How long typically does the post spawn last in one specific area of water ? What kind of fishery are you refering to and where

Post spawn lasts a different amount of time for each individual fish - depends on the conditions and section of the lake and depth and water clarity and size of the fish and water temperature etc etc etc

Most fish can not incubate all of their eggs at once and as such tend to spawn over the course of many months and depending on water temperature - many produce eggs between each spawn cycle which backs up the factory even more.

Every full and new moon after the water gets into the 50s - fish will begin spawning in waves.

Females can’t lay all their eggs in one bed or all at once and it’s not good for the survival of the species so groups of females will cluster spawn and drop little bits of eggs on multiple beds in an area and deplete a small percentage of their eggs that are mature and ready to lay while the majority of their eggs are in a different state of development (all dictated by blood circulation which is regulated by temps which is why big females suspend on rock and wood in the sun up shallow even when it’s freezing cold in the early spring)

Once fish begin spawning - they’re perpetually “spawn”/“pre spawn”/“post spawn” until it’s winter again.

This doesn’t apply to every fish on every reservoir.

Smaller mature fish are able to deplete all their eggs more easily and may only spawn a couple times and of course some fish don’t spawn at all. It appears the more we learn about largemouth bass - they adapt to their environments hour to hour and minute to minute and are not slaves to some sort of biological regimen the way salmon or trout are.

They do what they want when they want for the most part and they do different things every year and basically - the only way to know if a fish is spawning or Prespawn or post spawn is to look at it. If it’s skinny and beat up - probably feeding back up and done with laying eggs for the most part. If its belly is sticking out - that’s not “a healthy fishery” - those are eggs that are ready to lay. Prespawn. If it’s somewhere in between but you see blood on the tail - she spawning.

Could that fish produce more eggs and incubate them and spawn again before the winter after you release it? Absolutely - even mid summer. They do what they do. It’s all about food and reproduction and avoiding threats for a bass.

If you can perpetually do all 3 of those things - you can become a very big and very happy bass.

It’s important to be aware of this because it simplifies things and basically you’re looking for these key areas where they can eat and make babies and are safe all the time.

It’s not like 3 defined seasons of fishing that tackle companies like to push to sell their baits.