By DON NORTON
Special to the News-Sun
One of the most amazing times of the year for bass fishermen is the pre-spawn period.
Contrary to what many people believe, the spawning process is not a quick, simple event.
The ritual involves three separate periods: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn.
Surprisingly, the pre-spawn period actually begins in the late fall months.
That is when the female bass initiates egg development.
Then it takes up to four months for the roe mass to fully develop.
If you've caught females during this period and cleaned them for the table, you may have noticed a yellow mass.
That is simply their eggs in gestation.
Typically in our area, reproductive instincts kick in as early as December, and are generally in full swing by February and March.
Bass do not initiate their spawning activities at the same time on different lakes, or on large bodies of water.
On Lake Okeechobee, for example, bass may be spawning in January in one section of the lake while others wait until March or April in a completely different area.
It's not uncommon for half the bass population in any given lake to be in the pre-spawn mode while the other half are already laying eggs.
Weather will have a dramatic impact on the spawn, often causing fish that have begun the ritual to move off into deeper water until the front passes.
This can take hours and even days, but eventually the weather will clear and they will return.
The actual spawning movements to the shallows are dictated by the length of the day and amount of sunlight, called photoperiod, and the water temperature.
Also involved in that sequence is the angle of the sun and the sequence of the moon cycles.
In Highlands County, our lake temperatures will typically fall into the low 60's, or even the mid-to-high 50's in December and January.
At this temperature, most of the bass are in a pre-spawn phase.
When the temperature hits the mid 60's to low 70's, the majority of the females will be hovering over a bed.
It's interesting to note that some bass have actually been found to be on beds in water temperatures as low as fifty degrees, while others have spawned in 75-degree water.
I've been watching the water temperatures in a number of lakes and I've found most to be much warmer this year than other years, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's since December.
With this recent summer-like weather, some of our lakes are already at 70+ degrees.
Most people believe the moon phases to be of greater importance than water temperatures and as a result, the full moon of January often signals the start of the spawn for many fishermen.
However, biologists studying bass behavior claim the surface temperature of the water is probably more important.
Lakes typically have warm pockets of water that may vary four or five degrees over 300 yards.
Such areas are the first to see actual spawning activity.
Where the bass decide to spawn depends on the characteristics of the specific waters.
Typically water in the upper end of the lake is likely to be warmer than water on the lower end.
With the winter sun positioned lower in the southern sky than at any other time of the year, the shoreline on the north side of the lake should heat up quicker.
This area also receives more sunlight and less wind.
Largemouth bass will generally build their "nests", or "beds" in shallow, warmer water on or around vegetation on a hard or sandy bottom.
Males normally select the site, although in some cases they have been known to select a mate first and together, cruise the shallows to find a suitable site.
Beds are usually in 2 to 6 feet of water to take advantage of the ample sunshine required to incubate the eggs.
Spawning "flats" one year will generally attract spawners the following year.
The individual nests are usually spaced several yards apart so that each bass has its own domain.
Once the male selects the nesting site, he will begin a sweeping motion with his tail to "sweep away" any debris and clean the site creating a bed.
The dimensions of the nest are at least 2 feet in diameter by 6 inches deep.
When the nest is prepared, the male will swim out to deeper water seeking an eligible female to lead back to the nest.
The male will often be seen battering and butting the female to get her to the right bed.
The pair then will begin to circle the bed and "dusting" any remaining debris out of the selected area.
The male will continue his physical contact by nipping and pushing at her side and belly until the female is ready.
They move to their positions over the bed, normally during low-light conditions and the female will begin releasing her eggs.
The eggs sink slowly into the nest, and the male ejects milt over the eggs and gently moves his tail back and forth to assure that all the eggs are fertilized.
The size of the female usually determines the number of eggs that she is capable of depositing.
Some suggest a bass lays 5,000 eggs per pound of body weight.
A four or five pound bass is considered the most successful spawner, in terms of egg viability.
She may drop 4,000 to 6,000 eggs every two weeks over a six week period, and she may drop eggs in one or more nests.
When through, the physically debilitated female has then laid from 5,000 to 20,000 eggs in the males nest.
She may also withhold eggs instinctively during unstable weather for another attempt days later.
Once her role is completed and the male has fertilized all the eggs, the female will usually desert the nest.
Sometimes, the female will hang around for a day or so to help guard the nest, but by then the male will normally drive her away.
He quickly comes back to the nest to stand vigil while fanning the eggs.
Fanning the eggs oxygenates them and helps remove gases that the egg mass may produce while maturing.
During this time the male is highly aggressive, warding off invaders and will often strike any lure that he feels is a threat to the eggs.
The female by now has moved away from the spawning area, often just out of reach of the shallows, and at times, into the deepest water in the area.
She will remain there for some time in the post-spawn mode while she recuperates from the spawning ritual.
In three to nine days the eggs will hatch and the swarm of fry will hover over the nest while absorbing their life-sustaining yolk sac.
During this time they are vulnerable to attack from bluegills and other panfish who often use "wolf pack" tactics to draw the male away from the nest while others swarm in and eat the eggs or fry.
Sudden temperature drops can also delay hatching and even kill the entire brood.
The yolk sac is gone within a week and at that time a tiny tail develops, allowing the newborns to swim.
It's at this time the male, having gone weeks without food will often devour as many as a third of them, stopping only when they have scattered.
This is often seen as Mother Nature's way of alerting the young to the predatory relationship they will be facing throughout their lives.
Survivors, now about an inch long, move even shallower, seeking protection from predators in protected shorelines and begin feeding on plankton.
When the spawn is complete, there may be 50,000 to 100,000 tiny bass in any given lake.
No lake could support such a population, so predation and other factors reduce the count over the following four months to around 200 fingerling-sized bass per acre.
It is believed that less than 1 percent of the eggs actually develop into catchable sized bass on any given lake.
On another note, I received a request from Holly Hall, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Florida who is conducting a survey on the regulatory processes protecting recreational uses of Florida Lakes for one chapter in her dissertation.
For anyone interested in taking the 5-minute survey, here is the link: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1H2G2M5t3NFdZnT
Don Norton is a professional tournament bass fisherman, bass fishing guide, and custom rod builder. He has also taught a few fishing classes at the South Florida Community College. He lives in the Golf Hammock area of Sebring with his wife Lexie, mother-in-law Ruth Charvat, Ranger, a huge black lab and Riley, a large golden retriever and is the owner of a custom rod building company appropriately named "The American Fisherman". He can be reached at 216-339-6571, 330-635-6682 or by email at donorton13@gmail.com. His website address is theamericanfisherman.com.
Friday, January 18, 2013 - www.newssun.com/FRI-1-18-13-FishColumn