Photos during spawn

[Bigbass Dez]

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

No dout there is tension with myself and fishn4notta ! I dont like the guy i wouldnt mine kick'n him in the knee cap to be honest !! Any dude from cali with red hair spells "TROUBLE" ...As a matter of fact i encourage all to to come to the pic nic this year and see the cage match go down

[BassinBomber]

As far as taking Bass off beds,..not smart,.. this happened last week in front of BF, Basstradamus and I on one of our favorite lakes and I must say we were deeply disturbed about it,..he pulled 3 Bass total off their beds and who knows where they were released,..2 were large Trophy Females and the other a Buck,..sad that this even happened with the knowledge this person has of Bassin,..the beds are vacant now and these Bass were locked on,..some people have their reasons 2 do what they do,..but this just made no sense 2 us,..CPR the Bass ASAP,..if you drive around the lake showing your Bass 2 all who want 2 see then release it 2 far from the bed chances are they won't make it back 2 their beds. I really wanted 2 voice my opinion 2 this individual but feared going 2 jail,..people have a way of blowing things out of proportion and if I had confronted him that might just have happened so needless 2 say, much 2 my dismay I remained silent,..as Basstradamus put it "Nice Bass Terrible Release"! JM2Cents!

BB

[Nik]

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.

I'm going to disagree with this as well. Bass in southern climates grow much larger because of the longer growing season. The reason they can feed and grow for longer periods is because the water doesn't drop below 40F, at which point a largemouth will basically go into hibernation with fins on the bottom. Forage isn't available to them during shorter days? So once the sun sets before 6pm all the perch disappear magically from the lake? If the water is 35F, I don't care if there's a million perch swimming right under a bass's nose, he's not going to actively feed. Yes the timing of the spawn probably coincides with forage being plentiful, but my guess is it has more to do with the fry not instantly freezing to death when they hatch, and even more to do with when the water temperature reaches a point to where the cold blooded bass's metabolism can support egg production. Bass don't need to feed during the spawn either. They're cold blooded and can go a long time between meals. A nice 10 inch perch or trout could last a bass a couple weeks no problem if it needed to, but bass are opportunistic and will eat when they're not hungry if the situation presents itself.

The only reason shorter days are significant is because they don't allow the water to warm up. Like I said, if the days were short but the water was warm, bass would spawn. If the days were long but the water was 45F, no bass would spawn. Their bodies simply don't have the metabolism to produce eggs in water that cold.

[BassDood]

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.

I'm going to disagree with this as well. Bass in southern climates grow much larger because of the longer growing season. The reason they can feed and grow for longer periods is because the water doesn't drop below 40F, at which point a largemouth will basically go into hibernation with fins on the bottom. Forage isn't available to them during shorter days? So once the sun sets before 6pm all the perch disappear magically from the lake? If the water is 35F, I don't care if there's a million perch swimming right under a bass's nose, he's not going to actively feed. Yes the timing of the spawn probably coincides with forage being plentiful, but my guess is it has more to do with the fry not instantly freezing to death when they hatch, and even more to do with when the water temperature reaches a point to where the cold blooded bass's metabolism can support egg production. Bass don't need to feed during the spawn either. They're cold blooded and can go a long time between meals. A nice 10 inch perch or trout could last a bass a couple weeks no problem if it needed to, but bass are opportunistic and will eat when they're not hungry if the situation presents itself.

The only reason shorter days are significant is because they don't allow the water to warm up. Like I said, if the days were short but the water was warm, bass would spawn. If the days were long but the water was 45F, no bass would spawn. Their bodies simply don't have the metabolism to produce eggs in water that cold.

One thing to add if I'm not mistaken about bass in southern climates...I believe most are Florida strain, hence they grow bigger. We have northern strain. They are two different species.

[G-Man]

Nik, the key is that as the days get shorter in our area, the food base for a lake cannot replenish itself and the vegetation that affords the forage critters some safety, dies off. Most of what's left of the forage fish, crayfish and other aquatic critters follow the thermocline as the waters cool, hugging the bottom for safety. For example, in lake Washington during the dead of winter, you'll find and catch perch at more than 80' down. Bass on the other hand aren't effective predators at those depths and consequently don't follow the food that deep. Now we all know bass still feed during the winter, heck you can catch them through the ice in eastern Washington. Fortunately, as the waters cool, the food intake that is necessary for survival is reduced as well, what a wonderful balance. Keep in mind that these fish are not native to our waters. For them to have flourished they way they have shows that at least some adaptation to our climate has occurred since they were introduced 120+ years ago.

[Nik]

Nik, the key is that as the days get shorter in our area, the food base for a lake cannot replenish itself and the vegetation that affords the forage critters some safety, dies off. Most of what's left of the forage fish, crayfish and other aquatic critters follow the thermocline as the waters cool, hugging the bottom for safety. For example, in lake Washington during the dead of winter, you'll find and catch perch at more than 80' down. Bass on the other hand aren't effective predators at those depths and consequently don't follow the food that deep. Now we all know bass still feed during the winter, heck you can catch them through the ice in eastern Washington. Fortunately, as the waters cool, the food intake that is necessary for survival is reduced as well, what a wonderful balance. Keep in mind that these fish are not native to our waters. For them to have flourished they way they have shows that at least some adaptation to our climate has occurred since they were introduced 120+ years ago.

You're contradicting yourself. So bass still feed in the winter, yet they don't follow the forage? So the other warmwater fish all hug the bottom, but bass go where again? Just suspend in 10 feet of water waiting for the ice fishermen so they can eat? Bass absolutely can be effective predators at 80 feet and some of the Cali guys or great lakes guys on here could probably attest to catching them down there. Obviously shorter days and colder water correlate so you can make a case for either one. Aquatic vegetation starts dying off in late summer/early fall though, when the days are almost exactly the same length as they are in late spring/early summer when they are at their fastest growth rate. We can also cite as examples some of the lakes around here that have very little to no aquatic vegetation such as Rock Lake, yet still sustain very healthy bass populations, so bass are certainly not slaves to the life cycle of aquatic plants. Bottom line is I still don't understand how you can say that temperature is less important to a cold blooded aquatic creature than length of day. Until I see a bass in Alaska spawning in 40F water during a 20 hour day, it's going to be hard to convince me of that. Not saying I'm 100% right, just 100% stubborn.

[Amx]

Bass have been caught in 100 plus depths in a couple Calif. Nevada, and that area lakes like Powell and such, I forget the other lake's name that people fish that deep in. Shasta maybe. Here is a report of Smallmouth being caught 120 foot deep.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bass ... smallmouth

[Bigbass Dez]

HEY SHADOW CASTER , I BET YOU DIDNT THINK YOUR THREAD WOULD TURN INTO A SPAWNING DEBATE HUH ? sorry bro !!

Light and water temp both play a role in the spawn no dout , All im saying here is that i will "always" base bass moving up on there by lenght of daylight not the water temps ...
If i based it soley on water temps i would not have even started looking for beds untill a week a half ago ! But instead i have been yanking on beding bass for over a month now so go figure , fish dont lie or do they !!:-k

taste great or less filling ~ what side are you on ...lol

[Amx]

I think bass were thinking of bedding back when the sun stayed out with no rain or clouds for a week in Feb.

[Dustin07]

I've only been bass fishing for a year. But I've been an aquarist for a decade. I've kept and bred some usual and unusual species (like seahorses) and I can say that breeding cycles with the fish I've worked with were often based upon length of day. In fact, to encourage breeding, some will go as far as to change the pattern on the automatic lights for the aquarium to match the correct point of the year that the species breeds.

additionallly, those fish kep in an aquarium are kept at the same water temperature year round.


I know it's not bass but just an out of the box perspective at other fish and breeding cycles.

[FishTank]

Bass have been caught in 100 plus depths in a couple Calif. Nevada, and that area lakes like Powell and such, I forget the other lake's name that people fish that deep in. Shasta maybe. Here is a report of Smallmouth being caught 120 foot deep.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bass ... smallmouth

Those are exceptions to the rule, not the rule of thumb. I bother to mention it because my dad and I were recently talking about it, and those are like the only lakes where you'll ever find bass that deep...

[FishTank]

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.

I'm going to disagree with this as well. Bass in southern climates grow much larger because of the longer growing season. The reason they can feed and grow for longer periods is because the water doesn't drop below 40F, at which point a largemouth will basically go into hibernation with fins on the bottom. Forage isn't available to them during shorter days? So once the sun sets before 6pm all the perch disappear magically from the lake? If the water is 35F, I don't care if there's a million perch swimming right under a bass's nose, he's not going to actively feed. Yes the timing of the spawn probably coincides with forage being plentiful, but my guess is it has more to do with the fry not instantly freezing to death when they hatch, and even more to do with when the water temperature reaches a point to where the cold blooded bass's metabolism can support egg production. Bass don't need to feed during the spawn either. They're cold blooded and can go a long time between meals. A nice 10 inch perch or trout could last a bass a couple weeks no problem if it needed to, but bass are opportunistic and will eat when they're not hungry if the situation presents itself.

The only reason shorter days are significant is because they don't allow the water to warm up. Like I said, if the days were short but the water was warm, bass would spawn. If the days were long but the water was 45F, no bass would spawn. Their bodies simply don't have the metabolism to produce eggs in water that cold.

One thing to add if I'm not mistaken about bass in southern climates...I believe most are Florida strain, hence they grow bigger. We have northern strain. They are two different species.

This seems to be a true statement. Even in some of the northern southern states like Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina... the bass are not the Florida strain. That strain of fish are constantly hungry and grow year round.

The bass we have up here seem to be not-so-different from the ones in most other states. The exception we have here is not enough forage and a lengthy hibernation period.

[Shadow Caster]

HEY SHADOW CASTER , I BET YOU DIDNT THINK YOUR THREAD WOULD TURN INTO A SPAWNING DEBATE HUH ? sorry bro !!

Light and water temp both play a role in the spawn no dout , All im saying here is that i will "always" base bass moving up on there by lenght of daylight not the water temps ...
If i based it soley on water temps i would not have even started looking for beds untill a week a half ago ! But instead i have been yanking on beding bass for over a month now so go figure , fish dont lie or do they !!:-k

taste great or less filling ~ what side are you on ...lol

I'm just happy to have spurred on such a healthy debate. It has been quite entertaining to watch the back and forth, now I'm going out to go fishing!!

[Phill Smart]

YAWN

[Nik]

HEY SHADOW CASTER , I BET YOU DIDNT THINK YOUR THREAD WOULD TURN INTO A SPAWNING DEBATE HUH ? sorry bro !!

Light and water temp both play a role in the spawn no dout , All im saying here is that i will "always" base bass moving up on there by lenght of daylight not the water temps ...
If i based it soley on water temps i would not have even started looking for beds untill a week a half ago ! But instead i have been yanking on beding bass for over a month now so go figure , fish dont lie or do they !!:-k

taste great or less filling ~ what side are you on ...lol

Went to Pend 'Oreille on Sunday. I was there 2 years ago on the exact same weekend, the weekend before Memorial Day. That day, water temps in the sloughs were approaching 70F and spawning bass were everywhere, dozens of beds in every slough. This year, water temps in the sloughs ranged from high 40s to high 50s, only one slough was over 60F and that one was only 61F. We didn't see a single bed or cruising bass. The day length was within minutes of the day 2 years ago. Besides the temperature difference, the water level was at least 6 feet lower this time as well, so that most likely factored in as well.

i guess my final point is let's not pigeon hole bass into basing their spawn on one sole factor. They spawn when it is best for them, depending on sunlight, forage availability, water temperature, and even water level. If you go out thinking you're going to be sight fishing spawners all day based on only one of those factors, prepare to be disappointed.

[Bigbass Dez]

HEY SHADOW CASTER , I BET YOU DIDNT THINK YOUR THREAD WOULD TURN INTO A SPAWNING DEBATE HUH ? sorry bro !!

Light and water temp both play a role in the spawn no dout , All im saying here is that i will "always" base bass moving up on there by lenght of daylight not the water temps ...
If i based it soley on water temps i would not have even started looking for beds untill a week a half ago ! But instead i have been yanking on beding bass for over a month now so go figure , fish dont lie or do they !!:-k

taste great or less filling ~ what side are you on ...lol

Went to Pend 'Oreille on Sunday. I was there 2 years ago on the exact same weekend, the weekend before Memorial Day. That day, water temps in the sloughs were approaching 70F and spawning bass were everywhere, dozens of beds in every slough. This year, water temps in the sloughs ranged from high 40s to high 50s, only one slough was over 60F and that one was only 61F. We didn't see a single bed or cruising bass. The day length was within minutes of the day 2 years ago. Besides the temperature difference, the water level was at least 6 feet lower this time as well, so that most likely factored in as well.

i guess my final point is let's not pigeon hole bass into basing their spawn on one sole factor. They spawn when it is best for them, depending on sunlight, forage availability, water temperature, and even water level. If you go out thinking you're going to be sight fishing spawners all day based on only one of those factors, prepare to be disappointed.

I went sight fishing on stevens this past sunday , Got good fish off beds and even came across a few LMB ! the guy i fished with caught his very first bedding fish and he was like a kid in the candy store , Its really cool to watch a angler do soemthing new for the first time (THE FUN FACTOR) ... All fish were put back on the beds and tucked in for a good nights rest !!

In regards to your comparison of lakes ~ I would first point out that a 6 feet drop is BIG factor ! Did you check to see if those bass made beds in deeper water ? bass will bed in 15-16ft of water if need be , they proberly were right under you and you didnt know it because you cant see them .. Im pretty confident in my theory on day length but thats not the the only factor that i use in determining if fish are on beds but IMO its one the top factors for sure .. :cyclopsan

[gpc]

Ok I am not a big bass fishermen, but 2 Fridays ago I found myself on Trout lake trying for some bass. The temp was 70-71 and the surface temp was 70-74. We did some sight fishing and my buddy pulled a 2lber off a bed CPR of coarse. But we also noticed 2 different age groups of bass fry. They were pretty close to the same age, but one set was bigger than the other. What does this mean? I am not trying to stir the pot, just a bass rookie looking for some answers.

[nickbell]

Well, i havent caught a bass at all, and i am struggling to catch my first one. I go out every saturday and sunday, fishing at places like american lake, ward (pierce county) waughop, spanaway lake, with things like senkos, tubes, spinnerbaits, jigs, swimbaits, even live nightcrawlers, but not even one bite. I cant get a single bass to bite right now, and i know its probably because of the spawn.

[spindog]

Well, i havent caught a bass at all, and i am struggling to catch my first one. I go out every saturday and sunday, fishing at places like american lake, ward (pierce county) waughop, spanaway lake, with things like senkos, tubes, spinnerbaits, jigs, swimbaits, even live nightcrawlers, but not even one bite. I cant get a single bass to bite right now, and i know its probably because of the spawn.

What areas on these lakes are you targeting?

[nickbell]