Attracting Nesting Bass to your Shoreline

 

In order to attract nesting bass to your shoreline, you have to know a little about the life history of bass.

 

Getting bass to spawn successfully is only half the battle. Helping the fry survive is the other challenge. Food and shelter is the name of the game. In late May or early June, male bass congregate in rocky shoreline areas of the lake, vying for clean gravel areas in which to build a nest. The male creates a nest by cleaning away dirt and sediment with his tail. Temperatures between 16.1 and 18.3 degrees Celsius are typically required for the initiation of next-building and spawning behaviour.

 

Small mouth bass usually build their nests beside a large object called an “inhibitor”. This is usually a large to medium size rock (0.5 meter [1 ½ foot] across or larger or a large log in approximately one metre (3 feet) of water on a boulder or gravel bottom.

 

The male entices a female into the nest and spawning takes place. As the eggs do not mature in the female all at once, the female may spawn two or three times before being spent. The male may entice two or three females into the next before mating is completed, increasing the genetic diversity of its brood.

 

The male protects the next aggressively from the time of its construction, but especially once spawning is completed. When the eggs hatch four to ten days later, they are clear and remain on the bottom of the nest.  A week to ten days later, they start rising off the next and form black larval balls. Larval bass are especially vulnerable to predators during this “free-swimming” stage.

 

At about fourteen days, the larvae go through a metamorphosis and become “fry”: their body shape changes, colouring turns light brown to near colourless, and the head enlarges. At this stage, broods become aware of their surroundings, sending them scurrying for cover when a predator approaches. As the fry mature, they wander further and further from the nest. The “ball” of fry that the male is trying to guard becomes less well defined and harder to protect. Eventually, protection becomes impossible and the male returns to deeper water for the summer feeing period.

 

For more information on this and other fisheries enhancement, protection and rehabilitation initiatives being undertake by the “Georgian Bay – North Channel Fisheries Stewardship council” you can check their website at www.helpourfisheries.com 

If you own shoreline, you may want to consider providing suitable habitat for smallmouth bass to nest along your shoreline These instructions will demonstrate how to create a bass nest:

 

  1. Select a shoreline site in approximately 1.0 metre (3 ‘) of water depth on a rocky or gravel bottom, preferably with an inhibitor rock or log nearly. Shorelines that are sheltered from strong prevailing winds are best and will help to ensure that nests will not be destroyed by future wave or ice action.

 

  1. Ensure that the nest is not located where it will interfere with boat traffic. A good rule of thumb is to not build it any further fro shore than beyond the extent of the nearest dock directly in front of your own property. This way, it will not be a hazard or an obstruction to your neighbours.

 

  1. In approximately one metre of water depth or more, move around existing stones to create an open sided ring of stones approximately 0.75  to 1.0 metres (2 to 3’) in diameter and no higher than 30 cm (12”) from the bottom. It should look like a campfire pit, but with one side open. Or move stones around so it creates a shallow depression of the same diameter listed above. Ensure that the open side of the ring faces off shore or towards the deeper water.

 

  1. Add clean, pea sized gravel, dumped to a depth of approx. 6-10 cm (2 to 4‘) on the bottom of the created stone ring or shallow depression. This creates a perfect environment and gravel substrate for bass spawning, egg incubation and fry rearing.

 

  1. Enjoy your accomplishment and know that your efforts can help make a difference in protecting and enhancing the fisheries of your local area for many years to come.