Depending on where you are located, the spawning season is either in progress or quickly approaching. As such, I spent some time browsing through the literature and thought I'd post some of the reports and what we currently know about largemouth bass spawning.
Nest Sites Used by Radio-Tagged Largemouth Bass in Orange Lake, Florida: The preferred nesting sites of Florida LMB in this study were areas of firm bottom. For nesting purposes, vegetation without firm bottom wasn't nearly as critical. In areas with heavily silted or organic bottoms, hard areas accessable to bass (in this study spatterdock rhizomes) serve as important nesting areas. In some parts of the country this would include spawning on stumps or in trees. Certain areas of a lake have preferential nesting conditions and bass will move good distances to return to these areas to nest. The timing of weed control treatments to not coincide with spawning should be considered by agencies even if the species being targeted is not directly related to the spawning activity.
Spawning Behavior of Florida Largemouth Bass in an Indoor Raceway: Most spawning occurred in the late afternoon or early evening. About 16% of the spawning took place at night, while none was observed during the morning. Researchers felt this might be related to their "immediately bright" photoperiod as opposed to a more natural sunrise. Most actual spawning activity (paired couples) took 2-3 hours to complete. Multiple spawning males always used the same nesting location, however multiple spawning females visited several nests. Females did not stick around the nest area after spawning.
Effects of Habitat Manipulation on Reproductive Success of Individual Largemouth Bass in an Ozark Reservoir: Bass prefer to nest adjacent to simple woody structure (SWS), in this case constructed supplemental logs. These structures may also increase normal nest density in a given area. Best use was accomplished when spacing of logs mimicked natural nesting distances, that distance being about 7 meters (23 feet). While artificial manipulation may increase number of nests, it will not necessarily increase year class strength.
Spawning Season and Nest Fidelity of Largemouth Bass in a Tropical Reservoir: Water level increases were the primary spawning trigger in this particular study. Distinct spawning grounds were clearly identified in this particular study, and site fidelity of individual fish returning to spawn was strong. The primary spawning areas were well protected from wave action, and located within vegetated but firm bottom areas. Multiple partial-spawns were documented. Fish tended to avoid areas with steep dropoffs and course rocky bottoms during the spawning period.
Spawning and Nursery Habitats of Largemouth Bass in the Tidal Hudson River: Bass left wintering areas when the water temperatures approached 50 degrees. Most fish travelled between 2 and 10 miles to reach spawning areas. Vegetation or protected structure in spawning areas was associated with 90% of the radio tracked bass. Again, firm bottoms and limited tidal effects were prevalent in nest areas. It appears that most newly hatched bass stay in the general nursery area of a lake foir their first year of life.
A Shocking Experience
There are lots of resources at ones disposal when it comes to getting information on various bass fishing (and bass fishery) topics. Books, magazines, videos and the Internet all usually come to mind pretty quick. One that frequently gets overlooked though is local pond and fish management seminars and demonstrations. These are usually put on by local Soil and Water Conservation Districts or similar Extension Agencies. Cost is usually nominal, if not free and chances are there will be one or two held in your county of residence sometime this year. I attended just such an event this morning put on by Sycamore Trails RC&D. It literally turned out to be a shocking experience!
If you'll browse at the flyer link just posted, you'll see topics covered at this particular event were information resources, weed ID and management and fish stocking and management. A great chance to listen to and ask questions from some of the local experts in these fields, and I walked away with a folder full of literature and information. All this for just $10 and a 20 minute drive from home. Included in this seminar was an electro-fishing demonstration (see related picture). Electro-fishing is one of the most common tools used by your state DNR personnel to assess the fish population in your local waters, and something (their reports) you should be paying attention to. The example in the link given shows a typical summary that lists lakes, rate of bass catches, keeper sized fish and big fish captured. These are all important factors to consider when hunting for big bass waters, especially anything related to either the largest bass captured or the number over a quality size, 5 pound bass being the most commonly reported threshold. As they say, you can't catch big bass if your water doesn't have big bass.
And the most shocking part of all today...I got to run the electrodes and net the fish shocked up in the demonstration!
Permalink | Comments (0)
Reblog (0) | |