Meaning of prespawn
The "prespawn", is a word that refers to the period of migration of black bass to their spawning areas, before reproduction. "Pre" means "before" and "spawn" means "to spawn".
Black bass breeding season
For black bass, the reproduction period is triggered when the water temperature reaches about 15 degrees. This temperature can be reached at the end of May in the North of France, as well as at the beginning of April for the small lakes of the South. When the second category opens to fishing at the end of April, black bass are particularly vulnerable as they are on their nests and protecting their eggs. This is also the case for pikeperch in some areas, which spawn in late spring.
Our regulations are designed to protect pike, with outside temperatures as they were more than 20 years ago. Global warming is pushing fish like black bass to spawn in the middle of the opening season.
Changing regulations to better protect fish
Some departments and AAPPMA in France have realized this phenomenon and have taken measures to protect this sport fish that anglers appreciate enormously. In the Var, a small lake I visited recently has a nice population of black bass and white fish. However, there are no pike, zander or catfish there and the national regulation on closing periods did not make sense.
The choice made by the AAPPMA was to shift this closing period so that it is adapted to the only species of carnivorous fish present on this body of water. The new dates, specific to this body of water, are therefore a closing on April 1st, then a reopening on June 30th. This closing period allows the black bass to reproduce correctly without being disturbed by the presence of fishermen.
Black bass fishing in prespawn
An April 1 closure also means that anglers can dip their lures after the national pike closure, to keep them busy during the winter slack period. During this period, from February to the end of March, black bass become active with increasing sunlight.
In the South of France, temperatures rise quickly and fishing in March is very pleasant with sometimes 20 degrees in the afternoon. A at this time, we can see that fish are moving closer to the edges to stock up on food and energy before a long fasting period for reproduction. Therefore, it is possible to fish for a few more weeks without disturbing the fish populations when they are most vulnerable, from April to June.
