Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Did my bass spawn this year???

So here’s a little about my pond. History restored a pond that was six or seven years old about three years ago is now 3 acres. I have a really good copper nose bluegill population with good spawning beds and active spawning. My bass are doing great and I have bass anywhere from 6 to 8 inches to 4+ pounds I had a good spawn last year with fingerling bass showing up around the shoreline I think about this time last year. I may be wrong on the timingI’m in Arkansas and we were in a severe drought this year the first part of the year really since probably October. My pond was about 4 feet low so my gravel spawning beds were out of the water. I do have some hard bottom out in the middle of the pond. It still had several feet of water in it and in my bass may have spawned there. My worry is I’m not seeing any fingerling bass around the shoreline. Is it possible with the lower water and then when the pond did come up, over the weekend and we had cold fronts moving through is it possible that the bass just didn’t spawn this year? looking forward to your responses and thoughts.

See seine surveys here - a method of finding out pond balance . You do it with a short seine. You don't seine the whole pond only a small area. Then look at results to see what is there.
I bet your LMB are there - maybe a reduced rate for the year.


Here is a link to the MSU Pond Mgt. info

Checking Balance with a Seine | Mississippi State University Extension Service - https://extension.msstate.edu/natur...t/fish-management/checking-balance-seine

Pond and Lake Management | Mississippi State University Extension Service - https://extension.msstate.edu/natural-resources/fisheries/pond-and-lake-management

Yes sometimes the spawn fails see below from an prior thread

Behavioral Suppression of Spawning in Largemouth Bass
by Interspecific Competition for Space
Within Spawning Areas
STEPHEN LEE SMITH
Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission
Eustis, Florida 32726

ABSTRACT
Florida largemouth bass ,Micropterus salmoides florldanus, fail to spawn in association with
Dense populations of stunted sunfish. A recent study indicated that a "physical factor" rather
than a chemical factor may be responsible.
Three hatchery ponds containing marked bass were stocked at different points in the bass
Reproductive cycle with concentrations of sunfish known to suppress spawning. It was determined
that reduced or complete inhibition of spawning of largemouth bass is related to interspecific
population densities in the spawning area and is behavioral in nature. Suppression is linked to
aggressive interaction with other species ,primarily affects the male bass, and is effective in
suppressing the spawning behavior sequence even before nest construction.

As early as 1964 it was noted that Florida
Largemouth bass , ,
failed to produce a year class in several
eutrophic Florida lakes with large populations
of sunfishes (Lepomis spp.) (Horel 1964).
Chew (1972) further documented this phenomenon
and determined that reproductive
failure was due to "a refusal of the adult population
to spawn" and was characterized in the
female by the "retention of enlarged, ripened
ovaries long past the spawning period." He
found that the condition could be reproduced
in hatchery ponds and attributed reproductive
inhibition to the "excretion and build-up of
a hormone-like repressive factor by overcrowded
bream and forage species
Other workers have reported the failure of
largemouth bass to spawn in the presence of
large numbers of sunfish and concluded that
failure was due to either sunfish predation on
the eggs (Swingle and Smith 1943) or to a
repressive factor excreted by sunfishes which inhibited spawning (Swingle 1956; Chew
1974).
Barwick and Holcomb (1976) were the first
to indicate that some other factor may be
responsible. By segregation of bass and sunfish
while allowing free flow of water between areas
they obtained successful bass reproduction
and concluded that suppression of spawning
was probably not due to a chemical substance
excreted into the water. It was postulated
that "lack of reproduction was apparently
associated with a physical factor that in some
way interrupted normal bass breeding activity."
The study reported here was an attempt
to determine the nature of this "physical
factor" and the point in the reproductive cycle
at which it is effective.

The observations reported here indicate that
reduced or complete inhibition of spawning
of largemouth bass is linked to aggressive
interaction with other species primarily affects
the male bass, and is effective in suppressing
the spawning behavior sequence even before
nest building.

Yes small LMB do prey on small new yoy LMB. But they are not there in the larger numbers like BG. When you look at the seining article you will see that the survey is only on a very small area of the pond so structure should not be a problem.

All of the LMB females do not drop all of their eggs during the spawn. Some don't spawn at all depending on conditions. Most of the time the eggs are reabsorbed by the female LMB.