Biology Yellow bass, like other members of the sea bass family are spring spawners. They prefer gravel or rock substrate for spawning, but unlike other sea basses they do not appear to require flowing water, and they temporarily pair during spawning. Eggs are usually deposited in two to three feet of water. At water temperatures of 70 F eggs hatch in four to six days. Yellow bass are slow growers, reaching four or five inches the first years, and only growing one to two inches per year thereafter.
Young fish feed primarily on fish, crustaceans, and insects.
Adults often eat large quantities of fish, and may even cannibalize their own young. Schools are most often found in midwater or near the surface. Although native populations do exist in areas of Oklahoma, Texas, and Mississippi, the species was primarily restricted to the Mississippi River from Minnesota to Louisianna. Introduced populations ocurr as far west as Arizona, as far north as Wisconsin and Iowa, and as far east as central Tennessee. In Texas yellow bass range from the Red River south to the San Jacinto drainage.