When do bass start to spawn??

[TJQ]

Ive read a few articles about fishing for pre-spawn bass....

 

When do they typically start to spawn?? anyone know??

[Whopper]

Mute point...After your last post you won't be around anyways

 

Whopper

[misfish]

Old timers use to say that bass spawn when dogwoods bloom in the spring. This actually isn't far from the truth. Bass will begin spawning in late February or March in the South. Spawning activity takes place later in the North.

 

Older fish usually spawn first and spawning usually occurs first on the north end of a body of water, which warms up first. Females can have up to 13,000 eggs per pound of female, with older fish having fewer on a per pound basis. The first spawns from a female are the largest. After a female spawns, she will move off or be run off by the male. A few days later, immature eggs left in the ovary will ripen, and the female will find another male to spawn with. The first male is usually too busy caring for the eggs or fry to spawn for a while.

 

 

Last year on Simcoe the spawn was late.

[Bernie]

Hi TJ. Every year at my dads place there is a smallmouth"nest" between the piers. Depends a little on water temp but they usually start to hang around late April and stay to protect the nest through into June.

 

BTW. You are in big doodoo

[misfish]

Small mouth

 

Spawning and Hatching: Reproduction of smailmouth bass is limited by the availability of gravel beds, and is not established successfully in slow-moving streams having a muddy bottom. Nest building takes place in water up to ten feet in depth. When a sustained water temperature of approximately 59'F. is reached, the male bass prepares the nest by fanning the bottom vigorously with his tail and by rooting out coarse materials in the nest with his nose. Silt and sand are displaced and carried away with the current. The finished product is saucer-shaped, two to three feet in diameter, consisting of clean, polished stones in the centre with wide crevices between them. The preparation of the nest may take a few hours to several days. If the water temperature continues to rise slightly from 60'F., the smallmouth bass is ready for spawning. The male coaxes the female into the nest, and eggs are laid and fertilized by the male in lots of 20 to 50 at a time, until all have been deposited. The eggs settle to the bottom of the nest and adhere to the clean stones. The eggs are tiny; it takes 10 or 12 placed side by side to measure an inch. A female bass, ten inches long, may produce 2,000 eggs; one 18 inches long may produce 10,000 eggs. After spawning, the female leaves the nest and the male remains on guard. He is a most devoted parent, driving away intruders and fanning the eggs with a gentle movement of the fins to prevent silt from settling and to provide a supply of oxygen by creating a current over the eggs. The incubation period is three or four days at 70'F. and 10 to 12 days at 55'F. Tester investigated the spawning habits of the smallmouth bass in Georgian Bay and Lake Nipissing and found that, at a temperature varying from 54'F. to 73.5'F., with an average of 62.0"F., bass fry rose from their nests 12 days after hatching. Bass-embryos, at a stage just before hatching, were killed by the temperature of the water rising as high as 73.5'F. It has also been found that, if a cold snap occurs after the eggs are laid, the male deserts the nest and the eggs become fungused. In the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River area, there is considerable variation in the spawning time. In tributary streams and in some warmer bays of the St. Lawrence River, spawning may take place in late May and early June, while in the colder waters of Lake Ontario, spawning occurs in June and July. Stone, Pasko and Roecker explained that, in these areas, bass populations are not homogeneous but are composed of a number of local populations. After hatching, the fry soon use up the food stored in the yolk sac. At this stage, they are about an inch long and jet black in colour. They leave the nest and travel in schools under the protection of the male until they are several weeks old. After the male ceases to guard, the fry scatter in all directions. Temperature is a major factor in the successful reproduction of bass in May and June. According to Fry and Watt the strength of the year class is correlated directly with the accumulated temperature experience of the fish in their first summer. This is particularly important in Ontario where the bass are approaching the northern limit of their range.

Edited March 29, 2007 by misfish

[misfish]

Largemouth

 

In early May or when the temperature of the water is about 60'F., the male builds the nest, a circular depression, six inches deep and two to four feet wide, in more or less sheltered areas on sand, gravel, clay or mud bottom, or on the roots of vegetation, in water up to three feet in depth. The spawning act is similar to that already described for the smallmouth bass. Eggs are extruded by the female and milt by the male simultaneously, thus effecting fertilization of the eggs. A female largemouth bass may lay 2,000 to 25,000 eggs. After fertilization of the eggs, the female leaves the nest, and the male remains on guard, driving away intruders and constantly fanning the nest with his fins. Hatching time depends upon the temperature of the water but it averages five to ten days. The male largemouth accompanies the school of fry until the fry reach a length of one inch or more. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are sensitive to environmental conditions at spawning time. A sudden lowering of temperature may interfere with egg laying; the male may desert the nest, and the deposited eggs may be destroyed by enemies or they may become fungused. Sudden temperature changes may cause the female to become egg-bound and to die as a result. Parasitism is also known to interfere with the proper functioning of the ovaries.

[topraider]

I recall coming across nesting bass well into August, in a lake just north of Ottawa.

 

The year was 1992, that was the year of the volcanic eruption, and the lost summer

 

That year class was entirely lost.

 

Normally, they nest there in late May.

[Terry]

when the water column is 62/64 deg F the bass spawn and it must stay that temp during the making of the bed... finding a mate and doing the deed.. if the water temp drops below that temp..they go deep and start over the next time the water reaches 62.........high winds and cold fronts can put a halt to the spawn, in Southern Ontario it is a rather small window of opportunity for them to spawn successfully and on many years many bass do not spawn because of those factors

 

and in April and May in Ontario when everywhere you fish for pike you find active bass ,they are in feeding not spawning as many think

Edited March 29, 2007 by Terry

[misfish]

What I posted I didnt write,it is just from my library of info on bass.

I have alot of this stuff I have been reading up on.

 

Im sure you all knew that though.LOL

[Terry]

I figured it was a cut and paste neither you or I could type that many words with a few spelling mistakes....LOL

[Guest mistyriver1]

I don't know about the Bass, but you're spawning days are on hold for a while

[FinS]

hey TJ if you are up and around matachewan on may 24 weekend

the bass fishing can be good on the montreal river

up there they start around beginning may-early june just check your regs

but i think bass is open all year there GL

[TJQ]

The reason Im asking... is that im going to set up camp next weekend... apparently i've been told to leave my home .....

 

Ill read those articles .. and keep an eye on the water temperature...

[misfish]

The reason Im asking... is that im going to set up camp next weekend... apparently i've been told to leave my home .....

 

Ill read those articles .. and keep an eye on the water temperature...

 

Thank gawd you responed,thought maybe ya got the pan to the back of the head.

[TJQ]

I haven't gone in the house yet.. i got home and went straight to the office...

[bucktail]

Terry is dead on the money. When guys are catching lots of bass in early to mid may its there prespawn feeding binge.

Just wished the fed like that later!!!

[snag]

Try after an expensive dinner and show.

[danc]

"When do bass start to spawn??"

 

When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars...

[Pochucker]

Fishing for pre-spawn smallies is not done by many fisherman, most too busy chasing other species. I fish NYC Reservoir system up in the Catskill Mtns (trout country)which has some of the best smallie fishing in the world. They start cruising the shallow inlets with muddy bottoms on sunny days shortly after ice out. Small Husky - Jerks are deadly ! Will be heading out Sunday as a matter of fact. Hopefully Ice is off.

[Spiel]

....With your angling skills TJ I wouldn't be to concerned about the spawn. On the other hand try to keep Monique, Avery and Jaden away from them.

[TJQ]

....With your angling skills TJ I wouldn't be to concerned about the spawn. On the other hand try to keep Monique, Avery and Jaden away from them.

 

 

 

DOH!!!