Hey can anybody explain to me the differences between Northern Bass spawning Versus Southern bass spawning. I live up North and know they are different but I don't know the specifications of why. If you have an answer please include the months involved for each style of spawning.

Thanks a lot.

Welcome to the forum.

If you look back on some of the other pages in General fishing, you will find tons of spawn info.     Also if you look back one year, I'm sure you will find the same threads from last year that have been asked before.

If you don't find what your looking for, someone will be around that will.

Hookem

Matt

The only difference is time of year - what differences do you think there are? Other than in the extreme south, (southern Florida), even the time of year is close.

Hey George.

Glad you are back on the forum.

All I know is what I have been told; have read in books and magazines; watched videos; and seen on the water.

The bass, and other fish, will start their spawning rituals depending on the water temperatures.

So if Mother Nature has the bass starting their courtships when the water temperature hits the low 50s, I would think that would be the case from the mid-Atlantic states to the Northern and Mid-America areas and heading west to the Rockies.

Of course, where the water temperatures never hit the 50s, like southern Florida and Texas and places out west, then, as I have been told, is another situation totally different from the waters that do have their winter temperatures lower than 50 degrees.

While fishing Kerr Lake-Buggs Island yesterday we saw many bass staging off-shore.  The water temperature started out at 46 degrees and increased to 53 degrees in the creek coves when the sun came out.  All the bass wanted to do were suspend and watch the baitfish and our baits swim by.

I would think that they would start their rituals after the first full moon in April and when the water temperatures reach into the 50s. And yes, one of my friends who is a guide says we have to wait for the first full moon in April before they start the hunt for beds and begin moving into the shallows.

I hope some of the guys can shed more light on this topic.

Hey Sam - thanks.

Florida water temps: not uncommon to hit in the 40's in winter.

Spawn occurence and enviornment is speculation at best with very little science to back it up. It appears that photo-period, (daylight hours) is a bigger control factor than anything else. One thing that is a certainty: Bass must spawn - unlike some fish they do not have the ability to resorb the eggs. Although they must spawn they appear to have the ability to somewhat control the when, based on weather and water factors. Strength and vitality of recruitment is dependant of many factors.

George,

Thanks for the input.

When I used to raise mcaws we had them in their own shed where we controlled the light so they would mate.

So I know birds use the numbers of hours of light to reproduce and I guess fish do so, too.

Later,

Sam

Factors:

1.- Water temp

2.- Photoperiod

Thanks for all the help. One last thing, if I'm fishing a lake with a silty (just a line of soft delicate mud about 5 inches thick) bottom and say I want to jig in the spring. Is that a good idea, I can see the lure being buried in the silt and not even being seen.