Let's say I catch a bass on a bed. When I put it back, will it return to the same bed all the time? What if I catch it on a long cast down the shoreline?

 

Do bass that make a bed always use that same bed until the season is over? Do they ever change beds if they find another that's unoccupied?

 

Do... bass come back to the same area every year to spawn, will they make their bed in the same spot or close to the same spot, provided that the water depth and conditions are the same or very close?

A lot of “what ifs” in your questions.  Also different species may act differently.  Generally speaking, a bass quickly released will return to the bed depending on what stage of spawn it is in…pre, post or guarding fry.  Spawning areas are consistently reused as are some bed locations but I would doubt it’s by the same previous years occupants.  First come, first served, they then will get protective.  

Male bass will generally return to it’s bed site, females often lay eggs in multiple beds at different time periods so who knows where that bass may go.

Do bass generally return to the same spawning area, some do.

Tom

It's different for every individual fish is probably the easiest way to answer all these complicated questions.

 

Some fish are very stubborn and others are more free spirits.  Some fish learn and some fish seem to fall for the same stuff year after year.

 

I don't think there is any answer that can apply to all fish in all situations so basically - just gotta observe and feel it out one year at a time.  You might see some return - you might discover that fish use different areas depending on the conditions for the year etc.

 

Lots of possibilities and probably to some degree - everything that's possible happens somewhere with some fish.

Most bass stay in a home range as long as the area meets their biological needs so they have a strong tendency to spawn in the same area and possible the same nest.  One study found that 87% of tagged male largemouth nested within 10 meters of where they nested the previous year.   The number dropped to 27% for fish that were caught more than once during the spawn.  The study was done in a controlled setting so I would expect the actual numbers to be lower on pubic lakes but it answers the question.  Yes,  bass tend to spawn in the same area every year.

This was recently discussed by Dr Steven Bardin on the Serious Angler Podcast. He was reporting another study that examined this.

 

I may be off a bit on the exact numbers, but it was close to this:

• A fish caught and released in under 2 minutes had a 75-100% chance to return to the bed.
• A fish kept in the boat for 2-5 minutes had a 50-60% chance to return.
• A fish kept in the boat for 5-30 minutes had a 25% chance.
• A fish kept over 30 minutes had an almost 0% chance.

He did say that nest predation played a key role. Fish would often sit off their beds and examine how any predators were on it and if it was worth reclaiming. The example was a smallmouth coming back to find a dozen gobies going to town on it's eggs will probably abandon it. A bass that comes back and has one minnow messing around is probably going to run that minnow off and reclaim its bed.

 

He also discussed spawning frequency on that show. The general science says a fish will release about 1/4-1/3 of its eggs in a given spawn and most fish will spawn 3 or 4 times in a season. I don't know if there's evidence of fish using the same bed for all of those spawns, but I know that generally speaking I find beds in the same areas year after year. Could be the same fish going where they're comfortable or it could just be a prime spawning area. 

1 hour ago, JHoss said:

This was recently discussed by Dr Steven Bardin on the Serious Angler Podcast. He was reporting another study that examined this.

 

I may be off a bit on the exact numbers, but it was close to this:

• A fish caught and released in under 2 minutes had a 75-100% chance to return to the bed.
• A fish kept in the boat for 2-5 minutes had a 50-60% chance to return.
• A fish kept in the boat for 5-30 minutes had a 25% chance.
• A fish kept over 30 minutes had an almost 0% chance.

He did say that nest predation played a key role. Fish would often sit off their beds and examine how any predators were on it and if it was worth reclaiming. The example was a smallmouth coming back to find a dozen gobies going to town on it's eggs will probably abandon it. A bass that comes back and has one minnow messing around is probably going to run that minnow off and reclaim its bed.

 

He also discussed spawning frequency on that show. The general science says a fish will release about 1/4-1/3 of its eggs in a given spawn and most fish will spawn 3 or 4 times in a season. I don't know if there's evidence of fish using the same bed for all of those spawns, but I know that generally speaking I find beds in the same areas year after year. Could be the same fish going where they're comfortable or it could just be a prime spawning area. 

That's great information, thank you.