Quote Originally Posted by Jbyrd View Post
Maybe ,maybe not , with the location of the swim bladder the fish swim more at an angle as the eggs develope. Did you filet the 9-12 you caught in March? That is the only way to tell if it had spawned ,Plus I agree with you about the big ones not spawning as they age, they sometimes become sterile thus would explain why someone would think they had spawned as early as march.They never developed the eggs in the first place. The water temp has to be a certain degree in order for the eggs to develope in the fish . Then the moon phase and the length of daylight hours play a vital role in the spawn. The water can muddy up will delay the spawn . Sometimes if all the factors are not right the fish will absorb the eggs and not spawn at all. Or even just discharge the eggs into the water and never go on the bed.
I sure did filet the fish. It was hooked in the gills and died in the livewell.

Fish are like people, the older they get the less they are capable of reproducing. Just because you read somewhere that bass only spawn in ideal conditions does not make it a fact in the real world. Mega bass live by their own rules. I have caught spawned out bass in the middle of March and I have caught spawning bass in the middle of July. Maybe I am a feak of nature and only catch wierd fish but I know that the spawn does not always happen when all the factors are ideal. Also I don't believe that a large bass full of eggs cannot swim correctly and drags their tails causing them to wear off 1/3 of their tail. This would be a horrible affliction placed upon them by nature. If they cannot swim correctly how are they supposed to eat? The creatures they make food of have no problem getting around and these mega bass seem to be able to retain their body weights quite nicely so I am almost 100% positive that they do catch their share of prey to feed on.

If we had all the answers bass would have gone extinct many years ago.