At what temp do bass spawn?

[glittle]

Can you tell me at what water temp largemouth spawn at?

[brgbassmaster]

60-65 some will spawn sooner. in michigan they spawn in middle of may to middle of june you will still see bass on beds. i used to live in gladwin county michigan alot of awesome lakes around there. now i live in new mexico. where abouts are you from.

[glittle]

I am from Kawkawlin.  Just north of Bay City.  This is our second season fishing bass seriously.  We joined the NBAA this year as well as a couple Bass Clubs.  We will be fishing Secord, Sugar Springs, Wixom and Sanford Lakes this season.  Any advice?

[jjbassjj]

60 degrees seems to be the magic temperature

[HesterIsGod]

The bass spawn is not completely dependant on water temperature, that is a big misconception.

As long as the water is between the mid, even low fifties and the mid seventies, the bass will spawn.

The bass spawn is pretty much always dependant on the moon phase. Look for a FULL MOON when the water temp is between those temps. Thats when the majority of the fish spawn.

[Rayraff]

I read somewhere that the bigger fish spawn a little earlier than the rest (or at least start their spring feeding earlier)  There was a post not to long ago that said a 13lb fish was caught in 58 degree water and it had already laid its eggs.

But ya 60 is when it usually starts

[alger319]

earlier this year i saw fish on beds in 58 degree water

[F150FishinNC]

okay i can give a unique perspective....since my local lake is a resevoir for a power plant my lake NEVER drops below 55*.....OUR fish don't look for a magic temp to spawn....I've always been told our bass spawn because of light.....the longer the day the more light....the more light the closer to spring...since they can't look for the temp they look for the light..............dunno about your area....thats just around here...............

[Tucson]

That's the 2nd reference I've heard recently  regarding the length of daylight vs water temps.  I know that plants respond to the length of daylight so this could also be true of fish.  Anyone have any more input on this?

[WRB]

Can you tell me at what water temp largemouth spawn at?

See http://aqua.ucdavis.edu/dbweb/outreach/aqua/200FS.pdf

You can go on the internet and find lots of good studies regarding bass habits that are fact based.

Bass are bass or are they smallmouth, spotted, northern LMB or Florida strain LMB? The 4 basic bass have different seasonal habits due to where they live. You are up north where nortern LMB and smallmouth bass reside.

It's been my experience that smallmouth bass spawn in water between 58 to 62 degrees and LMB between 62 to 67 degrees. Nothing in nature is absolute so bass, like everthing else, bass tend to adapt to thier habitate. The full moon phase definately affects the major spawn and females tend to start to move up to the bedding areas about 2 days before the full moon cycle and continue for about 2 days after.

Large lakes will have different water temperaures depending on the depth of the lake, wind conditions and weather, so there may be 2 to 3 spawning cycles going on at different locations.

If bass spawn and the water column cools down rapidly due to extreme weather, the eggs take longer to hatch, up to 14 days. The problem with a long hatch period is survival of both the eggs and fry, due to egg eating predators. Water temperatue at 62 to 65 degrees at the depth the bass are using to spawn is ideal, the eggs hatch within 4 to 5 days with better chances of survival. Above 67 degrees the bass must share the area with bedding bluegill and carp, both are egg eaters that rob the bass nest, so the warmer the water gets, the faster the eggs will hatch, but there is more pressure on egg survival from predators. Mother nature can be tough and it's survival of the fittest. The early birds must protect the nest longer and the later gators must protect the eggs from hordes of bluegill and carp. The majority of the survivers are the bass that spawn during ideal conditions.

WRB