TAKEOFF
BASS SCIENCE
UNDERSTANDING THE SPAWN
KNOWING WHERE AND WHEN BASS SPAWN IS OFTEN THE FIRST STEP TO SPRINGTIME SUCCESS
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By TJ Maglio
ILLUSTRATIONS BY RON FINGER
rocreation is the No. 1 goal of any species, as success-
ful reproduction ensures continued existence. That’s
why the spawn is the main event of the year for bass.
The annual spawning cycle is also prime time for anglers, as
many personal bests and epic days are scored when bass are
up shallow and heeding the urge to beget more of their kind.
Regardless of where in the country the spawn takes place,
every bass fisherman can identify the telltale white saucers
that indicate bass beds. Yet a good many anglers don’t truly
understand how and why bass spawn, which can inhibit fish-
ing success.
Here are a few insights.
why beds?
Bass are members of the
sunfish family, and nest-
making is one of the func-
tions that ties all sunfishes
together. Bedding allows
bass to ensure that more of
their young are successfully
hatched.
“Bass live in a tough
neighborhood,” says Dr.
Cory Suski, associate pro-
fessor of environmental
biology at the University of
Illinois. “When a male bass
sits over a bed, it’s ensuring
that none of the local pred-
ators can get in and feast on
the eggs. By sticking around,
it’s giving the young a better
opportunity to hatch suc-
cessfully.”
In addition to protecting
the brood from predation,
male bass, which remain at
the bed after the female
leaves, also use their fins to
circulate water through the
nest, removing waste prod-
ucts providing oxygen, and
preventing siltation. All such
behaviors combined give
bass fry a leg up on other
fish that don’t provide any
parental care.
MOON PHASE
Spawning essentials
Because bass inhabit such a wide range of waters, they’ve developed the ability to spawn
successfully in an extremely wide range of locations, but there are several consistent variables.
“In general, they’re going to be looking for something with a fairly hard bottom so their
eggs don’t sink into the sediment, and out of the current so they don’t get washed away,” Suski
says. “However, in many bass waters, these types of locations are very limited, so they have to
improvise. Beggars can’t be choosers, and their urge to procreate will usually overcome lack
of suitable habitat.”
For years, anglers have been convinced that moon phase is a great indicator of spawning activity. The truth is,
across much of the bass range, there’s not much of a correlation.
“The No. 1 indicator of spawning activity for bass is photoperiod [length of day],” Suski says. “As the days get
longer, spawning activity will increase, regardless of the moon phase. Second is water temperature. Bass eggs need
a certain water temperature to mature properly, and when those two conditions get right, the bass will spawn.”
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flwfiShing.com i february-march 2017