Photos during spawn

[Nik]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

[Big Smooth]

Great Topic! I've always wondered what the best was, and always believing the fish would find there way home..... Now I have a new frame of mind.. You've reached one uninformed person, Thank you.


Perfect timing for my friendly contest between friends this weekend

BS

[Bigbass Dez]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

[Trent Hale]

This is spring and all the game and fish know this right? So if the deer,birds,dogs cats breed in the spring so there offspring can grow enough to make it through the winter. Fish know the same thing GOD made it that way. For those who don't belive in God why are we not super humans by now?

[FishTank]

Uhhh, the spawn is based on water temps and has nothing to do with sunlight. If the water is too hot or too cold she wont drop her eggs. Nothing to do with daylight. If a bass does drop her eggs and an extreme cold or hot spell comes through soon after, the eggs and or newly hatched fry will not survive. The bass could be completely blind and know when to spawn. Most bass will spawn, once spring temps are ideal (for that fish), in the first full or new moon phase in the night time anyways.
Either way, typical daylight length corresponds with warmer days anyways. I sure would like to hear more or see your reasoning for thinking/saying this LittlebassDez. Feed me.
And Cali bass spawn way before here. So how does your info back that up when the days are shorter earlier in the year. And can spawn a couple times too later in the year when the water temps come down from being to hot.

As far as the topic of this thread, always release the bass back on or around their bed asap. Male or Female. If the male is caught and taken away the female will not drop her eggs and go stale. If the female is taken away and later released somewhere else, not only will she not find her way back to her nest in time, she most likely will loose all her eggs due to stress in a livewell anyways. Bass are pretty amazing when it comes to courtship and once they find a mate and nest they will not deviate from it or each other.



fishnislife

I have to agree. The bass at the pond are almost completly done spawning. No fish on beds even the males are deep. Its not the long days, well partially it is, but only because there's less time for the water to cool at night. If it was only the long days that made them spawn then big lakes and small ponds would spawn at the same time. For the record I think smallies pay more attention to longer days than lm. Lm go by night water temps and moon phases.

Doubly agree and like both of these posts.

It really seems that it varies from one lake/river to another.

To Trent: Wow... I don't know that anyone should attempt to answer your question. I agree about how well adapted wildlife are. I've even had a hunch that bass around here may spawn in slightly cooler waters than their southern counterparts in part because of the way things work up here. If it were water temperatures alone, then some lakes in E Washington would decidedly have a major advantage over other E Washington lakes... due to warming much more quickly and remaining warmer into the fall. And they may. Just haven't seen that to be the case, really.

As for the topic: When possible, I would think it's best to try to release the bass right where you caught them. In a tournament this could be more complicated, obviously.

Otherwise, how would you like it if something abducted you and left you lying miles from your home??

That's what I thought. Do unto the bass as you would have aliens do unto you.

[Bigbass Dez]

Im happy to see fishlessforlife has entered the great debate ...So i have a question for ALL of you that are so positive that bass spawn based on water temps soley .. If your so-called theory is correct , then it would be impossible for a angler to catch a LMB on a bed in 52degree water right ? But wait a minute let me also point out that the bass that was caught during this time was missing half of her red tail .. was this a fluke ? At first i was mainly talking about smallmouth , but now that i got a few you you interested lets get it alllll on table .. Sounds like a few have been reading bassmasters and watching FLW too much instead of being on water and finding out the facts for yourself (smack) haha

Water temps only becomes a factor for egg survival , not a bass being on a bed attempting to spawn out !!!

Its been a while since we have a had a good debate in the bass forum

[Amx]

Both water temp and amount of sunlight.

Why? Simple.

The sunlight wakes up the fish, more light going further down the water column as the sun rises farther above the horizon as spring and summer gets here. Water temps go up because of warm rain, warmer water runoff into streams, then into the lakes and rivers. And so the warmer water will make the fish more moble and wake up even more. But the sun is still at a sorta shallow angle so won't heat up the water as fast as it will in another month or even 2 months, which is why a ripple or waves on a lake isn't the best thing to have happen in the early spring as it won't let the sunlight travel deeper to 'wake up' the fish, which now is where the warm water rain and runoff comes in. Also the amount of sunlight effects the fishes eye, and so the fish can tell that spring is coming. Best of both worlds. Temp and sunlight

The sunlight warms the bottom and structure under water and that structure holds the warmth and the fish 'migrate' to the warm spots, like rocks, cement walls, wood, etc. The structure that sticks up in the air heats up from the sun, that heat travels down the structure under water and heats up the water around such things as posts, docks, cement walls, etc. A little bit anyway, but a little bit can make a lot of difference sometimes in how a bass positions himself.

The sunlight also warms the individual fish and solid objects heat up faster than water under 'medium' sunlight this time of year. When the sun is higher in the sky EVERYTHING heats up faster.

[BassDood]

I have to agree with Dez and Tom. I can't see how spawn is based on temp alone. If that's the case, how do you explain fry in 58-60 degree water? My opinion is that it's natures way of making sure the species survives. Fish will spawn when THEY need to. Like most things..there are no absolutes. BTW...on topic...pic and release asap

[tnj8222]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

of coarse spawning fish were caught it was may!!! only the top spawning month lol. def not only water temps. but thats the majority of it, will a bass spawn in 52 degree water??? sure. but not the majority of them will. just like there will be spawners in june and july possibly even august. chances are the early spawner is a pig aswell. if you were refering to me being the one watching flw and getting my tips from bassmaster or whatever and not from my own experiance your tripping. the only person that has flw on there mind is you, to bad its in your dreams. i can see it now setting hook on a 10 ponder on a bed in 52 degree water while on a flw tour giving all of us tips. waking up grumpy cause wifey elbowed you and its over lol. just kidding bro dont take it to heart its all in good fun. seriously i have enjoyes your tips over the years and you have helped me grow as a bass fisherman alot.

[Blackmouth]

This is spring and all the game and fish know this right? So if the deer,birds,dogs cats breed in the spring so there offspring can grow enough to make it through the winter. Fish know the same thing GOD made it that way. For those who don't belive in God why are we not super humans by now?

I think science and evolution mad it that way bro

On topic though, I forgoe fishing around the spawning time. I'm no fan of ripping fish off their beds. I'd far rather let them do their deal and make more bass for us to catch than try and spot fish for the biggest female I can see. Not much fun in that for me, but I'm no advanced basser nor do I fish in tourneys or anything.

If your gonna take a picture, do so quickly and release Mr/Mrs Bass back to the water asap.

[Nik]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

Fair enough. Over here I see drastic changes from year to year based on how warm of a spring we have. I'm sure bass do have that internal clock that says "dude, you have to spawn NOW or your kids ain't making it through next winter", but there's also that internal thermometer that says "dude, i know you usually spawn right about now but it is WAY too cold for that so chill out for a bit". Some summers I see millions of fry in June and some I see very few, in the same spots. Lake Washington is a big lake that never comes close to freezing, I would be willing to bet that pretty much every year on May 15 the water temps are "in range" for spawning. I'm not saying that it has to be exactly 62F or anything, and yeah there's always those crazy bass that spawn in 52F water or whatever, but the vast majority are spawning when water temps get into a certain range, which is related to the longer days but not dependent on it.

I believe that if the sun moved a touch closer and we had a spring where it was 80F the whole month of march, you would have bass spawning in March. If the days suddenly got longer and it got dark at 9pm in March but the water was still 40F, I highly doubt we'd have many spawners.

[FishTank]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

Fair enough. Over here I see drastic changes from year to year based on how warm of a spring we have. I'm sure bass do have that internal clock that says "dude, you have to spawn NOW or your kids ain't making it through next winter", but there's also that internal thermometer that says "dude, i know you usually spawn right about now but it is WAY too cold for that so chill out for a bit". Some summers I see millions of fry in June and some I see very few, in the same spots. Lake Washington is a big lake that never comes close to freezing, I would be willing to bet that pretty much every year on May 15 the water temps are "in range" for spawning. I'm not saying that it has to be exactly 62F or anything, and yeah there's always those crazy bass that spawn in 52F water or whatever, but the vast majority are spawning when water temps get into a certain range, which is related to the longer days but not dependent on it.

I believe that if the sun moved a touch closer and we had a spring where it was 80F the whole month of march, you would have bass spawning in March. If the days suddenly got longer and it got dark at 9pm in March but the water was still 40F, I highly doubt we'd have many spawners.

I agree with this too. I was sort of alluding to the wildly varying conditions out here. Temperature definitely does impact the spawn. But bass will attempt to spawn if conditions aren't ideal.

Nice to see a fellow Spokane person on here!

[Bigbass Dez]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

of coarse spawning fish were caught it was may!!! only the top spawning month lol. def not only water temps. but thats the majority of it, will a bass spawn in 52 degree water??? sure. but not the majority of them will. just like there will be spawners in june and july possibly even august. chances are the early spawner is a pig aswell. if you were refering to me being the one watching flw and getting my tips from bassmaster or whatever and not from my own experiance your tripping. the only person that has flw on there mind is you, to bad its in your dreams. i can see it now setting hook on a 10 ponder on a bed in 52 degree water while on a flw tour giving all of us tips. waking up grumpy cause wifey elbowed you and its over lol. just kidding bro dont take it to heart its all in good fun. seriously i have enjoyes your tips over the years and you have helped me grow as a bass fisherman alot.

Thats funny Tn , I was tring to get a rise out of fishn4life with the Flw comment ... BTW that fish i was talking about was caught in march not may ..

[Bigbass Dez]

If bass spawned by length of day, wouldn't they spawn at the exact same time every single year, which i sure as hell know they don't?

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

Fair enough. Over here I see drastic changes from year to year based on how warm of a spring we have. I'm sure bass do have that internal clock that says "dude, you have to spawn NOW or your kids ain't making it through next winter", but there's also that internal thermometer that says "dude, i know you usually spawn right about now but it is WAY too cold for that so chill out for a bit". Some summers I see millions of fry in June and some I see very few, in the same spots. Lake Washington is a big lake that never comes close to freezing, I would be willing to bet that pretty much every year on May 15 the water temps are "in range" for spawning. I'm not saying that it has to be exactly 62F or anything, and yeah there's always those crazy bass that spawn in 52F water or whatever, but the vast majority are spawning when water temps get into a certain range, which is related to the longer days but not dependent on it.

I believe that if the sun moved a touch closer and we had a spring where it was 80F the whole month of march, you would have bass spawning in March. If the days suddenly got longer and it got dark at 9pm in March but the water was still 40F, I highly doubt we'd have many spawners.

Kinda makes me wonder how the bass in alaska do there thing , dont they have areas of the state that dont get sunlight for like months ? haha

[Amx]

Bass in Alaska

[Bigbass Dez]

Bass in Alaska

Come on AMX , i cant have fun here if you keep on letting the cat out ..

[Amx]

Bass in Alaska

Come on AMX , i cant have fun here if you keep on letting the cat out ..

Whoops

[fishnislife]

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

of coarse spawning fish were caught it was may!!! only the top spawning month lol. def not only water temps. but thats the majority of it, will a bass spawn in 52 degree water??? sure. but not the majority of them will. just like there will be spawners in june and july possibly even august. chances are the early spawner is a pig aswell. if you were refering to me being the one watching flw and getting my tips from bassmaster or whatever and not from my own experiance your tripping. the only person that has flw on there mind is you, to bad its in your dreams. i can see it now setting hook on a 10 ponder on a bed in 52 degree water while on a flw tour giving all of us tips. waking up grumpy cause wifey elbowed you and its over lol. just kidding bro dont take it to heart its all in good fun. seriously i have enjoyes your tips over the years and you have helped me grow as a bass fisherman alot.

Thats funny Tn , I was tring to get a rise out of fishn4life with the Flw comment ... BTW that fish i was talking about was caught in march not may ..

Are you sure your the one who was "catching" spawning bass. You mentioned we but all I remember you ever catching was trout. Don't try and lump yourself in with those guys who can really fish just because you showed up.




fishnislife

[G-Man]

Warning! Hijacked thread!

I'd been watching this thread for a bit now and wanted to interject a few facts into the mix. In northern climates the length of daylight has a far greater influence than water temperature on fish reproduction. Ask yourself this question, why are bass in southern climates typically bigger than their northern counterparts? Answer, bass down south feed and grow almost year round. The reason they can feed and grow for longer periods is due to forage availability. Forage availability, in almost every habitat, is dependent upon sunlight. The more sunlight you have the more phytoplankton is produced which is the base food source for nearly every body of water. Come early spring you will see changes in the waters you fish. Algae will bloom regardless of the water temperature and this is what kicks off the "new season". Water temps effect fish in one very important way, their metabolism is directly controlled by it. As water temps increase, the more food and oxygen the fish will need and this what fishermen typically key in on, the spring feeding frenzy. Now keep in mind that metabolism and reproduction are not directly tied to one another. Believe it or not, a fish that guards its eggs, like a bass does, benefits from spawning in cooler water as the amount of energy it expends at this time is reduced significantly. Minimizing the need to feed greatly increases the survival rate of both the adults and the fry. I'm certain that the spawn is timed so that once the fry hatch, their main food source will be plentiful, which is dictated by, lets hear it folks...the amount of sunlight.

Keep in mind that with a few exceptions, species do not tend to all spawn at exactly the same time. That would be like putting all of your eggs in one basket. Early and late spawners are what help ensure that the species does not get wiped out due to unforeseen events or conditions.

Now back to the original topic - If you are the C&R type, I don't grasp the concept of running around with a livewell full of fish, the exception would be if your are in a tournament. Get your weight, length, picture, whatever, and put it back in the water from where it came.

[tnj8222]

NIK ,
NWBASS in held on washington every year on may 15th , for the last three years i have fished this event we have caught spawning bass no matter what the temps are , and also keep in mind that last year for example we got snow in the mountians in june (remember) so it was cooler last year and i recall the water temps being down compared to this year .. It just my opinon based on what i have witness based on the lakes that i have fished here on the westside of state !

of coarse spawning fish were caught it was may!!! only the top spawning month lol. def not only water temps. but thats the majority of it, will a bass spawn in 52 degree water??? sure. but not the majority of them will. just like there will be spawners in june and july possibly even august. chances are the early spawner is a pig aswell. if you were refering to me being the one watching flw and getting my tips from bassmaster or whatever and not from my own experiance your tripping. the only person that has flw on there mind is you, to bad its in your dreams. i can see it now setting hook on a 10 ponder on a bed in 52 degree water while on a flw tour giving all of us tips. waking up grumpy cause wifey elbowed you and its over lol. just kidding bro dont take it to heart its all in good fun. seriously i have enjoyes your tips over the years and you have helped me grow as a bass fisherman alot.

Thats funny Tn , I was tring to get a rise out of fishn4life with the Flw comment ... BTW that fish i was talking about was caught in march not may ..

I'm pretty sure you know I was just kidding seems like there is real tension going on here though with you and fish