Post-Tournament Bass Fishing
A few years ago, somebody gave me a piece of fishing advice: if there are fishing tournaments on your lake, find out where the organizers release the fish and target that area; bass, I was told, will generally stay in the same area after you release them. I decided to do some research to find out whether or not this is true. As it turns out, studies have found that largemouth tend to have a "more sedentary behavior" compared to smallmouth, and so the former tend to stockpile near release areas whereas the latter disperse (1).
For example, a particular study done on Lake Martin in Alabama found that largemouth bass take a relatively long time to move away from their area of release. The experiment showed that "a high proportion [greater than 50%] of tournament-caught largemouth remained within 3km from the release site up to 3 months after release" (2). This finding at least gives some guidance on how to find hotspots on a lake. Of course, a 3km radius covers a fairly large area, but on a big lake it at least gives you a place to focus on. Also, keep in mind that largemouth will eventually disperse- other factors, such as food availability and water temperature, will ultimately determine where the fish locate. And while largemouth will slowly move away from their release site, they will rarely travel great distances. It's true that some largemouth have travelled great distances, up to 20km, to go back to the place where they were caught. But most do not.
Relative to largemouth, smallmouth tend to move away from their site of release much faster. Researchers tested this on Dale Hollow Lake, the smallmouth capital of the world. As you can see in the graphics on the left, within 6 days, tournament-caught smallmouth have for the most part spread out, some travelling quite far from their place of release in a relatively short amount of time. (And on an unrelated note, the fish are generally located "on points near the shore or along rocky cliffs and [are] rarely found offshore in open water" (1)- something I hope to test on my upcoming trip to Tennessee.) Relying on release site information to find smallmouth bass on a lake, then, isn't a good strategy for finding fish.
But why the discrepancy between the two species? Some think that smallmouth merely recover faster after being caught, and so they regain the energy to travel greater distances faster. Others think that smallmouth have a greater tendency to navigate back to their home territories- like how salmon travel back to their original breeding spots. Regardless, most of the current research supports the theory that smallmouth move away from their site of release faster than largemouth.
The fishing lesson in all of this is that gathering information about tournament release sites will be useful when fishing for largemouth, but will be less useful, if not useless, when fishing for smallmouth. And remember, this kind of information is just a small piece of the puzzle, a place to start when doing your pre-trip planning. Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees.
(1) Melissa A. Kaintz & Phillip W. Bettoli, "Dispersal of Smallmouth Bass from a Simulated Tournament Weigh-In Site" (2010) 30:4 North American Journal of Fisheries Management 976.
(2) Benjamin R. Ricks Jr, "The Effects of Tournament Fishing on Dispersal, Population Characteristics, and Mortality of Black Bass in Lake Martin, Alabama" (2006), online: <http://www.ag.auburn.edu/fish/wp-content/uploads/formidable/RICKS_BENJAMIN_26.pdf>.
Related Posts:
Largemouth bass, water clarity & crankbaits
How Bass Eat
For example, a particular study done on Lake Martin in Alabama found that largemouth bass take a relatively long time to move away from their area of release. The experiment showed that "a high proportion [greater than 50%] of tournament-caught largemouth remained within 3km from the release site up to 3 months after release" (2). This finding at least gives some guidance on how to find hotspots on a lake. Of course, a 3km radius covers a fairly large area, but on a big lake it at least gives you a place to focus on. Also, keep in mind that largemouth will eventually disperse- other factors, such as food availability and water temperature, will ultimately determine where the fish locate. And while largemouth will slowly move away from their release site, they will rarely travel great distances. It's true that some largemouth have travelled great distances, up to 20km, to go back to the place where they were caught. But most do not.
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| See footnote (1) |
Relative to largemouth, smallmouth tend to move away from their site of release much faster. Researchers tested this on Dale Hollow Lake, the smallmouth capital of the world. As you can see in the graphics on the left, within 6 days, tournament-caught smallmouth have for the most part spread out, some travelling quite far from their place of release in a relatively short amount of time. (And on an unrelated note, the fish are generally located "on points near the shore or along rocky cliffs and [are] rarely found offshore in open water" (1)- something I hope to test on my upcoming trip to Tennessee.) Relying on release site information to find smallmouth bass on a lake, then, isn't a good strategy for finding fish.
But why the discrepancy between the two species? Some think that smallmouth merely recover faster after being caught, and so they regain the energy to travel greater distances faster. Others think that smallmouth have a greater tendency to navigate back to their home territories- like how salmon travel back to their original breeding spots. Regardless, most of the current research supports the theory that smallmouth move away from their site of release faster than largemouth.
The fishing lesson in all of this is that gathering information about tournament release sites will be useful when fishing for largemouth, but will be less useful, if not useless, when fishing for smallmouth. And remember, this kind of information is just a small piece of the puzzle, a place to start when doing your pre-trip planning. Don't lose sight of the forest for the trees.
(1) Melissa A. Kaintz & Phillip W. Bettoli, "Dispersal of Smallmouth Bass from a Simulated Tournament Weigh-In Site" (2010) 30:4 North American Journal of Fisheries Management 976.
(2) Benjamin R. Ricks Jr, "The Effects of Tournament Fishing on Dispersal, Population Characteristics, and Mortality of Black Bass in Lake Martin, Alabama" (2006), online: <http://www.ag.auburn.edu/fish/wp-content/uploads/formidable/RICKS_BENJAMIN_26.pdf>.
Related Posts:
Largemouth bass, water clarity & crankbaits
How Bass Eat
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