The Largemouth Bass gets ready to spawn in the spring, when the inshore water temperature reaches about 60 degrees F. Their typical spawning area is located in shallow bays, backwaters, channels and other areas protected from the prevailing winds. They usually look for areas with firm bottoms of sand, gravel, mud or rock, and usually in water from 1 - 4 feet deep. But in some cases of very clear water they will be in deeper water. Actual spawning takes place when the water temperature reaches between 63 - 58 degrees. The female will lay from 2000 to 7000 eggs per pound of her body weight. She will deposit her eggs in either one nest or can deposit them in several different nests, after which she leaves the area and returns to deeper water to recooperate. Once in the deeper water she will remain there for several weeks without eating. Once the eggs are layed, the male guards the nest (or nests) and refuses to eat until the eggs hatch. But will pick up slowly moving objects and move them off the nest. And will attack fast moving objects near the nest. Panfish are the bass fish's worst enemy during spawning. The small schools of panfish will surround the nest and when the male leaves the nest to chase off one of the panfish, the rest will swarm in and indulge on the bass eggs. An area with a very high population of panfish can hamper bass reproduction tremendously. Bass fish eggs hatch in only 2 days if the water temp is at 72 degrees, but take 5 days at 67 degrees. From 2000 to 12,000 eggs hatch from the typical nest, and of all these only 5 - 10 are likely to survive to reach 10 inches in length. The male will then guard and protect the fry until they reach about an inch in length and then abandon them.. And after this point he will also eat any fry he encounters. |
Reproduction
Bass Fishing Alabama
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