BassBlaster

Science: Big Bass & Weather

A recent Texas ShareLunker

A recent Texas ShareLunker

Maybe you’re like me. I don’t live in Texas or California, but I sure like following all the big bass catches out of those states. One of the neatest presentations I saw a few years back at a conference was by Gene Wilde, a Texas Tech researcher, on a theory of just what causes these states to have years where there are an “abnormally” high number of big bass catches. Turns out the theory points toward the weather.

Gene had noted these big spikes in the number of very large bass caught in the region over the years, and close observation lead to the fact that they seemed to follow about eight years after an El Niño event. Eight years also turns out to be about how fast a bass with good genes and a little luck on the survival side can turn into a giant. In an interview I read on his study, Gene stated, “In Texas, where we have floods and high water (because of heavy rainfall as part of the El Niño effect), it generally means more rain in the spring. Bass recruitment is higher in years with high water levels. I think you just have a good year for (bass) reproduction.”

Wilde likens it to a lottery, where the more tickets you have, the more likely you are to win. The more bass spawned in a given year, the greater the likelihood that more of those bass will become big bass (via good genetics), and subsequently, the greater the catches of big bass by anglers in certain years on down the road.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Gitcha Bassin' Fix

To Top