Big Ones First?

[mr.mallard]

Do you believe the biggest females spawn first?

In what i have observed they do.

Not only bass but also crappie and bluegill.

Im not talking about pre-spawn feeding either,

Hut definite fish on beds.

2 out of my 3 "big" bass (only one of those two even landed )

Have been bedding fish earlier than i would have ever thought.

Mid march in south arkansas and mid march in Memphis.

As with crappie. it always seems like they bigger females spawn first and then smaller females move in later.

Does anyone else agree with this? observed this?

[NCbassmaster4Life]

I think so from my experience, they're the biggest bass I see before the smaller ones spawn.

[Hooligan]

I disagree wholly. It's been proven on various bodies of water and in various climates that the largest females are very, very often in the last waves of fish to spawn. It's also common that the large fish in a population will spawn far, far deeper than their smaller relatives. I think that very often anglers mistake large females up shallow chasing for spawning fish, when what she's actually doing is feeding and her head isn't fully on the spawn yet. In a handful of lakes and ponds that I'm very familiar with, you won't see the biggest females spawn until their eggs have the greatest chance of survival. It's partly about survival of the fittest and advancing those more desirable traits on to the next generation. Glem Lau has done a lot of film on it, as has Dr. Willis from SD State. There's also some writing from Drs jenks and Johnson about it in pertinence to Black Bass at various latitudes in the US.

[Nitrofreak]

I disagree wholly. It's been proven on various bodies of water and in various climates that the largest females are very, very often in the last waves of fish to spawn. It's also common that the large fish in a population will spawn far, far deeper than their smaller relatives. I think that very often anglers mistake large females up shallow chasing for spawning fish, when what she's actually doing is feeding and her head isn't fully on the spawn yet. In a handful of lakes and ponds that I'm very familiar with, you won't see the biggest females spawn until their eggs have the greatest chance of survival. It's partly about survival of the fittest and advancing those more desirable traits on to the next generation. Glem Lau has done a lot of film on it, as has Dr. Willis from SD State. There's also some writing from Drs jenks and Johnson about it in pertinence to Black Bass at various latitudes in the US.

X2

[ww2farmer]

It's different from one body of water to the next. Heck it can be different from one year to another on thesame body of water too. On my home lake in 2008 big smallmouth were all over the shallows bedding from late April to early June, every moon phase brought a new batch up and fishing that spring for bedding smallies was the easiest and best I have ever seen it on that lake. Then in 09' and 10', big ones didn't seem to come up shallow in numbers at all, one here one there. Last year however, there were more quality fish on beds shallow again,but not in multiple waves like 08', and lots of beds deep too. I don't know why...and I don't care to figure it out. It's nature, I'll just roll with what ever happens next.

[Team9nine]

While there are no absolutes when it comes to bass biology, and contrary to some of what has been stated, there is enough scientific literature out there, as well as anecdotal observations by anglers, that supports the argument that the largest bass are usually some of the first to spawn, at least in the case of largemouth.

-T9

[Randall]

Where I fish most of the larger males spawn first (I have no idea really as to why) but not the larger females.The females seem to have no pattern to them at all as to which are first and last. Females spawn more then once per season and on more then one bed so the theory of the big ones spawn first has no basis as far as I can see. What can happen is that as the water warms deeper the larger females will spawn deeper out of sight from most fishermen just can't see or find them while a few of the smaller bass continue to spawn a little shallower and are easy to see. I have had plenty of fishermen tell me there are nothing left but small fish on the beds spawning while I personally am still seeing plenty of big spawning fish deeper away from the banks. The fact that bass will spawn deeper on many lakes as the water warms more farther into spawning season makes it just appear that the big ones spawn first and that's where I think the rumor started.

[NBR]

Most of what I have read indicates the larger fish spawn earlier and deeper than most of us think.

[gobig]

I think big fish do what they want, they make their own rules. I have had experiences that support everything said here. I caught an 8.5 in Feb last year that appeared to be spawned out. She was definitely void of eggs and her tail was raw. Then again I caught an 11.4 in late June where she was literally expelling eggs as I was unhooking her.

This is a direct quote from the Big Bass Zone.

"Bigger fish spawn deeper. And many times, they spawn earlier. By March and April, it can be to late. Although the water temp is not prime before this period-it may be 58 degrees-I think that big fish are big because they do things differently."

[james 14]

I've read more than one article stating that its not the female's choice but the male's. The male creates the bed and then moves out to find a female and push her back to his bed. Maybe he picks the big ones first because "bigger is better" or maybe he picks the first one he runs into that's suitable. I have no idea if this is all true or not. The same articles also said that not every female will get picked and will end up not spawning at all.