THE FLORIDA SPAWN defines the good news, bad news premise. That’s not always the most comfortable reality, but it’s reality nonetheless, and learning to embrace this truth is the linchpin to success.
For starters, the long, drawn-out process exudes a distinct lack of urgency. While much of the country, particularly northern latitudes, see rigid seasonal boundaries defining a relatively brief spawning season with very little variance, Florida fish can kind of do what suits them.
So, the upside: a considerably longer spawning season with the potential for finding bed fish just about any month of the year. This, of course, takes into consideration the state’s length, which spreads the timing across a lot of geography, along with the notoriously picky nature common to Florida-strain largemouth bass.
Noting that the Florida spawn generally starts in the late fall period and lasts, in some measure, through late spring, Scott Martin explains it this way: “In Florida, several things have to line up for the spawn to happen. One is water temperature; it needs to be 62 to 72 degrees. No. 2, you need clarity; those fish don’t like to spawn in muddy water.
“You also pay attention to the moon, but they don’t react to the moon here as much as the [conditions] lining up — meaning water clarity, water temp and not a lot of wind. When you have that, it doesn’t matter what the moon
