Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations How old before smallmouth spawn?

I have a pond that was newly stocked with fingerling 3-4" smallmouth bass in October of 2005 and was wondering how old are smallmouth when they reach sexual maturity? My smallmouth are 2 years old and I've seen several that are 10-12 inches long the past few days. Is it a certain age or is it the size that determines spawing capabilities.

Is there a difference with spawning age/size for largemouth vs. smallmouth or they the same?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Typically Male smallmouth bass mature at 3 to 4 years of age, while female bass mature by age 4 or 5. Size at maturity ranges from 8 to 12 inches. Male bass usually mature at a smaller average length than females.


I hope this helps!

That's the same size (or even a little smaller) for first spawn as LMB, but a year or so older. I wonder if the size or the age is the limiter for SMB spawning - IOW, could SMB spawn at 12 inches in 2 years in water where they grew faster?

I hope to have evidence of my own on this issue in about 3 years.

I also hope to have an answer on that this year. I am on the same timeline as MarneMeister. My fish are of similar size as his as well. I think it may be that the pond was full of baitfish and the bass grew well from that. I will let you know in a few if I start to see beds and baby SMB. Stay Tuned!!

I do know that last year was my first year of spawn for the YP. There was a few - not tons of ribbons from the YP. They were also only in their 2nd year when spawn occured. They were large ( and still are ) for their age. If you look at the text books it says for YP that "Males reach sexual maturity between ages 1-3. Female yellow perch mature between ages 3-4"

Thus it may be a size thing vs. that of age but I will let you know as I look for my SMB to start doing something either this year or next.

I stocked SMB in 2004, and was told they would probably not reproduce. They had a pretty good spawn in 2006, and I even saw a few 4 inchers swimming today. I am pretty much ecstatic!!

Here are some generalizations. I write this realizing that there always are exceptions to generalizations.

I generally tell my pondowners that smallmouths mature about an inch smaller than largemouths. It's a reasonable, general rule of thumb.

For most fishes, it is size that determines if they are mature, not age. If you stock 2-inch fingerling LMB into a new, fertile pond in TX or MO, they almost always spawn at age 1 (the next spring). However, in SD, they almost never spawn at age 1 -- very rarely, anyway. The key is the different growing season lengths and the eventual size at spring age 1. LMB males typically can spawn at perhaps 11 inches, while females are more likely to spawn by 12 inches. Now, old, slow-growing fish can spawn an inch or so earlier, but these are reasonable numbers.

For the smallies, I typically expect most 10 inch males to be mature, while most females are mature by 11 inches.

Thanks for all of the responses. I'll keep an eye out to see if I notice any nesting. I 've created several pea gravel spawning areas around the pond, so we'll see what happens. If it is size that determines spawning maturity, there should be some activity this spring based on the size ranges I've seen.

The smallies have really grown fast since stocked, and I believe that's based on the advice I got here on creating the food chain and stocking numbers. Thanks again and I'll post if I see spawning activity from the smallmouth this spring.