Fishing in AK: the Spring Spawn

 It's getting that time of the year when Interior Alaska starts to experience break-up.  As the ice melts, the fish will begin their spring spawning, and with spring spawning come all the fishing of the year.  However, why should the spring spawn matter to a fisherman?  This article will talk about some reasons why, as well as pass along some useful tips to make your Spring Fishing successful.

"But Mr. Jon, why does the Spring Spawn matter?"  

There is a lot of things going on in the water under the ice.  As the ice begins to melt, the fish begin to slowly move toward the surface, adjusting their depth to their preferred water temp inside the water column.  

Once the Spring Spawn happens, and not just for fish but for all aquatic life such as bugs, each of these species will migrate to that preferred temp.  As well all know, fish will eat their own.  A school of tiny fish is just a platter of food to a much larger fish.  At that point, the larger fish just pac-man eats up all the baby fish, commonly referred to as 'fry.'  For bugs, the term is called the 'hatch.'

Knowing that the fish do this, its good to study the fry and/or hatch.  This will tell you the general size, shape, and color of what the bigger fish are going to be feeding on as they come from the depths of these lakes.

I mentioned pac-man eating fry, and I do not jest with this statement.  I have personally witnessed a holdover trout (a stocked trout that did not get caught the previous year) scarf an entire fry of 20+ fry at Cushman Lake last year.  She was pursuing my swimbait, but then did a sharp 90 degree turn and went after the school of fry.  

The hatch of the bugs in the water are no different, expect this is a little bit more predictable than a fish when it comes to size and color.  Leeches, water snails, mosquitoes, and water nymphs are the common bugs I see around lakes and streams, and those sizes and colors are not hard to mistake.

"And what do I do with this information?"

The biggest thing you can do is MATCH THE HATCH!!!  Now that you know what size, shape, and color the hatch or fry are, you can find appropriate baits and lures.

** The three most common colors I've found are silver/shiny metal/chrome, black, and white.  

** Size matters too.  For Interior Alaska, I've found 1-3" is best.  

** Not saying you won't encounter a monster during the spring in Interior Alaska, however I tend to fish on the lighter side of terminal tackle as I'm working with smaller lures.

** If you ice fish, break up is a good "second chance" for all of your ice jugs and ice spoons before you pack them away for the summer.

"So what do you suggest then?"

Some suggestions I recommend are:

** soft plastics, namely small swimbaits (paddle or boot tail) or jigs, and match them to the appropriate size, on average being between 1-3 inches.

** aiming for the color of the hatch/fry in question.  Silver color, whites, blacks, or combination/mix of them, such as black back with a white or silver body.  

** if you don't have soft plastics available, or its simply not your thing, then use a small spoon, kastmaster, or spinner of similar size and color.  A spinner would be good for giving that thwomp from the blade and a spoon/kastmaster would give that reflection.

One final note:  watch out for ice.  This isn't a speech about ice safety.  Ice is unforgiving when it comes to hooks.  The shoreline will free up before the center will, leaving channels.  Fish like to hide under the channels to avoid predatory birds.  From personal experiences, your lure is 100% lost once the hook gets stuck in the ice.  

With all that said, I wish you all, what little readers I have, a happy Spring fishing season.