Quote Originally Posted by stumpbumpers
Has anyone experienced shellcracker or bream spawning in deep water? I limited out over some logs in thirty feet of water. All the males were pissing and the females had thick bloodred eggsacks.
Bluegill typically spawn in 1-5' depths, redear a little deeper with the largest sunfish spawning earlier and deeper. In very clear impoundments, sunfish will build nests in deeper water, sometimes as deep as 10-12' deep if light and temperature is conducive to spawning. Depths beyond this don't typically have enough light and or temperature for fish to spawn (at least 67 degrees)

Sunfish, like bass, pre-spawn in great numbers in deep water staging areas near spawning sites waiting for proper tempertures to move shallow. Many fisherman catch these pre-spawners in deep water and assume there spawning because of egg or milt extrusion after the catch, but this is simply not the case.

For a succesful spawn, fish need light and temperature, typical of shallow water, not deep water. Dave (Fisheries Manager).