How long do largemouth guard their fry?
Guarding can continue from eggs through the early free-swimming fry stage. A compact group of young fish near a guarding male is a brood, not proof that all adults are still spawning. Duration varies with temperature, development and brood survival; calendar dates cannot identify the end of guarding.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Spawning
- At what water temperature do largemouth spawn?
- Do largemouth and smallmouth hybridize in the wild?
- How do I find largemouth beds?
- Do male or female largemouth guard the nest?
- Is bed fishing harmful? Should I do it?
- Do largemouth eat while spawning?
- Do largemouth spawn more than once a year?
- Does the full moon really trigger the spawn?
Same topic, other species
- Is it wrong to keep spawning males off the beds? — Crappie
- What is a tiger muskie? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What eats the eggs, if nothing guards them? — Yellow Perch
- Why are there closed seasons for pike in spring? — Northern Pike
- How long does the male guard, and what is the fry ball? — Smallmouth Bass
- Why are there closed seasons for trout, and why do they differ by species? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- Do walleye eat during the spawning run? — Walleye