Bits & Pieces: When Bass Bite Birds...

Nature Notes: Bass Bite Birds

As omnivorous predators, bass are known to occasionally eat birds. They’re not common prey for obvious reasons—wings bring mobility in a different dimension. But there’s no denying the fascination of bass with birds.

Years ago when I lived in Massachusetts, I watched an adult red-winged blackbird seemingly taunt a lunker bass from its perch on a stand of cattails. The bird purposefully swooped down and fluttered just above the surface, as a bass that looked about 6 pounds rushed to the surface to try and intercept it. After the commotion settled, the bird did it again and again, until the bass lost interest or swam off. More often, bass consume more helpless prey, such as fuzzy ducklings following their mother across shallow bays, or fledgling birds that fall out of nearshore nests.

At the 2015 Bassmaster Elite tournament at Lake Havasu in Arizona in May, Aaron Martens came upon a bird-bite pattern and used it as the basis of his victory there. “I was way up shallow flipping large expanses of tules,” he reported. “Red-winged blackbirds had built nests among the stalks. While I never saw a bass eat a baby bird, I did catch one with feathers in its mouth, and found feathers in the livewell at the end of the day.” Though they were focused on red/black targets, the bass weren’t picky. Martens caught them on Texas-rigged green-pumpkin crawbaits with 1/2- and 3/4-ounce weights to penetrate the thick vertical vegetation.

Years ago, I was fishing a local lake with a buddy in early summer and skipped a jig beneath a boat dock. I hooked and landed a beautiful fish around 4 1/2 pounds. While unhooking it, I noticed a bill extending from the bass’ esophagus. At first I thought it had eaten a pike, but upon further inspection, it was the bill of a small duck, not a hatchling but closer to half-grown.

–Steve Quinn

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Conservation Concerns: World’s Largest Freshwater Fish Captured

In 2022, Cambodian fishers captured a massive giant freshwater stingray in the Mekong River, recorded at 661 pounds to set a new Guinness World Record for freshwater fish. Fortunately, they were able to contact fishery authorities and members of the Wonders of the Mekong initiative who are spearheading efforts to involve local people along this 2,700-mile waterway in conserving its many rare species.* After recording its weight, it was tagged and released, as has been the case with several huge Mekong catfish, another of the world’s largest freshwater fish.

Wonders of the Mekong is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, implemented through the Global Water Center at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV). Zeb Hogan, a biologist at UNLV, is co-leader of Wonders of the Mekong, along with other projects for the conservation of important fish populations. The group has been working to develop better conservation practices in hydropower development and to limit illegal fishing. Hydropower facilities have had negative impacts on populations and more dams are in the planning stage. Wonders of the Mekong collaborates closely with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration in their communications and conservation plans. Local residents and fishers have become partners in these efforts as well, and some rare species are now raised in hatcheries and stocked.

This vast river accounts for about 15 percent of the annual catch of freshwater fish worldwide, and it contains at least 1,000 species. Last year, the Cambodian government designated a 100-mile stretch of key spawning habitat as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site. Hopefully this status will aid in the study and recovery of rare species there, including giant freshwater stingray, Mekong catfish, and the giant salmon carp that’s listed as Critically Endangered on the international Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. It had been feared extinct until one was captured in 2022. Bordering and running through several countries, efforts on an international basis will be required on the Mekong, as many species traverse long distances seasonally.

Hogan hopes these research and conservation efforts will promote a greater understanding of what’s been called the world’s most important river. “Despite all the challenges, I’m hopeful that the Mekong River can continue to provide this incredible bounty of natural resources for generations,” he concludes.

–Steve Quinn

*Lovgren, S. 2023. The Wonders of the Mekong Project shows both the wonders and conservation challenges of the Mekong River. Fisheries 48:279-286.

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From the Archives: Summer Smallmouth Spawning

Have you ever seen what appear to be smallmouth bass on deep beds in August and think your eyes are playing tricks on you? Researchers in Wisconsin documented 463 smallmouth bass nests in Nebish Lake, Wisconsin, during the typical spring spawning season (May 16 to June 15). Another 24 nests were built during late summer (August 11 to August 29).

Nests built during summer were farther from cover, farther from shore, deeper, and larger in diameter than spring nests. Unlike spring, summer nests were not evenly distributed along the shoreline and were found in groups. Some summer nests were newly made while others were nests that had already been used that spring. Average length of males building nests in summer was greater than length of males building nests in spring.

Since this study, observations of summer spawning by smallmouth bass have been made in other nearby Wisconsin lakes. I also have received reports from anglers observing summer smallmouth bass nests in several New Hampshire lakes. And In-Fisherman staff had heard similar reports from northern Minnesota and Northwest Ontario.

The observations of summer spawning are puzzling given that it’s generally presumed that earlier-spawned fish have a survival advantage going into their first winter, as they are able to attain a greater size during their first growing season. Surveys by researchers the following spring, however, showed that some  smallmouths hatched from summer nests survived their first winter.

The authors speculate that summer spawning may occur in years when nesting habitat is saturated with a high number of nests in spring. It isn’t known if the smallmouths spawning in summer in Nebish Lake were spawning for the first time that year or if they had already spawned that spring.

–Gabe Gries

*Brown, P. J., and M. A. Bozek. 2010. Anomalous spawning of smallmouth bass in Nebish Lake, Wisconsin: implications for early spawning and over-winter survival. J. Fresh. Ecol. 25:169-177.

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