Northwest Fishing Reports

Trent Hale wrote:I have seen the male on bed holding the fry in his mouth.

Bass spawning lasts for about 2 months. The first spawn is triggered by rapidly warming temperatures. Eggs and sometimes young fry from the first nest may be lost to bad weather. Cooling temperatures cause guarding male bass to leave the nest until it warms again. The second spawn happens about two weeks after the first and is usually the biggest and most productive. Additional nesting occurs at two to three week intervals thereafter, depending on weather conditions. Fry from the later spawns are more likely to be lost to predation by dragonfly larvae and other predacious insects which creep onto the nest and are not apparent or noticed by the guarding male. Those fry that do survive from the last spawn are shorter, smaller and less able to compete with siblings that were born a month or two earlier. They could actually be eaten by their two month old cousin bass that are just switching to a fish diet.

Hatching comes 48-72 hours after the eggs are laid, depending on water temperature (the warmer the water, the shorter time until hatching). The fry will hover over the nest a day or two, then they will disperse. When the fry leave, the male abandons the nest, and his role in the spawning cycle is over until the next spring.

The male will continue to guard the fry until they disperse, which may be a period of 2 weeks or more depending on temperatures.