after spawning...how long till a bass eats again?

[bustout]

also, is it different for a male and female?

thanks in advance

[Scott D.]

They don't have to be hungry. Just piss 'em off enough to hammer ya!!

[basstamer]

Yeah and generally it don't take much to piss off a post spawn fish!

[SethB]

Sounds like my house. It don't take much to piss off a post spawn female.

[Cooch]

Since a bass' entire life cycle through out the year is based upon the spawn, it's gonna be purty quick to wanna eat. Now there is prolly a good period from when those bass are on the bed, where they are not eating at all, even after the eggs have been placed, up to the point where the fry are hatched, the bass aren't really eating, but fending off preditors. They only end up in our hands, because our predators have hooks in em.

My guess is, once those eggs have hatched, and become fry, the female wonders off and loses total interest in what just took place and completed. At any point from there on, she needs to start feeding to begin rebuilding the energy spent through the spawning process.

Now the male might just take a little longer, because his job requires that, for several days he must tend to and guard the fry. He's still in that protection, fend off the predators mode. It's possible he might take advantage of a predator and eat it, but it's not his focus. Once those fry move away and disperse, I would guess that male bass starts ta think about feeding more at that point. He's gotta, because it's likely in a week or two or three, he's gonna do this all over again with another female.

[mark poulson]

I'm no expert, but I've fished, and read about fishing, for years, and this is what I've read and learned.
Anything that's successful in a fish's lifecycle is usually hardwired into the fish's system.
Take, for example, Pacific salmon, whose throats swell shut so they can't eat when the start the spawning migration. They strike lures out of agressive instinct.
Since the survival of bass fry is largely dependent on the male's guarding them until they can fend for themselves, I'm assuming part of the spawning chemistry in males is to turn off the feeding mode until the guarding cycle is complete. Otherwise, they'd eat all the fry.
The female, once the eggs have hatched, moves off and is sluggish for a day or so, and then begins to feed up to make up for the egg making and spawning energy she's spent. Maybe her early sluggishness after she abandons the beds is part of the turnoff of the feeding mode part of the spawn. I don't know.
I do know, if she wanted, she could overpower the male and eat the fry, too, and she doesn't. I don't think that's because she's good hearted.
I just try to remember that bass are really pre-programmed creatures, who can "learn" to avoid danger, but, otherwise, really don't have any "say" in how they behave. They're guided by the instincts for survival that have allowed them to succeed.
But, then again, what do I know???