What water temperature do smallmouth spawn at?
DFO’s synopsis reports Ontario nest building around 12.5 °C (55 °F) and mating around 16 °C (61 °F); cited Quebec observations place spawning around 18–20 °C (64–68 °F). This variation is why nest building and egg laying must be separated. Follow local thermal history and observed stage, not one month or one universal temperature.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Spawning
- Do smallmouth and largemouth hybridize in the wild?
- Where do smallmouth build their nests?
- How deep do smallmouth spawn in ultra-clear water?
- How long does the male guard, and what is the fry ball?
- Do female smallmouth leave right after spawning?
- Is bed fishing for smallmouth worse than for largemouth?
- Do river smallmouth spawn in the main river or run up tributaries?
- When do smallmouth spawn in the north vs the south?
Same topic, other species
- Why do male crappie turn almost black in spring? — Crappie
- Do largemouth and smallmouth hybridize in the wild? — Largemouth Bass
- Do muskie guard their eggs or fry? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What exactly is the perch egg ribbon? — Yellow Perch
- Do pike guard their eggs or young? — Northern Pike
- When and where does each trout species spawn? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- Do walleye guard a nest like bass do? — Walleye