When do bass spawn?

[steelhead52]

Hi guys. When do bass spawn in the northern NJ lakes?

And thirdly, why do lakes like Echo Lake turn muddy for a week after a mild rain?

[Eskimo]

.

Bass use the lengthening day and water temperature to cue them in on when to start spawning.
According to this website, it occurs between 60 and 70 degrees.
http://www.marksmarineinc.com/fishin...argemouth.aspx

The reason Fish & Game requires all bass to be released from April 15 to June 15 is to give the bass time to lay their eggs before the bucket-crowd goes on their killing spree.
It's also hoped a male bass that was pulled off a nest he was guarding will return to the nest before the sunfish gobble up all the bass fry.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw//pdf/...igfsh24-33.pdf


Here is some info on bass spawning:

Life Cycle

Largemouths usually spawn in the spring when water temperatures are between 60°F and 70°F. However, if water conditions are unsuitable and disrupt the planned spawning season, the fish can wait for as long as sixty days to resume spawning.

As mentioned above, the largemouth bass is actually a member of the sunfish family. And in similar fashion to the sunfish, largemouths tend to create rounded, saucer-like nests generally from between 2 to 4 feet of water and often within ten feet from shore, in bottom conditions ranging from sand to mud, hard clay, rock or gravel.

In discoloured, muddy bodies of water, nests are usually shallow; while in clear lakes nests tend to be deeper. Arranged in about twenty feet intervals, nests require some sort of structure or cover that offers security for their young and discourages predators from infiltrating the breeding grounds.

After the female produces her thirty thousand eggs and deposits them into the nest, the female then leaves the male to guard the nest and eggs, fending off any predators until the young are able to fend for themselves. Once the eggs have been dropped by the female, the male releases his milt over the area, 'sweeping' with his tail to ensure all the eggs are fertilized.

After spawning, the male positions himself over the nest, maintaining a vigilant watch for hungry intruders. If two or three pairs of bass spawn in the same nest, only the dominant pair will remain to guard the young.

For about two to five days after the initial spawning, the female guards the area from her post away from the nest, repelling trespassers that seek entrance to the nest from deep water. Afterwards, she drifts into deeper water or into open pockets in the weeds. There, she suspends her exhausted body between the surface and the bottom, recuperating from the spawning effort. Some females that are not in good physical condition die after spawning, simply unable to recover from the exhausting process. Most females, however, recover quickly. Bass do not feed while recovering their strength after spawning.

If the nest is successfully protected from predators, the young hatch and the male bass continues his watch for a few more days. Afterwards, he moves to deeper water and begins a recuperation period of seven or more days. In a few days the bass fry absorb their yolk sacs, then school in shallow water near protective cover. Their feed consists of microscopic plankton until they reach about two inches in length; at this size, they begin to seek increasingly larger food items such as insects, worms and smaller fishes. A translucent yellow colour and showing a distinctive black stripe down each side, bass fry are a favourite target for other predator fish species.