In his book 101 Bass catching secrets, Roland Martin says that bass spawn around the full moon.

 

Is this true?

Sometimes it is.

• Between 4:30 and 11:23 am.

Eastern.

Roland said that in Florida spawn around the first full moon of February, and that as you move further north, the spawn start coincides with the full moon of each coming month.

 

Is this generally true or has this been disproven?

 

See, this is my problem reading fishing books, especially older fishing books. I am concerned I'll get info that isn't right, because they didn't understand bass nearly as well as 30-40-50 years ago as they do now.

After drinks. 

Bass covers several species other than Largemouth bass. Smallmouth, Spotted to other common bass species.

The thing to keep in mind is bass are individuals and behave as individuals the majority of the seasonal periods. The spawn cycle bass change their individual behavior and group up into males and females as 2 groups during pre spawn as the water temperatures warm from the cold water winter period. The days are getting longer, night temperatures are warming and this warms the water column. Warming water triggers changes in the bass. The males move up into areas where they select bed sites and stake out the area.

The females are developing eggs as the water warms and they instinctively start to feed more aggressively in preparation of the actual egg laying into the beds the males have ready. At this time both males and females start the spawn cycle and stop eating.

Like most animals the full moon cycle influences reproduction behavior. A portion of the population start the spawn cycle around the 2 nights before during the full moon and 2 nights after, a 5 day/night period. We call the 1st wave generally when the water at the depth the bass are located reaches 62 degrees for Largemouth and is over basically about 70 degrees. There are early birds and later gators in the bass world that start in colder water and warmer water but the success rate is lower. It takes longer to hatch eggs in colder water and shorter in warmer water but the bluegill start their spawn around 75 degrees and raid the bass beds along with other egg fish and birds.

Yes the full moon affects the bass spawn but the spawn a few times during the spawn cycle, it’s not 1 massive run to spawn.

Tom

 

The current issue of In-Fisherman magazine has an article devoted to solunar  theory (and the article points out that it is not actually a theory, but after 90 yrs remains at best a hypothesis).  While the current article focuses on feeding behavior, it references other studies which if you pursued might well take you to the topic of spawning, or at least provide a starting point for researching the topic.  And I bet that if you asked AI, it will offer links to research examining spawning behavior and effects of lunar phases.

I mention this assuming you can access the article on-line.  I’ll also mention that you might be surprised by the article’s conclusions.

I enjoyed Roland Martin's book - it has a lot of good tips.  That said he does not do his due diligence when it comes to science.  In the book he repeats the widely repeated myth that bass avoid sunlight because they do not have eyelids to protect their eyes.  So pay attention to his fishing tips but don't put much stock in his science lessons.

Science suggests ‘No’ (at least several studies I’ve read); many professional bass anglers say ‘Yes.’ It’s one of the more interesting dichotomies in the sport.

From experience, I can say, in SC, they spawn in the month of April. I can only remember one year I saw bass on beds in May. It was a cold spring and on a bigger lake. I think the water temp has more impact than the moon.

I have been bass fishing since 12 years old before that fishing for crappies since water safe about 3 years old. So what I am saying is studied bass for over 70 years and base my options on personal observation.

I was curious kid and watched Largemouth bass come into our cove at Big Bear lake California about the same month year after year, Late May to early June. The males always showed up 1st building nest while some females would cruise by for a week or so before moving onto beds to lay eggs. The females wound lay eggs in more then one bed. So I thought bass spawn in That time period.

A few years later we moved off the mountain to Sunland in SoCal and observed the LMB spawned in late March, Sunland is north of Big Bear about 100 miles so it wasn’t a month time or a photoperiod time, it was water temperature that started the bass to spawn.The common denominator was water temperature.

I bought a Dark Ind thermometer with 50’ probe on spool and started measure the bass I caught body temperature and the water temperature at the depth the was caught. I did this for a few years developing my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar based on water temperature and bass behavior.

This worked for me entire bass fishing time the last 50 years. 
Tom