Question About Bass Seasonal Migrations

[The Rooster]

It seems I've read before that bass move into the backs of creeks in the spring to follow baitfish, and to look for shallow waters to spawn in, and then move out into the main lake in the summer. Then in the fall and winter they do this again, following baitfish into the backs of creeks in the fall and then out into the main lake in the winter.

So if I understand it right, they follow a predictable movement pattern twice a year in and out of the same places?

I get why they go into the back of the creeks, it's to pursue the baitfish. And I believe I get why they move into the main lake during summer and winter, I gather that has to do with temperature comfort zones for them. Is this right? If so, how can the deeper waters provide both cool temperatures in summer, but then later warmer temperatures in the winter?

[Catt]

Think about it for a minute!

When a body of water freezes over the ice is only so deep...why?

The deeper water is warmer!

[A-Jay]

The deeper water being Cooler in the Summer and Warmer in the winter is all relative to the season air temperature.

 

 I think the general consensus is that the deeper water routinely fluctuates the least meaning it takes longer to heat up in the summer and takes longer to cool in the winter.  In both instances the deeper portions of a lake rarely reflect the same drastic temperature changes as the shallower areas during cold front or heat wave conditions.  At some point during the cold and hot weather seasons, the deeper water temps become steady at whatever they will be for that season.

Bass will locate themselves where they are safe, most comfortable and have a decent food source available.  This deeper stable environment however,  often times makes finding and catching fish quite a challenge.

 

A-Jay

[Catt]

To better understand this subject one must bring thermocline into discussion. There is a reason it takes place at the depth & temperature it does.

[Catt]

Oh yea since we are talking seasonal migrations we have to look at why bass suspend at the depth they suspend at.

[Todd2]

Good topic. Doesn't the thermocline mix in the turnover? What is the difference in surface temps and let's say 15-20 feet in the winter? Like Catt said, its gotta be warmer because the ice only goes so far down from the surface.

[Mainebass1984]

Just like the bass the baitfish go deep during the summer and winter as well. Follow the bait and the bass will be there. When there is ice up here in New England I have found that the water temperature on bottom is usually around 36 degrees. If you find a spring though the water can be much warmer and usually there are lots of bass there.

[Catt]

Quote: how can the deeper waters provide both cool temperatures in summer, but then later warmer temperatures in winter.

What is thermocline?

What is turnover?

[papajoe222]

The spring movement of bass is driven more by the need to spawn than to eat, although up until the actual spawn they do forage. Thus the presence of baitfish in those areas as they, too are preparing to spawn. 

Not all fish will retreat to the depths in the winter and summer and the perception that the move is prompted by their looking for a comfort zone is errorneous.  Fish are cold blooded and as such are comfortable at whatever the water temp is. That move is made more for security reasons and the availability of forage. 

Generally speaking, the moves you mention are correct.  Just remember that not all fish make those transitions and the ones that do don't all move at the same time.

[Catt]

Prior to the spawn bass become very aggressive & very food-oriented during what we call pre-spawn. During this stage the bass are feeding up for the stresses of the spawn.

[Mainebass1984]

 Bass will seek out areas that are for whatever reason are warmer or cooler then the rest of the water depending on the time of year. In the spring bas will most definitely seek out the warmest water in the lake. Sure not all of the bass will be doing this but the vast majority of the population will be doing so. If the main lake temp is 45 degrees and the northern section of the lake is 50 degrees there will be that cove because it is warmer. Bass most certainly do have a range of temperature that they are most active and comfortable in. Too warm or too cold then they will not be nearly as aggressive but, you can still catch fish. If the shallows are super warm over 80 degrees and there is an area of the lake that is 70 degrees then again there will be bass there. It is the biological nature of a bass to seek out water temperature that is most comfortable in. You can seasonally follow bass movements and you can predict what most of the bass population will be doing. There will always be fish shallow, deep, and at mid depths. I like to follow what the majority of the bass population is doing.

 

Thermocline is the stratification of the water column. For example during spring, fall and winter there is very little difference the surface temperature and the lake bottom temperature. As the spring gives way to summer the surface temperature warms. This cause a temperature gradient in the water column resulting in different layers in temperature. The surface will be the hottest. A few inches down it will be slightly cooler. Another foot or two and its cooler. This stratification continues down through the water column.

 

Turnover is term people use to describe a process that occurs each fall on every lake and pond. During the summer the water column is stratified as I described above. During the fall we experience cooler daytime and nighttime temperatures. During a cold period of time the surface water cools to the point that it is cooler then the water beneath it. Since water is denser at cooler temperatures it sinks to bottom. That causes the warmer less dense water to rise. This process continues and the temperature gradient of the water column becomes less pronounced. It continues to turnover until there is no thermocline and water temperature is relatively uniform through the water column.

[A-Jay]

It seems I've read before that bass move into the backs of creeks in the spring to follow baitfish, and to look for shallow waters to spawn in, and then move out into the main lake in the summer. Then in the fall and winter they do this again, following baitfish into the backs of creeks in the fall and then out into the main lake in the winter.

So if I understand it right, they follow a predictable movement pattern twice a year in and out of the same places?

I get why they go into the back of the creeks, it's to pursue the baitfish. And I believe I get why they move into the main lake during summer and winter, I gather that has to do with temperature comfort zones for them. Is this right? If so, how can the deeper waters provide both cool temperatures in summer, but then later warmer temperatures in the winter?

 

 

So after reading back through the responses here - I'm not sure we actually answered Rooster's original question. 

 

 I would add that in order to follow, intercept and / or eventually find bass before, during and after this "predictable movement pattern twice a year", it would help if an angler had located the fish prior to their departure.  Some history on the water could help with the where & when but you know what they say about fishing history.  

Either way there's no replacement for being on the water and fishing it correctly with regard to each seasonal pattern.   An important variable here is what does the predominate food / bait the bass eat at these times of the year do.  This info shouldn't be ignored and could be the key.

 

A-Jay

[WRB]

Eastern Kentucy you have northern Spooted bass and northern largemouth bass, different critters with different seasonal patterns. The Kentucky spots are small bass, so lets focus on the NLMB.

Basic seasonal periods are; winter cold water period, pre spawn, spawn, post pawn, summer and fall.

It's winter nearly everywhere by now, the core water temps in the mid 50's or less. If the water down to 20' is warmer, then it's still fall to the bass.

Water is thermally conductive, affected by it's environment. The simple definition is cold water is more dense and heavier then warmer water that is less dense and lighter weight. Lighter weight water floats on heavier water. During the warmer water periods the upper layers of water floating on the colder water. Where the cooler and warmer water comes together is called a thermocline. During the summer to winter transition we call fall, the water column tends to mix and this is called a turnover, the water is the same temperature top to bottom, the thermocline disappears. All this affects where bass prefer to be located; near food and comfortable water temps.

During the fall to winter transition the bass are making seasonal location changes, find the baitfish, the bass should be close by. If bait fish like shad have moved into creek arms, the bass should be there. If the baitfish is located in main lake areas, that is where the bass will be. Some lakes have large bodies of water where bass can be located in several areas. Your sonar unit is your best fishing tool, use it.

Tom

[Catt]

Here's some fuel for thought!

If you believe bass move to the warmest part of the lake, follow bait into the backs of coves, or move to shallow shore lines to spawn.

Toledo Bend Reservoir has bass that are located well over 2 nautical miles off shore.

Will these bass swim that distance to find water several degrees warmer?

Will these bass follow bait fish to the back of coves that are close to 3-5 nautical miles away?

Will they swim those distances to spawn near shore line cover?

[Mainebass1984]

Absolutely yes. Its part of the biological programming of a bass. They can swim a great deal further then 2 miles and have been documented doing so.

[Catt]

Sorry but absolutely not!

It is well documented these bass never see a shore line or cove in their lifetime. Some have been documented to spawn in 22' foot of water on tree tops.

To understand bass migration you must study your own body of water, it's size, max depth, where it's geographically located.

[WRB]

Largemouth bass are genetically small water fish, small natural lakes and ponds. Smallmouth, spotted and their cousins are genetically river and stream bass, with the exception of the Great Lakes region.

When the topic of bass behavior comes up it defaults to northern strain LMB, that is the most common and popular bass.

It's only been about 120 years the LMB have lived in man made impoundments, they are adapting to this new ecosystem. The prey sources like Threadfin shad and herring have been introduced to some of these impoundments, but most importantly the LMB are new to impoundments.

When we tend to talk about bass behavior, we use average behavior traits where the bass are located that we pursue.

I agree with Catt, some bass or most adult size bass may never leave or travel miles from an area that supports their life cycle, however other bass in that same location will leave and return seasonally.

Out west, west of the Rocky mountains, where no bass lived 120 years ago, all species are evolving their behavior habits. The latest are the Florida strain of LMB that behave differently than the northern LMB originally introduced. FLMB tend to prefer being off shore, where NLMB tend to prefer near shore habitate.

The vast majority of the bass population migrates seasonally to spawn in wind protected water less than 8' deep. The same vast majority of adult size bass leave the spawning areas after spawning. I believe all the other bass movements relate to prey and sanctuary.

Tom

[Mainebass1984]

Sorry but absolutely not!

It is well documented these bass never see a shore line or cove in their lifetime. Some have been documented to spawn in 22' foot of water on tree tops.

To understand bass migration you must study your own body of water, it's size, max depth, where it's geographically located.

 

You really believe that those bass that spawn on those tree tops never leave that area for there entire lives ?

That maybe but I do not believe that to be the norm.

I guess the fish up here in the north act differently as well as all the other bass that I have studied in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Maine and Florida.  Up where I currently live The Lake Champlain Research Institute has been doing a radio tagging study on tournament caught large and smallmouth bass. The preliminary results are intriguing. One smallmouth was tracked from the Plattsburgh, NY boat launch 12 miles down the lake across water over 200 feet deep to the mouth of the Winooski river on the Vermont side of the lake.

 Without a doubt bass do move seasonally. Whether it moves 200 yards or 2 miles depends on the fish.

[Catt]

If Rooster wants we can give him randomizations & generalizations or we can teach him how follow the bass on his body of water.

What I discribed happening on Toledo happens on many bodies of water. Most anglers how no idea that not only do bass frequent the same areas during spring & fall but they follow the same breakline to & from these areas.

[WRB]

Back to Kentucy where OP lives and bass fishes. Most of the larger lakes are riverine class power generation impoundments with largemouth, spots and smallmouth bass. Bass populations off shore and near shore.

Locate where the bass spawn and work your way out to staging areas is one thought. Another tactic is to optimize your location by finding where the bait fish are consentrated. In most power generating large reserviors the bait is pelagic fish like shad go where their food source is. During the cold water period the current tends to move towards the lower 1/3rd of the lake near the dam. Humps and main lake points also up well current and consentrate baitfish, good places to look for bass. Keep in mind that bass also eat crawdads and they are located all over the lake.

Would you look for bass on the same type of mid lake or deep water structure during the spawn? No, that would be a low % area to look for spawner's. You should be looking for structure that will hold staging bass that is near the spawning areas. Will bass spawn near the deep water area like the dam, you bet they will if it is suitable for a successful spawn, however the larger flat wind protected areas would be a higher % to attract more bass.

[Catt]

Good google search

[The Rooster]

Well I guess I was hoping for a general answer that works everywhere, not just for certain bass in certain places. Guess there is no such answer.

My lakes are not power generation lakes. I have two that are formed from flooded valleys for flood control. One was formed from damming a small river, and the other from damming a small creek. Then I have one that has nothing but an earthen dam with no lock, just an overflow into a spillway below, and as far as I know it just catches runoff from surrounding hills as an inlet of water to stay full. Again, no power generation. All are an average of 30 - 35 feet deep on the main lake with some areas deeper, and some shallower all around. There are no wood docks on these lakes, saving for one that was put in by a lakeside park that's privately owned on one lake. There are two floating marina docks that you cannot fish around. So no fishable dock cover.

This is the end of their similarities.

The first lake, Yatesville, is a flooded valley lake on Blaine creek, with gently rolling hills that form the lake bottom. Lots of soft silty bottom areas, and grass and stumps. Flooded timber areas in lots of the coves. Some rocks occasionally. There are several islands in this lake. Water clarity ranges from very clear to extremely murky in different areas, and then coffee colored muddiness after a rain. Lots of long arms on this lake with feeder creeks, so there are channels in these arms also. I've seen them on the fish finder but I only recognize them when crossing over them. If I'm moving along straight overhead of them then they just appear to be deep water. I don't try to fish them since I can't really tell where they're at and they're fairly deep too. Since there are lots of arms there are lots of main lake points and secondary points inside the arms also. Average depth overall is 30 feet. This lake has a earthen dam with a lock. Water exits at the bottom of the dam at over 50 feet deep. The lake does have shad.

The second lake, Grayson, is a flooded valley on the Little Sandy River, having some rolling hill areas with soft bottoms like the first one, but also areas with lots of high cliffs coming straight up out of the water with harder bottoms and many underwater ledges and shelves nearby. Some stumps in certain areas, but lots and lots of big rock structure. There are some long arms on this lake too, but not as many. Water average depth and clarity is like the first lake. This lake also has a earthen dam with a lock. Water exits at the bottom of the dam at over 50 feet deep. This lake also has shad.

The third lake, Greenbo, is ultra, ultra clear water. If it ever gets murky, I've never seen it. A rain might stain it some but it seems to just make it greener. It's a small lake with rolling hills and soft bottoms, some grass along shorelines, and lay down trees and only three arms off the main body. That's about the only cover in the lake. No visible channels anywhere and the bottom is clearly visible even in 15 feet or more depth. Feels like I'm flying sometimes when floating on this lake, like the water isn't even there. There are trout here also, and HUGE bass in the double digits that frustratingly will not even acknowledge the presence of a bait, live or otherwise. There are no shad in this lake and none are allowed to be used. Water depth is somewhat deeper on average. The shorelines are steeper coming into the water, so not many shallow areas at all. This lakes dam is earthen with a natural overflow at the top to control depth. This lake has delivered the state record bass twice in the past, and just last year on back to back days, three bass were caught at 9, 10, and 11 pounds, all by different people. My brother in law witnessed the 10 pound fish caught, it hit a large swim bait.

These are the three lakes I primarily fish. There are two more, one similar to the last in size and dam, but more like the first two in water conditions, and also has lily pads. Then there is another a lot like the first two but it's 90 - 100 feet deep through most of the main lake for miles. Finding shallower, fishable waters here are harder. So as you can see whatever lake I'm on, something is different on every one, whether it's water depth, clarity, bait choice, structure and cover, I've got to be able to fish a lot of different ways to find and catch fish and most times I don't find a lot.

[WRB]

The first 2 sound like classic hill land reserviors, the 3rd a highland deep structured lake and trophy bass lake.

The lakes with shad should have seasonal bass migrations, multiple long creek arms and river channels, islands, humps, lots of good fishable structure and cover. You can apply most of what has been offered to the lakes 1 & 2 as flood control heartland bass reservoirs.

The 3rd lake is the type I fish, deep structured trout lakes, except no shad population. To understand this lake I will suggest you get a copy of "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" by the late Bill Murphy. Read this book for basic big bass behavior, not necessarily the live bait and anchoring techniques.

Tom

[Big Fish Rice]

You really believe that those bass that spawn on those tree tops never leave that area for there entire lives ?

That maybe but I do not believe that to be the norm.

I guess the fish up here in the north act differently as well as all the other bass that I have studied in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Maine and Florida.  Up where I currently live The Lake Champlain Research Institute has been doing a radio tagging study on tournament caught large and smallmouth bass. The preliminary results are intriguing. One smallmouth was tracked from the Plattsburgh, NY boat launch 12 miles down the lake across water over 200 feet deep to the mouth of the Winooski river on the Vermont side of the lake.

 Without a doubt bass do move seasonally. Whether it moves 200 yards or 2 miles depends on the fish.

Mainebass is absolutely right: Here in the Pacific Northwest, there was a study where five smallmouth were tagged; can you guess the farthest migration route? Nearly 38 miles in the Spring (Columbia River). Some will stay in the main river and some travel to sloughs and cuts. Not all travel to migrate though, one of the five smallmouth stayed in a home area the entire Spring.

In Northwestern Wisconsin, tagged smallmouth traveled more than 45 miles to find suitable habitat. Unless you research the studies that have been published, I don't think an angler can truly understand how dynamic largemouth and smallmouth bass really are in their movements. While some bodies of water have habitual movements each year, there are other bodies of water that change and continue to change.

Needless to say, to answer the original question, I would suggest researching migration patterns (of the particular body of water you are fishing) and seasonal changes, such as water temps, daylight duration and thermoclines.

There's no doubt that all three are very important in an angler's quest to solve the ever-lasting question of, "Where did the fish go? They were here last week".

[Catt]

rice415, all the research I've studied from Texas to Florida & the Gulf coast to Ohio show some bass are shoreline related, some bass are deep water structure related, & some bass migrate. As to what percentage does what is any bodies guess!