Photo by Ron Sinfelt

By Tim Holschlag

Ah, I love June. The days are long, the weather is warm and the smallmouth bass can drive you nuts.

OK, that last part isn't exactly what you were thinking. But in fact, June requires more angling versatility than any other month on the calendar. During most years, smallmouths in lakes will go through three distinct activity periods in just 30 days. June fishing can be fair, fine or even fantastic - if you can figure out what period the fish are in and then quickly adjust your tactics to the situation. Never assume that the fish will be doing the same things and be in the same places from the beginning of month to the end. This is a recipe for failure. To make sure you score no matter when you hit the water, it's wise to break the month into thirds.

If water temperatures are normal, this is the peak of the spawning period, and fishing can be fast and furious. The actual spawn - when smallies start fanning out nesting sites - gets fully under way when water temperatures approach 60 degrees. As the fish are hormonally cued to shift into their reproduction cycle, they quit feeding and adopt an aggressive nest-guarding mode. A spawning smallmouth doesn't want to actually eat your offering; instead it sees a lure as a dangerous threat to be attacked.

This can be things that are far larger than a lure. During a recent June, a 19-inch spawning smallmouth grabbed the tail of a 34-inch northern pike my client had inadvertently pulled over the smallie's nest. Think of it - a 4-pound smallie biting a 10-pound pike so vigorously it tore the pike's tail fin! And it only let go when I lifted the pike from the water! That's protective behavior. Of course, this aggressiveness also makes smallmouths extremely vulnerable to overharvest during the spawning period. Immediate release of spawning fish is essential, both to maintain good populations of large adults and to ensure the survival of the fry.

In the southern half of the state, smallmouths normally spawn a week or so earlier than those in the northern half. In fact, traveling anglers can often experience excellent spawn fishing from mid-May through mid-June, provided they start in the most southerly waters and keep moving north. Even lakes in the same geographical zone can have different spawning dates. Large, deep lakes warm up slower than small, shallow ones, and the peak of the spawn can easily vary by five or six days. And of course, weather conditions will influence how far the smallies are along in their reproductive cycle. Unusually cloudy, rainy weather means slow-to-warm water. Conversely, a lot of sunny days bring warmer water and an early spawn. Though weather can be fickle, male smallies spend over two weeks on nest-guarding duty, so the spawn overlaps the early-June period nearly every year.

In some lakes, spawning bronzebacks are highly concentrated. Just a few shorelines or bays have suitable habitat, and the other 98 percent of the lake will hold few fish during the spawn. In waters with more abundant habitat, the fish will spread out to various locations around the lake. In every instance, they are looking for relatively shallow gravel-bottomed areas in which to fan out nests. However, "relatively shallow" is relative. I know of nowhere that bass spawn 30 feet deep, but in exceptionally clear waters, some fish may build nests in the 12- to 15-foot depths. These may be some of the biggest bronzebacks in the lake. And with water-filtering zebra mussels expanding their range, more lakes will likely become even clearer in the future. So besides fishing the 3- to 5-foot-deep shoreline zone, don't fail to check out deeper gravel-bottomed habitat.

Another prime location is downed trees, since the biggest males love to build their nests next to or underneath wood. Shoreline trees and logs are obvious hotspots, but wood that's washed well away from land and has settled to the bottom in water over 8 feet deep can also provide prime nest sites. Best of all, this deep wood is often overlooked by spring anglers.

Where nests are hard to see and the fish are widely scattered across shallow bays or flats, crankbaits are hard to beat. Lipless flat-bodied models with some red color on them are particularly productive during the beginning of the spawning period, when the smallies are the most aggressive. However, slow-sinking jigs and slider worms are often best of all, especially as the spawn progresses. To most effectively tempt less aggressive nest-guarding males, think slow, really slow. Certainly, some spawners remain so pumped up they'll chase down almost anything that's barreling by. But on many days the majority of fish are unwilling to strike a fast-moving bait.

When the water is shallow and the light is right, spawn fishing can be an exciting visual affair. You can see individual nests, sometimes even the fish themselves. However, you often won't be able to spot the actual beds, though you can see large subsurface boulders or logs. Target these likely nest sites by casting a jig or worm to both sides of the cover, letting it fall completely to the bottom. And pay close attention for a strike on the drop.

Spawners love to grab lures just before they hit bottom, especially if the bait is slow-sinking. The two types of jigs that are particularly effective for this type of fishing are 3-inch grubs and similar-sized tube jigs, both on a very light head. Figure 1/16-ounce offerings for water less than 8 feet deep and 1/8-ounce for deeper water. The action of the tail as the jig slowly falls seems to really appeal to the fish. Using the lightest line possible also improves the number of strikes generated and detected. An extra-limp and small-diameter monofilament is still my favorite line for finesse jig-fishing. If nests are in open areas, 6-pound-test is fine, while 8-pound-test is required around cover.

Another simple tactic to increase your strikes is to approach very cautiously. Spawning fish are often very skittish. And while they may not flee if your boat gets too close, they will refuse to strike. Keep at least 45 feet from potential nest sites and always keep boat and motor noises to an absolute minimum.

After two or three weeks of round-the-clock nest guarding, the fry have developed enough to disperse from the spawning site. The adults' physiology goes through major hormonal changes, telling the fish their reproductive cycle is over for the year. It also means the smallmouths become noticeably less aggressive. This recuperative mode varies in duration and intensity from lake to lake, but as a rule it lasts one to two weeks. During this transition period, fish seem to ease into feeding, so extra coaxing is required to catch them.

Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to beat the post-spawn blues. One possibility is targeting shallower dark-stained lakes. These waters warm up fast in early summer, which causes the smallie's metabolism to speed up. Fish in these lakes seem to go through the post-spawn slump quickly and start actively feeding soon after reproduction. If any stained lakes are available in your area, this is an excellent time to fish them.

Of course, most smallmouth lakes aren't heavily stained, and for these clear waters, specific post-spawn tactics are called for. First, it's essential to figure out where the fish are. The shallowest nesting areas now have few smallmouths, so don't make the common mistake of continuing to sling baits to the banks. Instead, move a little farther out from the spawning shorelines and look for cover. This may be only 50 or 100 yards from the abandoned spawning beds. An adjacent flat with large boulders and developing weed growth is a prime post-spawn location. Old sunken logs in 8 to 12 feet of water are also good targets.