Water Temperature For Striped Bass Spawn

Stripers spawn in open fresh water where the current is moderate to swift.

Water temperature for striped bass spawn. Large bodies of water such as lakes tend to warm up at a different pace in different portions of the water. That way females can match their egg laying to the rapid growth of plankton the favorite type of food for young fish something that only happens during a narrow window in the spring. Spawning is governed by water temperature and it starts when the water is around 58 60 degrees f. Spawning begins in the spring and running water is necessary to keep eggs in motion until hatching.

No spawning bed or nest is created by striped bass. Spawning of striped bass involves several small males surrounding one large female as she lays her eggs freely into the running water. An adult female striped bass produces about 500 000 eggs per year but most die during the delicate egg and larval stages. Therefore all bass do not spawn at the same time.

When the water temperature rises between 55 and 70 degrees bass start seeking a protected shallow area that is suitable for spawning. Spawning doesn t actually occur until the river temperature reaches about 60 f 16 c. Striped bass typically head to their spawning grounds in the freshwater portions of the estuary when water temperatures in the bay reach around 54 to 57 f. After the spawn as the bass begin leaving their beds the post spawn begins.

When river temperatures reach 55 f 13 c in the spring striper bass begin to swim upstream from the ocean. Most spawning occurs between 61 and 69 degrees and the spawning period usually extends from april to mid june. Striped bass don t have eyelids so when the sun comes up they will retreat to deeper water to avoid the bright light. Temperatures during the spawn are usually around 55 70 degrees.

My favorite bait during this time period is a crawdad colored crank bait and i concentrate in depths of 7 feet to 10 feet of water. This will run all the way through summer and is one of the best fishing times of the year. Reproduction striped bass begin spawning in the spring when the water temperature reaches 60 degrees. These water temps range from 70 75 degrees.

Gaining a better understanding of how water temperature rainfall and food availability affect survival of early life stages will help us explain how population size is controlled and predict how good the angling will be in the future.