Smallmouth Bass Seasonal Movements
In order to successfully fish for smallmouth bass all season long anglers need to be aware of and follow the smallmouth bass as they perform their seasonal movements. While it is commonly understood that fish move shallow to spawn in spring, out to deeper waters in summer, and back towards spawning areas prior to winter it is not very well understood just how far these fish will or can be expected to move in any given day, season, or year! In this blog post we will cover our own smallmouth bass fishing experiences as well as what the formal research on the topic has discovered. In short; smallmouth can and do move a lot within their home range BUT if they don't have to move far throughout the year they won't.
Seasonal Movements: An Overview
Before we dive into the specifics on seasonal movements it is crucial to remember that all fish have one goal: survival. Their actions serve the best interest of their survival. This means spending the majority of their time in areas that optimize growth! Ample food supplies, preferred water temperatures, shelter, and ability to adapt to changing conditions allow this to happen. At times it may be favorable for fish to move areas completely to optimize their growth; especially if there are not very large areas creating huge forage populations that can sustain them. In simple or small bodies of water the musky seasonal movements are straight forward as there are relatively few areas which have the right conditions needed in each particular season. The larger the bodies of water the more area's that can suit the needs of your target species in each season. On small bodies of water these movements will typically be shorter while on larger bodies of water the movements can be longer to reach the next suitable area. As the bodies of water become more complex the seasonal movements can also increase in complexity.
Fish Movements In Simple Bodies of Water
We like to define simple bodies of water as those that are open, near bowl shaped, single or dual basin, with minimal structure. In simple bodies of water the difference between deep and shallow water is just how far off the bank you are with the deepest being somewhere in the middle. There is very little structure that connects different depths. Simple bodies of water warm up fairly uniform. This lets fish use smaller area's and generally move shallower when temperatures warm in spring an deeper as they warm too much in the summer; which simply means fish will move closer to the bank and further away from the bank.
Fish Movements In Complex Bodies of Water
We like to define complex bodies of water as those that have multiple areas that could be looked at as their own lake, have complex structural features that mix shallow, deep, and mid depth areas. On complex bodies of water finding deep water is not just about going further offshore. Water temperatures in complex bodies of water DO NOT warm up uniformly. In fact, the temperatures between a shallow bay system and the main lake can be 10-15 degrees F difference at times! Not only does this complicate how fish distribute but also the area's suitable for them at any given time throughout the year.
Smallmouth Bass Seasonal Movements Georgian Bay
In our experience the short answer around the topic of seasonal movements and how far smallmouth bass will move throughout the year is completely dependent on the thermocline. Smallmouth are a warmer water species, when compared to pike or lake trout. If you're just learning how to fish for smallmouth bass, exploring a new body of water, or just want to be sure you're not missing out on fish in your current body of water being able to put some limits on the range of areas you look will certainly allow you to be more efficient and stay in high percentage areas. So, just how far apart can these areas be?
Fishing on Georgian Bay we have found there is always a higher concentration of smallmouth bass in water between 68 & 72 F. While some smallmouth will continue to use the shallow weedy areas where these temperatures are available the vast majority will move to areas with close access to the thermocline. This can mean moving out (towards the main lake) or moving down do depths in any bays where possible. Wintering areas's seem to be close to spawning sites (<3 km) with vertical structure between shallow and water over 40 feet deep while the summer haunts we have found have been up to 10 km away from closest known spawning site; although it is difficult to tell just where the fish have spawned! In all cases water temperature appears to play a big role in limiting the movements at certain times of the year. In colder years, when the thermocline is shallower, more fish remain close to spawning sites where as in warmer years, when thermocline is deeper, the area's further away from spawning sites and near deeper water hold more smallmouth. The same is true when comparing more northern sections (deeper + colder) and southern sections (shallower + warmer) as the northern waters don't warm as much and so smallmouth tend to stick closer to the spawning areas.
Smallmouth Bass Tracking Studies
Anecdotal evidence is a good starting point but what about all the fish that aren't being caught? What if they aren't being caught because they aren't around or moved so far nobody is fishing for them? What if they are close by and you're driving past them all? The only way to truly understand the limits of smallmouth movements is through formal research and tracking studies. There have been a number of studies around this topic conducted over the years for scientific and fisheries management purposes. We've taken a look and tried to extract the information that will benefit anglers the most. All studies can be accessed by clicking the hyperlinked text at the start of each paragraph.
A 1987 Lake Ontario tributary study showed that many smallmouth only moved downstream of spawning sites in the tributary of capture while others dispersed into the lake. Indicating both resident and migratory populations. Throughout the study only 2.8% of the observations occurred at distances over 1250 m. While some fish in the study established home ranges within 5 km of spawning sites the majority of fish actually left the study area and could not be quantified. In all cases smallmouth tended to move to find the preferred temperature zone regardless of capture/release sites.
In a Michigan study smallmouth bass moved into and out of the harbour based on water temperature changes to stay in areas with temperatures closest to 22 C (71.6 F). The movements out of the harbour were a minimum of 2 km.
An Eastern Lake Ontario study showed much larger movements in the summer than winter with 7.91 km^2 vs 2.81 km^2. Daily movements in summer were 2.32 km and in winter 1.86 km which is a lot higher than our expectations for winter smallmouth. Total daily movements of 5 km/day were frequently observed. Occasionally, distances greater than 10 km/day were also observed. In one fish, a daily horizontal movement was estimated to be 16 km. Comparing these daily movements to the home ranges used at 7.91 km^2 these fish are using a lot of the home range in a day but not leaving the general area! Interestingly enough, the home ranges used in winter and summer did overlap and were not distinct! This population appeared to be a resident population of the island in the study which was roughly 30 km away from any other typical spawning bays which may be a reason for such overlap in seasonal home ranges and small overall seasonal migration distances.
A Grand River study in Ontario showed that while some fish stayed at the release location for over a year, some fish moved over 40 km! From wintering areas to spawning areas distances of smallmouth moving up to 9 km were noted.
Perhaps the most enlightening study we could find was the Lake Ontario study conducted between 2012 & 2016. While the study was aiming to focus on the impact of tournament displaced fish they had a control group for comparison. This control group was detected on receivers 8.7 to 19.8 km from their initial capture/release site where as the intentionally displaced group were detected on receivers 4.7 to 31.9 km from the release site. Since the control fish were often detected by multiple receivers at once the total distance estimate could not be determined. Displaced fish travelled total distances from 6 to >300 km during the study. One fish in particular travelled ~145 km in the period of 43 days! While this study seems to suggest that smallmouth prefer to not move large distances if possible; they are completely capable of doing so should the need arise.
How Far Do Smallmouth Bass Move?
After taking all of the above into consideration there are some limits we can put on the question "how far do smallmouth bass move?". While there will always be outliers who will travel very little or extremely far the conclusions below can reasonably be used to bound your search for smallmouth bass; especially on big waters.
There will always be both resident and migratory fish
If suitable conditions are available smallmouth will not move far throughout the year
Resident smallmouth can be expected to move up to 20 km from spawning sites throughout the year but often will be <10 km
If there are a lot of tournaments in an area the fish will be displaced more than this and their behaviour will result in larger movements
Wintering areas will typically be < 5 km from spawning sites but can be greater if there are no suitable wintering areas and spawning sites within close proximity of each other
To learn more about how to target smallmouth bass throughout the entire season, identify spawning sites, summer haunts, and wintering areas be sure to take our course at the link below:https://www.newwavefishingacademy.com/product-page/smallmouth-bass-fishing-course
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