Conservation Currents: June is the Month for Spawning Bass on Lake Champlain
by Howard Verman, Charlotte Conservation Commission,
June 16, 2011, page 10.....

The wind was rippling over the water just enough to make visibility difficult as the boat trolled the shallows of Town Farm Bay looking for signs of bass activity. It was early June, and the water temperature was 57 degrees, time for the largemouth bass to be spawning. Gliding through the pencil grass, a white, circular patch became visible in about four feet of water – a bass bed. Suddenly, a large shadow slowly moved across the sandy bottom, confirming the presence of a huge fish. It was one of those moments that cause a quick intake of breath and a quickening of the pulse that bass fisherman live for.
June is probably the best month to catch both largemouth and smallmouth bass in Vermont. As the water warms to around 55 degrees, the bass come out of their winter mode, their metabolism regenerates, and they start to feed in preparation for spawning. A full moon will trigger the spawning cycle.
First, the males move up into the shallows and prepare the beds by clearing a slight depression with their tails. Largemouth prefer five feet of water or less, while smallmouth bed slightly deeper. Largemouth like the bases of tree stumps, roots of lily pads and sandy shallows near the banks of sheltered coves away from the wind and waves. Smallmouth choose more gravelly, rocky areas to bed. The largemouth males are generally smaller than the females, around 1-3 pounds, while females in Lake Champlain can reach weights of 5-6 pounds.
The record largemouth from Lake Champlain was just over seven pounds, but fish over 10 pounds have been taken from Lake Dunmore and Lake Bomoseen. The largest smallmouth from Lake Champlain was 6 pounds 12.5 oz. taken back in 1978.
When the females come onto the bed, both fish will stay there for several days while the female lays the eggs and the male fertilizes them. A female bass will lay between 2,000-7,000 eggs per pound of body weight of which only 5% of them will hatch and reach adulthood. Once the eggs are laid, the female leaves and the male is left to guard the eggs and the small bass that emerge. Fiercely protective, they will spend all their time chasing predators away. Bluegill are constantly trying to eat the bass eggs and fry, often banding together to harass a bass on its bed. One bluegill will come in from one side of the bed, and while the bass chases it away, another bluegill will dart in and grab what it can. Additional predators that bass have to chase off are salamanders, other bass and crawfish.
To protect spawning bass, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has established a catch-and-release season from the second Saturday in April until the second Saturday in June. Many anglers practice catch-and-release throughout the year to promote a healthy fish population. Releasing a big bass helps maintain a strong gene pool and allows other fishermen the chance to catch a trophy fish.
Catching bedding bass is tricky because they are in a defensive mode rather than an aggressive one. Often, when a boat gets too close, the bass will spook and swim away from the nest. If it takes a long time to come back or repeatedly gets spooked, it will be difficult to catch. However, when a bass stays on the bed, even when a boat is right above it, or if it comes back quickly after darting away, it is catchable, depending on the fisherman’s degree of patience.
One method many fishermen employ is to cast a plastic salamander with a small tungsten weight against its nose just beyond the bed and then slowly drag it across the bed. Bass hate egg-eating salamanders and will attack ones that dare to approach the eggs. Other tactics involve dropping weighted tube baits, plastic minnow imitations (Zoom Super Flukes) and plastic worms into the bed. If the fish is uninterested and ignores the bait, change the bait, add a glass rattle, or change where the bait is placed in the bed. For most fish, there is a particular spot in the bed that is the hot spot, about the size of a 50-cent piece. If the bait hits that spot, it can trigger the bass to attack. Other times, the bass will ignore the bait, but if one is persistent, the bass will eventually become annoyed and pick up the bait to deposit it outside the bed. Using white or pink colored plastic baits will help you see when the bass eats it, especially if there are ripples on the water or if the water is turbid.
When sight-fishing for bass, polarized sunglasses are a must. A medium-heavy graphite rod, 10-pound fluorocarbon line, and number 3 sized hooks, either worm or wide-gap, will do the trick. Lead weights are no longer allowed, so tungsten, while more expensive, is preferred.
If you do catch a bass off its bed, make sure that you release it quickly so it can return to guard its eggs and fry and go back to its job of chasing away predators.
Among professional, tournament fishermen, Lake Champlain is considered one of the premier bass fisheries in the country due to the abundance of both largemouth and smallmouth. With the advent of June and the hopeful recession of high water, the time will be right for some quality bass fishing.

This week’s cover photo is of Howard Verman with his catch: a three pound largemouth Lake Champlain bass.