Where Do Tournament-Released Bass Go?

Can black bass displaced from their home ranges find their way home? How long does it take? Or do bass get lost? These are some of most persistent questions concerning the health and catchability of tournament-released bass, and answers have been slow in coming. Tournament anglers generally presume that released fish return home or else find suitable habitat. Biologists are not so sure, however, and nontournament anglers often suppose that harm occurs.

In 1977-78, a study by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation followed smallmouth and largemouth bass tagged and released following tournaments on the St. Lawrence River. The researchers found that anglers captured a large number of released bass within a half-mile of the release point, 50 or more days after release. Displaced bass seemed to disperse more than fish that hadn’t been displaced, but displaced bass tended to stockpile near the release point.

Since then, electronic tracking studies clearly show that bass typically establish home ranges, learn their territories, and rapidly return if displaced short distances. On the other hand, long displacements from home ranges can disorient bass, turning homebodies into migrants. Studies also have shown great individuality among bass in terms of habitat selection and movement patterns.

Electronic tracking recently has confirmed that some bass travel long distances to return to their home areas, while others never return. A study of bass released in the upper Chesapeake Bay, a tidewater area, found that displaced largemouth bass tended to move from release sites. Some remained near the release area for up to a week, but long-term stockpiling at the release points didn’t occur.

Between 33 and 43 percent of largemouths displaced 9 to 13 miles to the other side of the wide bay eventually returned to their capture areas. Return required less than three months in spring, but took as long as two years when bass were released late in the year. Evidently, many bass didn’t reach home, and others had to search to find their way back. Displaced bass moved much more than bass released near their capture sites, and eventually recaptured 53 percent in their home ranges.

Another study indicated that about 50 percent of tournament bass released on the Potomac River eventually returned home. This suggests that in a river system, moving upcurrent or downcurrent eventually leads about half the disoriented bass back home. They have a 50:50 chance of reaching familiar waters.

These tracking studies did not separate bass familiar with the route home from bass that were totally disoriented, stressed, and moving at random. Even without knowing the correct direction to travel, a lost bass that continues to move may eventually find familiar ground and return to its home range.

Tagged bass have traveled 20 miles or more in one direction. But few home ranges are as wide as one or two miles, so it’s difficult to assume that these “long-range” bass knew where they were going. Such long directional movements could be returns to known areas or merely wanderings. Sick, injured, or starving bass are known to increase movement, apparently in an attempt to solve their problems before they become incapacitated.

Lakes Wawasee & Syracuse Study

A tracking study at lakes Wawasee and Syracuse in Indiana by Jed Pearson of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources provides more insight. These lakes are joined by a channel and marshy areas. The two lakes offer environments that probably separate the territory known to bass in Lake Wawasee from the unfamiliar territory in Lake Syracuse. Lake Wawasee covers 3,410 acres, dwarfing 414-acre Syracuse Lake. Both are lightly developed with lake-front homes. Submergent plants, primarily coontail and milfoil, are sparse.