Fishing

Large Mouth Bass

Largemouth Bass Fishing

You must be able to create effective bait and lure tackle in order to be successful at largemouth bass fishing.

This will make all the difference in your success or failure at largemouth bass fishing.

Since the largemouth bass is highly regarded around the dinner table it is best to not come home empty handed from your fishing trip.

The Largemouth Bass has a very wide range of choices in its appetite selection. It can be caught with onleaf worms, red worms. night crawlers, bee moth, leeches, minnows, crayfish, and all types of artificial baits,  from top water lures to under water spinners and spoons.

Due to stocking programs largemouth bass are now caught throughout the contentinal US, Hawaii, southern Canada and most of Mexico.

Being the largest member of a group of closely related fishes called black bass, it is distinguished from the other by a jaw that extends beyound the eye.

The large mouth bass will vary in color depending on the type of water where it is found.

Bass from clear water are dark where bass from murky water are pale. All bass has a black lateral band that stretches from head to tail. This band will become more distinct when the fish is exposed to sunlight.

They have six senses: sight, hearing, smell taste, touch and they also have a lateral line which is a series of sensitive nerve endings that extend from just behind the gill to the tail on each side. This lateral line picks up subtle underwater vibrations.

They feed any time of the day or night but are less likely to leave cover to search for food under bright conditions. Like most fish they prefer to hang out in the shade where they find better camouflage.

They can detect color in shallow water, especially RED. One study showed that red and white lures caught 3 timeas as many large mouths over any other color.

In deeper water color selection is of less importance since most colors appear as shades of gray.

They rely on scent less than catfish, salmon or trout. However, they can detect minute amounts of scent in the water.

With their sense of touch they determine whether to reject or swallow an object. They usually hold on to a soft-bodied bait longer than a metal lure.

The large mouth bass has very few taste cells in their mouth, therefore taste is not as important to the them as it is to other species.

And adult bass dines mainly on fish, but will also feed on crayfish, frogs and insects. Because of the bass's large mouth and its flexible stomach it can eat prey nearly half of its own length.

As the water temperature warms up the large mouth bass feeds more often. They seldom eat when the water temperature is below 50 degrees F. and also declines when the water temperature rises about 80 degrees F.

In the cold waters of the north the largemouth bass may live as long as 15 years but only around 10 years in the warmer waters of the south. Interestingly, the female bass will usually live longer than the male.

Small farm ponds, old gravel pits and quarries are excellent places for bass fishing.

Rainy weather will usually improve bass fishing. Since the overcast skies reduce the light penetration, you can usually find the bass in the more shallow water. However, they may stop biting entirely during and after a heavy rain.