Spring is finally here and the recent warm weather has started the bass moving into their annual spawning cycle. Largemouth bass in Clear Lake typically start spawning by the end of March and the spawning continues well into June. Occasionally a few bass will even spawn as late as July.
Keep in mind that the largemouth bass isn”t a bass at all (it”s a member of the sunfish family). There are about 30 different species of the sunfish family, which include bass, bluegill and crappie. There are only four true species of bass in North America inhabiting freshwater streams and lakes. They are striped bass, white bass, yellow bass and white perch.
Largemouth bass begin their spawning cycle when the water temperature rises to 60 degrees or higher. They move into the shallow water to build nests and stage. The males move in first. They select a sand or gravel area that is sheltered from the wind and waves and fan an area of about 15 to 20 inches in diameter, cleaning it of debris and silt. This is the area the male guards against all intruders.
As the water temperature rises to 63 degrees, the larger females begin to stage near the nests. As the water temperature continues to rise, the bass become more active and the male will lead a female to the nest. He will rub her sides in order to stimulate her into depositing her eggs. She will deposit between 100 and 1,000 eggs in each nest. The eggs have an adhesive which allows them to stick to the bottom of the nest. The male squirts the eggs with his milt to fertilize them.
A female normally deposits her eggs in several nests and a nest can contain eggs from up to a dozen different females. It”s nature”s way of mixing the genes.
The eggs normally hatch in two to six days, depending on the water temperature. The entire process from the time the male selects a nest to when the eggs are hatched can vary from 10 to 21 days. During this time, the male is constantly on the alert for predators such as bluegill, carp or other bottom-feeding fish and will viciously attack anything that comes near the nest. The female also will attack anything that comes near the nest during the short time she is in the area.
If the male is permanently removed from the nest, the eggs are doomed. It”s often asked what happens when bass are removed from the nest during a tournament and transported to the weigh-in site and then released. When a male is removed, the nest is doomed because the male will not migrate back to his nest. If a female who isn”t ready to spawn is caught, it will probably spawn
After being released. If the female is ripe and ready to spawn, the odds are that the stress of being handled and kept in a livewell will cause her to abort her eggs. However, in comparison to the vast number of bass in the lake, the fishery biologists say the few that are caught during a tournament are insignificant in terms of the overall population of bass.
After being hatched, the young fry feed on the yolk sac of the egg. After a few days they will shift to feeding on insects and zoo plankton. During this time the male guards the school of fry. When the fry are about an inch long, they disperse. In fact, if they don”t leave, the male eats them.
Only about 1 percent of the young bass will live to become adults. That is one reason so many bass spawn at the same time.
The young bass grow to between 2-4 inches after the first year. Their size often depends on their food supply and the water temperature. Under the right conditions a largemouth bass will reach the legal 12 inches in length by the time it is approximately 3 years old.
The spawning cycle of bass can often be observed from a boat or a dock. This is especially true this year because the water is so clear. It is truly one of nature”s wonders.
