I suspect a few of my smallmouth may have pulled off a small spawn last spring. I have caught two 5" SMB in the last few weeks that are noticably smaller than any of the pellet trained fish I turned loose last year. My initial SMB stocking in October of 2011 was 20 fish in the 5-8" range, most were 5-6" with just two or three fish in the 7-8" range. Fast forward eight months to June of 2012 where I caught several chunky SMB in the 10" to 11-1/2" range.
Here is an article from Bill Cody that I pulled off a google search. Thank you Bill and thank you ewest for your contribution to the article. There is a lot of good information there.
http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/smallmouth-spawning.htmlNewer information indicates size, rather than age, determines when smallmouths reach sexual maturity. Males often spawn the first time at a size of 7.5" to 10" and females at 10" to 12" (Wallus and Simon 2008)
So, did my SMB pull off a spawn last spring? I think they might have.
