Smallmouth Bass protecting his nest

As promised, here are a few more shots of that beautiful smallmouth bass on his nest. He must have decided that it was clean enough. It seems to have met with the female's approval also. Sometime between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning they spawned. The water has continued to warm up with the beautiful weather we've been having: it needs to be over 60F in order for smallmouth to spawn. If you look closely at the pictures you can see the tiny creamy eggs which have adhered to the rocks in the nest. He will now protect the nest until the little ones hatch and become adventurous enough to leave home. The female heads for deeper water soon after spawning, leaving the male to keep the eggs aerated and free from silt. He won't leave the nest even to eat. He will live on whatever minnows happen to stray to close to him. Depending on the water temperature the eggs will hatch in 4-12 days. It's no wonder the bass are so hungry once the little guys are gone!