Smallmouth Bass

(Micropterus dolomieui)

Micropterus, from the Greek, "small fin"
dolomieui, in honor of Dieudonné de Dolomieu, a French mineralogist.

Habitat : Primarily an inhabitant of swift flowing, less turbid waters in rivers and smaller streams, usually near rocks. (Prefers gravel under 1" in diameter to build nests and spawn). Does well in northern lakes. Water temperatures must reach the low 60 ºs for spawning, one reason many coldwater streams hold trout rather than bass. Needs a great amount of dissolved oxygen and, in streams, a dependable stream flow and modest current. Retreats to pools, undercut banks, or deep water to avoid bright daylight. Most active in early morning and evening. In winter, they gather near bottom and feed little until spring and water temperatures rise to about 47 º F.

Food: Bass feed most actively when the temperature of the water is 65'F. to 70'F. They will be in the shallows at this temperature in the spring and will move progressively to deeper water in search of a preferred temperature. In winter, bass seek the warmest water, at the bottom of the lake; at this period, they are mostly inactive. Crayfish are favored prey, though they also feed heavily on fish. Crustaceans and larger insects also figure in diet.  Newly hatched young consume copepods and cladocerans but begin to forage on insects when about ½" long. By the time fingerlings are 1½" in length, insects and small fish comprise bulk of diet.

Reproduction: Spawns in spring, in gravelly shallows of lakes or large, gentle eddies in streams, when water temperatures reach 62º-64º F. Male assembles a saucer-shaped nest, 14"-25" in diameter, on the gravel, coarse sand or rock bottom by sweeping its tail over the substrate. The female lays 2,000 to 10,000 eggs and then heads for deep water. Male protects the nest from predators of his own and other species and fans the eggs free of silt until the sac fry emerge in 3-5 days, depending on water temperature. Re-nesting is quite common, particularly when early nests are destroyed by flood or similar natural disaster. Newly hatched sac fry swim over the nest in a school for about 6-15 days, moving sluggishly until all the nourishment in the yolk sac is consumed. The young fry are about one-half inch long when the yolk sac is absorbed, and they leave the nest to feed on small crustaceans and copepods. As with the Largemouth, there is no relationship between the number of spawning fish and the success of the spawn. The strength of the year class depends solely on water conditions - in particular, the absence of a sudden cold snap or muddy floodwaters that can kill eggs and fry. Sexually mature in the second or third year, but where food is scarce or water relatively cool in all seasons, may not occur until third or fourth year.

Finding Smallmouth: Biologists have proven that a smallmouth bass normally does not venture much more than a few miles from their spawning grounds, meaning IF you know the spawning areas during the months of late May well into June, then finding smallies all season is relatively a simple deduction of what to look for. Once the water temperature hits the 55-65 degree F the bass will start looking for places to lay their eggs. The depth of the water they spawn could be three feet to eight feet. The male of the species clears the area, then the females arrive and they spawn. After the female lays her eggs she leaves and the male guards the nest and young. Not to mention eating them too.

After spawning the bass will more or less scatter to regain their strength and soon after they will be located on points or shorelines that contain "round rock" with some structure. This structure could be submerged trees, weeds, and of course even around old docks.

At this time of the year (July) the surface temperature could very well read in the high 70's. However you must remember that Matinenda Lake is a vast body of water, and also deep in many places. Just because the surface temp might be high, it is rather cool in the 15/20 foot mark. That is roughly where the small mouth will be.

Schad Raps, Rattle Traps, and such. Anything that will get you down enough to come close to bottom. One may (for sure) consider using lead head jigs tipped with either a minnow or leech.

The average size Smallmouth is around 2.5 pounds but bigger bass up to 4.5 pounds can be caught. The Smallmouth are generally caught off rocky shoals, rocky points and in the river systems. The bass are usually shallow and easy to catch.

On July 9, 1955, D.L. Hayes was trolling a pearl-colored Bomber around a shale point in Dale Hollow Lake, Kentucky. At about 10:00 a.m. he hooked a huge fish, and after a 20-minute fight landed what turned out to be the world record smallmouth. It weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces and was 27 inches long.

Spawning:

Reproduction of smallmouth bass is limited by the availability of gravel beds, and is not established successfully in slow-moving streams having a muddy bottom. Nest building takes place in water up to ten feet in depth. When a sustained water temperature of approximately 59'F. is reached, the male bass prepares the nest by fanning the bottom vigorously with his tail and by rooting out coarse materials in the nest with his nose. Silt and sand are displaced and carried away with the current. The finished product is saucer-shaped, two to three feet in diameter, consisting of clean, polished stones in the centre with wide crevices between them. The preparation of the nest may take a few hours to several days. If the water temperature continues to rise slightly from 60'F., the smallmouth bass is ready for spawning. The male coaxes the female into the nest, and eggs are laid and fertilized by the male in lots of 20 to 50 at a time, until all have been deposited. The eggs settle to the bottom of the nest and adhere to the clean stones. The eggs are tiny; it takes 10 or 12 placed side by side to measure an inch. A female bass, ten inches long, may produce 2,000 eggs; one 18 inches long may produce 10,000 eggs. After spawning, the female leaves the nest and the male remains on guard. He is a most devoted parent, driving away intruders and fanning the eggs with a gentle movement of the fins to prevent silt from settling and to provide a supply of oxygen by creating a current over the eggs. The incubation period is three or four days at 70'F. and 10 to 12 days at 55'F. Tester investigated the spawning habits of the smallmouth bass in Georgian Bay and Lake Nipissing and found that, at a temperature varying from 54'F. to 73.5'F., with an average of 62.0"F., bass fry rose from their nests 12 days after hatching. Bass-embryos, at a stage just before hatching, were killed by the temperature of the water rising as high as 73.5'F. It has also been found that, if a cold snap occurs after the eggs are laid, the male deserts the nest and the eggs become fungused. In the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River area, there is considerable variation in the spawning time. In tributary streams and in some warmer bays of the St. Lawrence River, spawning may take place in late May and early June, while in the colder waters of Lake Ontario, spawning occurs in June and July. Stone, Pasko and Roecker explained that, in these areas, bass populations are not homogeneous but are composed of a number of local populations. After hatching, the fry soon use up the food stored in the yolk sac. At this stage, they are about an inch long and jet black in colour. They leave the nest and travel in schools under the protection of the male until they are several weeks old. After the male ceases to guard, the fry scatter in all directions. Temperature is a major factor in the successful reproduction of bass in May and June. According to Fry and Watt the strength of the year class is correlated directly with the accumulated temperature experience of the fish in their first summer. This is particularly important in Ontario where the bass are approaching the northern limit of their range.