The Spawn is Upon us: When?

Spring is approaching and life is making its move to renew and replenish. This applies to so many things here in the mountain fed valleys of Utah. The snow is melting and the water is high, which can mean a prolific spawn for the white bass of Utah Lake. If you have never experienced this grand anglers event, if you have never caught a fish, if you would like to catch fish after fish until you are tired, then the time approaches near for this great Ichthyological experience. 

 Before your bale gets slammed to the catch point and your about to have a pescatarians dream, let us take a small look at what it is we are anticipating. Yes, I said small. If you are looking for the revenge of captain Ahab then maybe the white bass spawn is not for you. The record white bass in utah is a whopping 4.2 lbs. Now that is a nice fish for anyone. However, what you will mostly experience during the spawn are usually a much smaller fish. These golden eyed relatives of the larger striped bass are surprisingly a decent fighter pound for pound and are still very enjoyable to catch.

Much like salmon, the white bass have a tendency to return to the spawning place that brought them life. So, if you know of the place were lots of these are caught during a spawn then it is likely that they will return over and over again provided those particular fish survived whatever else they encounter in the Utah Lake struggle of life. May they return ever so much bigger.

White bass can be caught year round. However, the best time is during the May spawn because at that time they are headed back to their origins. So here are some of the places where they spawn:

• The Knolls
• Utah Lake State Park (Provo Harbor)
• Jordan River Outflow and Pump house
• Lincoln Beach
• Benjamin Slough
• American Fork Boat Harbor
• American Fork River
• Lindon Boat Harbor
• Lincoln Point and L- shaped harbor and springs
• Saratoga Springs Marina
• Hobble Creek (On good water years)
• Jordan River through Utah and Salt Lake County
• Bird Island
• Spanish Fork River
• Battle Creek

Fish don't really keep a calendar and they do not worry about being late for work. They don't know when May has arrived. Rather, spawn triggering is based off of environmental surroundings. I am going to make two suggestions as to what could trigger a white bass spawn. There is the easy answer that most people go with and that is water temperature. The magic number is 62. 62 degrees fahrenheit for all fish that carry a thermometer in there pocket. Just kidding. However, I am trying to get you to think like a fish. The other is saline content. Utah lake has a high saline content because of the high evaporation taking place do to the shallowness of the lake. In the spring snow is melting and water is carried through the rocks and rills and into streams, rivers and estuaries of Utah lake. This will typically water down the saline content especially near Utah Lake inlets. Fish that were hatched near inlets will typically make their proverbial trek to mecca before other fish. You may catch an earlier spawn near inlets. Try when the water temperature is about 58 degrees. 

There it is. The best fishing tip of 2020. Go get um! and enjoy.

(click and watch)

Gold in Utah Lake (click)

Hobble Creek (click)