Question About Bass Seasonal Migrations

[Big Fish Rice]

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!

Yeah absolutely..which is what I've read also. It just so happened that only 1 out of 5 on a particular study actually remained in an area without migrating. I'm sure the number varies, especially depending on whether the body of water is natural, man made or a reservoir system between dams.

[Mainebass1984]

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!

 

Catt I am sure you studied plenty of research. When I was talking about studying bass in the above mentioned states I was referring to the research that I personally took part in.  I graduated college with a bachelors degree in fisheries biology. I traveled across the US working as a fisheries biologist.  I was the guy in the field collecting the data, working hands on with fish everyday. I followed radio tagged bass with an antennae. It was pretty interesting stuff and very insightful. We tracked each tagged fish everyday.  That was when I was working at the Illinois River Biological Station working lakes, ponds, and rivers in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. When I worked for as an AIS scientist in FL we didn't radio tag fish. We would mark them or place a numbered tag in them and record all there information. We would survey the lake, pond or river using nets, seines or traps and electrofishing from a boat. Electrofishing is a blast. Pretty amazing how many fish in an area that you don't catch. When I was working in Maine we worked with bass to some degree but we focused more on salmonids. When we did work with bass didn't tag them either we would mark them. We sampled the same bass at the same spot for three weeks and them for some odd reason it swam 3 miles down the lake to the complete other end. Bass movement is very interesting.

[WRB]

You can't compare largemouth bass to smallmouth, apples and oranges. Smallmouth roam far more then largemouth in the same lakes, as do spotted bass.

The lakes I fish there are groups of LMB that stay within several hundred yards of the same structure areas year around, except the spawn. The big females tend to return to the same areas to spawn if the water levels support them. Mark Lemback's tracking studies were consistant with obsevations and also revealed some unexpected results. For example most of SoCal bass lakes have off limit or closed to fishing areas within 1/4 to 1/2 mile near dams. In lakes that had closed seasons , usually due to duck hunting season, bass that moved onto the closed areas would move out during the closed season, then return the day the season reopened.. Some of the bass stayed inside the closed areas year around and spawned on whatever would hold a nest, certainly not ideal spawning areas.

Dottie for example was one of these sanctuary bass that left the dam area to spawn outside of the closed area and returned after spawning. Bass definitely move around on an individual bases,not in mass.

Tom

[The Rooster]

With bass getting to be that smart I may as well quit fishing and take up golf.

[KyakR]

 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.

Love Mainebass' description ! It's my understanding that bass migrate also with respect to the terrain underwater, often along contour lines, staging in certain areas during spring as they move to the beds, and then in fall as they move deeper for winter. Temperature is absolutely a determinate of movement in spring especially, as the eggs have very specific temperature requirements ( several days of rising temps above 60% usually). During spawn if there's a quick chill bass will actually leave the nests....eggs die off completely under 50%. And In the summer up here I use a thermometer I can cast that tells me the temperature at certain depths so I can find the thermocline.......usually fish stay just above it. Now if the bass would just read up and go where I've they're supposed to all the time, and if my reading could mean my presentations were flawless... 

[Mainebass1984]

Bass definitely move around on an individual bases,not in mass.

 

 I understand they move around individually but during specific times you can find a majority of the population doing the same thing. Like during the Spawn for example. When temperatures are right it is in a basses biological nature to spawn. They don't spawn all at the same time but over a course of a couple weeks depending on temperature. There are early spawners, spawners and late spawners. During that time frame most of the bass will be spawning.  Its the same idea as seasonal movement which I think is the original question. .

[Catt]

So in other words all the research I've read & all the Biologist I've work with is null & void because I do not have a degree?

Interesting!

[WRB]

I understand they move around individually but during specific times you can find a majority of the population doing the same thing. Like during the Spawn for example. When temperatures are right it is in a basses biological nature to spawn. They don't spawn all at the same time but over a course of a couple weeks depending on temperature. There are early spawners, spawners and late spawners. During that time frame most of the bass will be spawning. Its the same idea as seasonal movement which I think is the original question. .

The most important drive animals have is to procreate or continue on their species, everything else is secondary. Spawning is critical for adult bass, they will find a way to lay and fertilize eggs every year, if possible. Nothing in nature is absolute, the spawn for largemouth bass begins as the cold winter water warms up to 62 +_2 degrees at the depth the bass spawns and continues as the water warms to 67 +_ 2 degrees. The major population start around the full moon cycle. Spawns on larger deep structure lake can cover a 3 month period. Did I mention nothing is absolute! A few bass may be off by several months and spawn in the fall, unusual but a few bass have spawned in some lakes. If the weather has radical cold fronts or severe low water drought pull downs, most bass may abort the spawn that year.

After the spawn or post spawn bass scatter into their summer period locations. Some bass summer near shore in and around cover, some move out into deeper water off shore structure, other move back and forth daily from off shore to near shore at night to feed. None of the summer bass do anything in mass, like they do during the spawn.

Tom

[Loop_Dad]

Great discussion folks. A couple of questions:

 

So is there a scientific research online re: migration on LMB?

 

Tom, you mentioned Florida LMB associate with off shore structure...how can I find out if my local lakes in Nor Cal have them or not? (I feel like there was a discussion about this in this forum before...)

 

And my fantasy: If I could tag a few good size bass with GPS tracking in every local lake and see where there are in my living room before I go out , that would be awesome ! 

 

 

[DRH2O]

If so, how can the deeper waters provide both cool temperatures in summer, but then later warmer temperatures in the winter?

 

To help answer one of OPs specific questions:

Water density increases as water cools until it reaches maximum density at around 40 degrees. So in warm weather you have the warmest (lightest) water sitting on top and the cooler (heavier) water settling on the bottom.

Below 40ish degrees however water density begins to reverse, and at <32 degrees ice is, as we all know, bouyant. So in the winter you have  surface water meeting with sub-freezing air temps and freezing into a layer of ice. The water below becomes "insulated" from the outside air temps and at some depth (to the joy or dismay of our ice fishing brethren) stops freezing, creating a smooth gradiant of >32 degrees just under the ice increasing to around 40 degrees which is now the densest and heaviest water, at the bottom.

In regards to the thermocline I might just add that where in the winter you get the above described smooth gradiant of increasing temps downward, in the summer you get distinct layers of stratification. The thermocline isn't just the name of this stratification of these layers but a distinct layer of rapidly transitioning temps between two larger layers of a very warm surface layer (Epilimnion) and the much cooler lower layer (Hypolimnion).

The layer of cooler water under the thermocline can be confusing and can generate debate about whether it's fishable or not. Cold water has the potential to hold more oxygen than warm water, which would lead one to think that the deep, cooler water should be a fish oasis in the summer time. However, colder water doesn't necessarily hold more oxygen in reality. This layer gets seperated from the oxygenating process going on at the surface and if the sun's light can't permeate the water down to this layer then no photosynthesis occurs and the oxygen soon gets depleted and effectively becomes a dead zone. This is why on many lakes in the heat of the summer it helps to seek out good underwater structure that falls withing the thermocline itself.

 

There are of course exceptions and caveats of increasing complexity but this might help you get a better basic picture of what's going on in the water column with regard to it's various temperature ranges.

 

~DR

[The Rooster]

Wow. For your fourth post, that sure was informative. That knowledge will change the way I fish in the summer.

[Insanity]

Boy that's a good read thanks everyone.

I learned this very thing the hard way today. I new it already I just didn't fully believe all the fish would leave.

Put my canoe into a creek (small river) this morning not knowing it's depth but assuming some fish would stick around there. Nope not one that I could see on the fish finder. Not even under a rail road bridge I thought would hold a couple at least.

The water is way down and its depth today was only 7ft average 9ft was the deepest I found. But all the fish had migrated back out a mile to the main river. Was mainly looking crappie. And stake beds/ structure for spring. But a fish or two would have been nice. Found two bluegill but that wasn't what I had in mind. .

But when spring comes il be ready this year. No more blind looking.

[Insanity]

My above post brings up a question. We will soon get flooding conditions. This creek will be full at some point for a week or so in mid winter. I no the shad and white bass move into creeks in these conditions. If the shad are there wouldn't some bass also follow while the water is rising. Or would they hold to the structure there already on. I'm sure il have a duh moment in a min. But I'm betting I learn more.

[WRB]

The lower water temps that Threadfin shad can tolerate is 44 degrees, not sure about the larger gizzard shad.

If the run off is colder than 44 degrees, the shad would die off and the bass may not move up, otherwise they could.

Tom

[Nitrofreak]

My above post brings up a question. We will soon get flooding conditions. This creek will be full at some point for a week or so in mid winter. I no the shad and white bass move into creeks in these conditions. If the shad are there wouldn't some bass also follow while the water is rising. Or would they hold to the structure there already on. I'm sure il have a duh moment in a min. But I'm betting I learn more.

 

The limited experience that I have , Generally speaking , I have learned that bass have a tendency to move toward more shallow areas as water rises , In Va. the potomac river system , this is key , I have also found this to be true as lakes often drain and refill , man made or not , this is not to say they all will move miles or any truly great distance , yes , to your question that some will follow a school of shad , but most will stay in or close to areas that allow good ambush spots with the correct water conditions , as the water rises these fish that cling to structure may only move a few feet in any direction or they may join other bass to help push a school toward a more gental sloping bank to pin the bait fish or a group of bait fish in a shallow area for an easy meal , allow yourself some time on the water to just follow a bait school around , you can learn so much from just watching your sonar . 

 

Good luck and be safe !!!

[Nitrofreak]

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?

 

If I remember your teachings , basically a thermocline is the cooler water layer under the surface layer , it is the place where there is a rapid change in water temp.

 

Turnover is when a lake or body of water mix's , the thermocline sinks as the surface water cools , basically , in a nut shell so to speak ,  the bottom comes to the top and completely mix's the lake , bass have a tendency to more often suspend .

[Catt]

Not to completed huh Nitrofreak!

I've come to the conclusion some of our scientific friends have very limited experience in catching bass.

[Nitrofreak]

Not to completed huh Nitrofreak!

I've come to the conclusion some of our scientific friends have very limited experience in catching bass.

 

We do have a tendency to over complicate things I whole heartedly agree , but when I look at things in a different light , what I see is me , simple ol' me , and then I read some of the post's and get lost all over again , and think to myself , when has catching a little green fish become so dang complicated that the rest of us are left so far behind ?

 

I caught on to you catt , your simple yet sometimes questionable methods made me think for myself , made me a whole different angler all together , as well as a different person , when I look at these scientific facts , studies , data , in these posts , I think WOW , we really are all different , there is some good in the posts in the fact that we learn from people sharing such a wealth of knowlege with us for free , it may not apply to me , but it does touch someone somewhere I am sure , just as you did with me my friend .

[Catt]

Take what is known scientifically and try to put fish in the boat; I'll take what I know experientially and will put fish in the boat. One has to combine science and experience in proper proportions or one will not really understand either.

[Nitrofreak]

Take what is known scientifically and try to put fish in the boat; I'll take what I know experientially and will put fish in the boat. One has to combine science and experience in proper proportions or one will not really understand either.

 

Amen to dat !!!!