Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Will a male LMB find his way back to the nest?

Been trying to stay away from the LMB nests but I think I may have accidentally pulled a male off the nest. I don't have that many mature fish so I really don't want to mess any nest up. I released him immediately after measuring and I was only about 30 feet away from the nest. Do you think they ordinarily find their way back to their nests?

I have caught males during spawning time in local public lakes. And after releasing the males they went right back to the nest. Surprised sometimes on how fast they return to the nest.

a few less males and a few unproductive LMB nests is what most people want on this forum. I have never seen someone complain about having too few LMB!

I have caught males off nest / while tending free-swimming brood numerous times. Release usually close to point of capture. Assuming male not stressed to much he will go back quickly. They seem to have a very good handle on where they are within their home range, especially if that involves small acreage.

A very interesting question and several factors are at play. Fish seem to know when a spawn/brood/nest is a waste of time. If there are to many BG etc. , LMB will sometimes not even try to spawn. If they are to stressed they may abandon the nest (there are stressors in addition to being caught). If the brood is up and about and the male removed and the BG start to eat most of the fry then abandonment may occur. Big water temp changes can cause abandonment. There are more causes as well.

If in your case the fish was quickly released near the nest and the eggs/fry were not decimated by other predators then he would quickly find the nest and return if he thought the batch was salvageable. If it was an egg only situation (no hatch yet) and water quality is good then a good chance for his brood to survive the event.

Thanks all. I feel a lot better.

Meanwhile, poking around on the web I found this very interesting study of observed density of brood predators vs the time involved in the temporary removal of the LMB male guarding the nest. Very informative.

One very salient point from the article that I found particularly interesting:

"When “dads” are released back into the water, they don’t head right back to the nest. “They’re disoriented so they go to the bottom to sit and recover for a while and get their heart rate back to stasis,” Stein said. “The fish is saying, ‘Okay, I lived through whatever that was. Now where is my nest?’ and by the time it actually gets back to the nest it has been gone from it 30 minutes.” "

Nice find. There are a number of studies on catch and release effects on LMB including nesting. Where the spawning season is longer (deep south) the effects on LMB population spawning is much less than in cooler areas (north US) where spawning seasons are short. You would have to bed fish a lot of LMB in a southern pond to severely dent the LMB spawn in a balanced fishery. It is however a population reduction method discussed in a recent PB mag Cutting Edge article.