Spring is arriving several weeks earlier this year and the warm weather should trigger the bass into their annual spawning cycle. Normally at Clear Lake the bass start to spawn during the last part of March and the spawn continues into mid-July or even later, but this year fishermen report they are seeing bass already staging near the spawning areas.
When bass move to the shallow water to spawn many fishermen switch to a technique called “sight fishing.” This means they spot a bass on the spawning bed and then tease it into striking a lure. It is one of the most controversial forms of fishing. In fact, all fishing for bass is outlawed during the spawning season in most Eastern states. Even biologists can’t agree on if catching a bass off the spawning bed is detrimental to the species. Some say it has no effect and others say it can have a dramatic impact. The one thing both sides in this argument agree on is that it’s a deadly method of catching trophy bass.
For those who aren’t familiar with sight fishing, most fishermen use plastic lures like a tube bait, grub or a lizard. The lure is cast repeatedly to the nest and, at times, will even bump the fish. The lure being in close proximity to the bed often drives the bass into a frenzy and it will strike at it. The bass isn’t trying to eat the lure, he is only trying to remove it from the nest.
When the water temperature rises to 60 degrees or higher, largemouth bass move into the shallow water to begin their annual spawning ritual. The males move in first and select a sand or gravel area sheltered from the wind and waves. He fans an area of about 15-20 inches in diameter to clean the area of debris and silt. This is the area the male will guard against all intruders.
As the water temperature rises to 63 degrees the larger females start 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 where she will deposit between 2,000 and 40,000 eggs. Most nests contain the eggs of several females.
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 18-21 days. During this time the male is constantly on alert for predators such as bluegill, carp or other bottom-feeding fish and will viciously attack anything coming near the nest. The female also will attack anything coming 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.
Fishermen capitalize on this aggressiveness and tease these fish into striking a lure. In fact, many fishermen consider themselves experts at sight fishing. The big question is if catching these harms the fishery. Most fishery biologists say that while many fishermen have a disdain for catching bedded bass, there is no evidence it has any major impact on the fishery.
Department of Fish and Wildlife (DWF) studies have used DNA to track genes in fish and they have shown only a small number of spawning fish are required to populate any given lake.
Fishermen have been catching bass during the spawning months in California for more than 50 years and there hasn’t been any indication the fishery has declined because of bed fishing. The same applies to tournaments being held during the spawning season. According to the biologists, the few hundred bass taken off the nests during a tournament is insignificant compared to the total number of bass spawning in a lake. They say it doesn’t really matter biologically if the bass is caught off the bed by a sight fisherman or by an angler who randomly casts in the area where bass are spawning. The fish still ends up in the livewell or is released.
It is known that if a large female full of eggs is caught and placed in a livewell she will probably abort her eggs because of the stress of being handled. The same applies to a male taken from the nest and transported to the weigh-in site. The chances are remote he will return to the nest. But with thousands of bass spawning, the few that are lost are insignificant to the overall bass population.
Actually I enjoy just cruising through the shallows with my trolling motor and observing spawning bass without fishing for them. It’s all part of the mystery of nature.
