Smallmouth with eggs in them

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BJ Krestian on August 3, 2010 at 9:16am

The eggs could be re-growing for next year or these fish may have just come into reproductive age, and due to the slower growth rates/growing season they need to start producing their eggs. Remember that bass are in the same family as bluegill and sunfish. When conditions are right these fish (bluegills/sunfish especially) are multiple spawners.

Someone with more experience in fish physiology will probably have a better explanation.

Permalink Reply by Dave Massey on August 3, 2010 at 10:32am

I was wondering if they were reproducing eggs already for next year because they were very small.

Mark Chevrier said:

Sunfishes will start producing eggs again as soon as they recover from spawning. This is true with perch, blue gill, walleye, crappie, all the sunfishes.

Permalink Reply by Dropshot on August 3, 2010 at 2:35pm

I'm guessing they were just hens that finally came up to spawn. I've noticed that through the month of July, that in Chelan, there are constantly new smaller hens bedding further up the lake as the summer goes on.

Dave Massey said:

I was wondering if they were reproducing eggs already for next year because they were very small.

Mark Chevrier said:

Sunfishes will start producing eggs again as soon as they recover from spawning. This is true with perch, blue gill, walleye, crappie, all the sunfishes.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on August 4, 2010 at 8:01am

Dave, how long were the bass? To my knowledge there is no definitive answer to your question; what many do not realize is that as many as one third of a mature smallmouth bass population may not spawn in any given year. My best guess is that this is nature's way of balancing the gene pool to insure strong year classes of bass with genetic diversity.

To us bass fishermen this means that there are always actively feeding smallmouth bass even during the peak of a spawning season, providing more options.

As the others have said, when conditions are ideal spawning may occur more than once, and also eggs that can be produced can also be resorbed when conditions are not conducive.

For all the interest there is in bass fishing, it amazes me how little we do know about the species and why certain events occur. On the other hand, maybe the lack of management is the very reason bass populations are stronger in the USA (and world for that matter) than any previous time in history!

ciao,
Marc

Permalink Reply by Dave Massey on August 4, 2010 at 8:10am

Thank you for your input. The bass were between 10 and 13 inches I would say. The eggs inside the sack seemed to be very tiny. Much smaller than I recall seeing them in the past. And as I have heard in the past some bass never spawn in a given year. Does this mean that the smaller fish like this never spawn and because of this they don't drop the eggs until who knows when?

Marc Marcantonio said:

Dave, how long were the bass? To my knowledge there is no definitive answer to your question; what many do not realize is that as many as one third of a mature smallmouth bass population may not spawn in any given year. My best guess is that this is nature's way of balancing the gene pool to insure strong year classes of bass with genetic diversity.

To us bass fishermen this means that there are always actively feeding smallmouth bass even during the peak of a spawning season, providing more options.

As the others have said, when conditions are ideal spawning may occur more than once, and also eggs that can be produced can also be resorbed when conditions are not conducive.

For all the interest there is in bass fishing, it amazes me how little we do know about the species and why certain events occur. On the other hand, maybe the lack of management is the very reason bass populations are stronger in the USA (and world for that matter) than any previous time in history!

ciao,
Marc

Permalink Reply by Kevin Higgins on August 4, 2010 at 11:58am

Well, without getting too scientific I would like to point out that adult female bass always have eggs in them. The size of the eggs or (level of hydration) is determined by several factors. For example; water temperature and PH levels play a large role in water retention.

Bass do have potential to spawn multiple times in one year if the conditions are right (though this is not the norm for Washington). They also don't all spawn at exactly the same time. According to a study done by "The University of Maryland System Ref. No. [UMCEESI-CBL 92-017". The age of a female bass is a factor determining what time of the year that bass will spawn. We are talking a variance of up to a couple of months from the youngest spawning bass compared to the oldest. This study was done on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, but it is reasonable to assume that the same would be true for Lake Chelan bass. I would venture to say that this years uncharacteristic weather patterns may have contributed to a larger variance in spawning times among Lake Chelan bass than what is considered "normal".

I hope this answers your questions.

BTW, Marc Marcantonio, you have a great point.

Permalink Reply by Adam Florenzen on August 4, 2010 at 9:11pm

Bluegill are the only warmwater fish in washington that will spawn more than once a year. it takes bass the rest of the year to regenerate eggs and they will start diong this very soon after spawning. any female bass you catch right now will have eggs in it

Permalink Reply by Jon Werner on August 4, 2010 at 10:48pm

I would also like to add that I boated a 4 pound 4 oz bedding smallie yesterday. The bed was made late last week in... 68 degree water. It was a very healthy fish.

Permalink Reply by Dave Massey on August 5, 2010 at 7:03am

What lake was this on?

Jon Werner said:

I would also like to add that I boated a 4 pound 4 oz bedding smallie yesterday. The bed was made late last week in... 68 degree water. It was a very healthy fish.

Permalink Reply by Jon Werner on August 5, 2010 at 4:27pm

American!

Permalink Reply by Mark Maderos on August 5, 2010 at 5:39pm

Approxiamately 30% of smallies don't spawn every year. Why??? that's a good question. I will ask Danny Garrett the next time I see him. He's a warm water biologist for the state of WA. I read that figure somewhere and I will follow up with him. I would expect these fish were two in that category of just not spawning this year.