way more than that, it's just that many tend not to get caught.

[dayvid]

Quite ironic really , its not a problem to fish for Pregnant fish, fat footballs ,rolled around on a mat then weighed and photographed for a PB , but as soon as they spawn its a no no , your spawn of Satin if you do whilst spawning.

Doesnt seem to apply to France,even the owners wont close and refund you , when you spend hundreds of pounds for a holiday , the times I have read , The fish were spawning the time we were their only caught a few . they never packed up and came home .

Spawning fish dont eat whilst they are doing it ,but are hungry afterwards .

[yonny]

I think it's a good idea to leave them alone during AND after spawning. We spend all year taking advantage of one of the only things they need (food) to hook and land them, the least we can do is let them go about the other thing they need (to reproduce) without hassle.

6 minutes ago, dayvid said:

Quite ironic really , its not a problem to fish for Pregnant fish

Not sure about that mate. The only time fish are NOT pregnant is a week or 2 after spawning. They immediately start rebuilding the ovaries and growing eggs. So if you don't want to fish for pregnant fish it's a case of giving up angling I'm afraid.

[dayvid]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

 

Not sure about that mate. The only time fish are NOT pregnant is a week or 2 after spawning. They immediately start rebuilding the ovaries and growing eggs. So if you don't want to fish for pregnant fish it's a case of giving up angling I'm afraid.

Thats the thing do we give up , I wont 😀

To be fair I based pregnancy as a general term, near to spawning  , as yes the start to produce unfertilised eggs , not sure from when though, when I mentioned Pregnant fish I was more leaning to the spring when full of eggs, and in most cases very obvious .

How many times again have we heard , " came out at X amount last time ,down on weight now she's spawned " or words on a similar vein.

[salokcinnodrog]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

I think it's a good idea to leave them alone during AND after spawning. We spend all year taking advantage of one of the only things they need (food) to hook and land them, the least we can do is let them go about the other thing they need (to reproduce) without hassle.

Not sure about that mate. The only time fish are NOT pregnant is a week or 2 after spawning. They immediately start rebuilding the ovaries and growing eggs. So if you don't want to fish for pregnant fish it's a case of giving up angling I'm afraid.

Most of the time the old closed season March 15th to June 16th covered the tench and carp spawning times, although occasionally they would go through to the end of June or early July. 

Possibly the only fish it may have missed is pike, which I have seen spawn at the start of March, even the end of February in warm early months. 

 

If you think about it, almost every species of fish in UK, we want to catch them at their heaviest weight, so will be fishing right up to spawning times, including pike. This year I stopped fishing for pike when I noticed I was getting males chase the females in the margin as I was netting or returning them. One of the fish I landed was 2lb heavier than her autumn or winter weight, she had recovered from a cormorant strike, not long before a mate caught her, the scars and markings were a match when we checked pics. She had obviously fed up, enough to heal and build her roe up. 

 

This is where Yonny and I disagree on fishing during spawning times, but I do understand his views. One of my Ardleigh carp I caught while fish were spawning in the reedy inlet to my left, the fish I caught came from the deeper water around 50metres away. Had it spawned, or was it going in there?

It wasn't an empty fish, no 'spawning scars', although long term battle worn.

Again at Taverham I watched fish spawning on The Meadow area, yet there were fish who weren't Meadow fish, at their end of the lake still feeding.

I would think the best choice is close off swims that can reach the spawning areas when the fish are there, but then again, if the lake is fished by numpties at any point, or those who don't know shutting may be the option. 

I have seen fish spawning, emptying out, and quite literally within hours are feeding heavily again, at the other end of the lake, or even munching their way through their own eggs. 

Some fish are always 'footballs', that is their shape, the strain or mix that they are. Look at Italians, often dark, but massive gut. Get a mix of strains in a water, you get Leney scale pattern for example, but with Italian shape. 

Dinks or Dinkelsbuehl carp are also gutty. 

 

I started this reply, but Dayvid made another post in meantime, so I'll do a quick edit.

16.11 in Nazeing normally weighs 45/46lb. A couple of years ago she had dropped to 36 in July, she had emptied out totally, and was caught just after. By September she was back up to 45lb.

 

 

[yonny]

41 minutes ago, salokcinnodrog said:

I would think the best choice is close off swims that can reach the spawning areas when the fish are there, but then again, if the lake is fished by numpties at any point, or those who don't know shutting may be the option. 

I agree mate.

 

[bluelabel]

As soon as the fish start pairing up I pull off the water and won't go back for a week or so after they've spawned... the old close season is out of date... and as we all know water temp and conditions are the key drivers... I think its incumbent on all owners and managers of waters to spot the signs and close the water off as soon as they start pairing up... its only common sense 

[salokcinnodrog]

1 hour ago, bluelabel said:

As soon as the fish start pairing up I pull off the water and won't go back for a week or so after they've spawned... the old close season is out of date... and as we all know water temp and conditions are the key drivers... I think its incumbent on all owners and managers of waters to spot the signs and close the water off as soon as they start pairing up... its only common sense 

Thing is carp pairing up is often males, no females in the area. The females move in and the groups of males then jump in. I have watched it, and in carp, as many are loners more so than most other species it is identifiable, especially if you know which fish are females. Male carp are, as most species smaller than the females.

 

The grouping up can actually take place a week or more before spawning occurs, and if a cold snap happens, the fish would be waiting around. The best way to find out is the males (of most species) develop breeding tubercles, and apparently from research, the more prominent the tubercles, the more chance the male has of keeping his mate, although you get 'chancers'

 

On Nazeing Meads Brackens Pool a few years ago I caught a male dripping milt, I got it straight back, yet that year they did not spawn, a cold wet snap put them down and they did not spawn at all. The males stayed grouped together until late July hoping almost.

Again pike can be the same, a few males pair up before the bigger females move in, she may be courted by more than one fish.

 

[jh92]

Starting to wonder if the carp are starting to spawn again, I’m pretty sure they’ve spawned already, can do they do it twice 🤔 they are crashing a lot around the margins.

ive had my rigs with in inches of where they’ve been jumping but not a sniff except the eels.

Might try a zig 🤔👍

[yonny]

38 minutes ago, jh92 said:

can do they do it twice 🤔 

Yes, and they defo are by the sounds of it mate.

[jh92]

30 minutes ago, yonny said:

Yes, and they defo are by the sounds of it mate.

Yeah we think they are as well mate, gonna pack up and leave them to it👍👍

[yonny]

1 hour ago, jh92 said:

Yeah we think they are as well mate, gonna pack up and leave them to it👍👍

Respect to you sir. The right thing to do imo.

[salokcinnodrog]

The carp can do it again and again, I've seen them go back for more as late as the end of August. 

They spawn, start building eggs again and if it is warm enough go spawn some more. 

 

[elmoputney]

It's going to be hot again this week probably cause a second wave some places 🙄

[...]

The Carp in the lake I go started to spawn last Friday, been told they finished Wednesday, went hell for leather on it due to warm weather.... I've got a 24hr tomorrow booked, so do I go and just fish open water or do I leave it, as next time I'm out is 19th June. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Highy

[yonny]

I'd leave it. I think the least we can do for the fish we target all year is give them a break for that special period.

[monkey_climber]

I agree. I'd leave them to it for now. My regular lake closed on Sunday and will probably be shut for another week or so. The amount of pressure the fish see nowadays, it's good to give them a break in my opinion even if it is only for a week or two. Part of me would like to see a modified closed season re-introduced (obviously with a more modern approach to length/timing) as I think it benefits both the fish and the fishing. I don't know about you but just after the first lockdown last year, it was like clubbing season for the first few weeks.

[welder]

I have to agree with the suggestions that we leave them be for a while. We have the rest of our lives to go fishing, there's no rush.

Ian.

[elmoputney]

My lake opened back up today, after they spawned last week for a few days, I thought it was a bit soon, but I will be leaving it for another week or two at least I think, its given me some time to get the garden sorted, taking a leaf out the Highy book, 👍