Bass Nest Preparation

Got a few shots of the bass preparing a nest along our loading dock tonight. Wish I had a circular polarizer for my lens to cut the glare, but a couple shots turned out ok. This bass has been slowly working at the size of his nest all day, and scouting for females in the deeper water close to the nest. Can't wait to see how he does. I always love this time of year and watching this process of building, mating, and protecting the young as they hatch and grow to become a black cloud of free swimming baby bass. Usually by the end of June they are starting to range farther from the nest and into the protection of the docks. Hopefully this year I'll get a better photo record of the process and keep the blog posted with the results. The bass pictured below is probably about 13-15". I'm trying to keep in mind that things look bigger under water, but he is a beauty, and one I look forward to seeing every day until he is done protecting his young at the end of June. Hope I get to catch whoever he woos to the nest with the camera! From the series of shots below you can see the bass inspect the nest, then working with his powerful tail to clean the bottom of the nest to get ready for the eggs that will be laid there.