# How far does the average river bass travel in its life?



## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

I tried to Google it but got no results on lm or sm bass just stripers. Somewhere along the line i got it in my head its a mile or less from where they were hatched. A buddy asked me the question and i answered but I've got no scientific proof. I know rivers are different but lets say a good sized one that doesn't pool up in drought and has no dams blocking its path. 

Im going to make it a poll but feel free to vote and add. Id really like to know the answer.


----------



## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

You may be right about largemouth but with smallmouth they can move many miles throughout the year especially with no dams to block seasonal migration.


----------



## Wow (May 17, 2010)

The answer is "Far". Here's a lengthy article about a study that should answer your question. --Tim

http://archives.in-fisherman.com/node/4103


----------



## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

If you take into consideration that the Smallmouth faces up-current most of it's life too... add in 2 miles for evey hour it's stationary. It would be like living on a treadmill your whole life.


----------



## bjpatrick (Jun 18, 2010)

There are a lot of studies like this prevalent within In-Fisherman magazine. For $12 dollars a year it's a steal.


----------



## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

imo, where ever the food goes,the smallmouth will follow. Wether that be 5 miles or 100 yrds. Im sure theres plenty of fish out there with the conditions just right to wanna stay in the general area its whole life. But i will agree with most of them traveling a good bit in there life time. 
LOL and thank for the links. I could read about fish forever(lol as long as im not fishing)


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Think about the smallmouth in the great lakes and their seasonal migration. Just the move from the spawning grounds to the deep summer flats is several miles. The great lakes are nothing more than a giant river system.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

That's a real hard question to answer, because it's VERY location dependent. Not only does it depend on the geographical location of the river, it also depends on where the fish lives on the river. I don't even have a guess.


----------



## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

Ok i was too vague in my question. Lets change it to lm only. How far do u think they go?


----------



## JohnPD (Jun 12, 2012)

It has to be over 7 miles, how else would they be in the hoga here in Akron some 50+ winding river miles from Lake Erie? Or any other river for that matter. They always swim upstream.


----------



## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

IMO about smallmouth. They could travel back and forth 100's of miles in their life. Starting about mid may we start catching 20''+ smallies in my spot in southern medina county. I know they can't physically travel through the falls and dams but I feel like they move u from farther down stream from bigger waters.


----------



## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Pigsticker said:


> Ok i was too vague in my question. Lets change it to lm only. How far do u think they go?


From what Ive read, I dont think lm bass will travel far unless it has to. Of coarse they make there migrations for spawn(wich again the distance will vary depending). And are you talking rivers or lakes? Flood control lakes or not? Imo Ive formed from just reading books and articals on bass, sm will migrate WAY more then lm. But if the conditions are not right A lm bass will travel until it finds the right conditions.. 


lmao, the bass I catch in the one acre pond down the road from me travel very little unless some one decides to keep one... seriously though think with lm bass its really hard to tell with all the different vairables.

When I first read your post/poll,and replied I had sm bass in my head. And you didnt even differ between the two. When I think of the two I think of smallies being the more mobile of the two, were the lm will be more stationary. 

Oh an would also think that a river lm will move more then a lake lm. And lm in a flood control lake will move more the a lm in a non flood control lake......


----------



## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

Originally i was envisioning a med/small river/creek like Olentangy, Darby, Alum or Big Walnut but those get locked up during drought. They also have dams to impede.


----------



## Eriesteamer (Mar 9, 2007)

yep I am not and ace on how far any fish travel longs they do travel to where my hook, lime and sinker are is all I worry about and hope at that area there travel is staight up into my boat and then the worry ends.


----------



## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

.... and they swam, and they swam all over the dam .....:act-up:


----------



## JohnPD (Jun 12, 2012)

I've read a few articles on the net that they have caught, tagged, and released smallies in various states, and recaught them as far as 45 miles upstream at a later date.
http://archives.in-fisherman.com/content/tracking-river-smalljaws/3
4th paragraph down.

Another good article http://www.flyfishohio.com/stream_smallmouth_bass_migratory.htm


----------

