The Largemouth Bass is probably the most popular fishing target in North America. There are countless Bass Clubs and Bass Tournaments set up around the United States, and millions of dollars are spent yearly on Bass Fishing. This article will examine the Largemouth Bass, and how to catch them.
The Largemouth Bass
The Largemouth Bass can be found in all the Southern United States as well as Texas and California and Mexico. Dark splotches on the side that form a stripe can identify them. Also their upper jaw extends out past the back of the eye. Some of them are black but most are grayish. The average size is between 1 and 3 pounds, the world record Largemouth is 22 pounds 4 oz.
When the Largemouth is a juvenile it eats plankton and insects and its diet gets bigger as it does. When it’s an adult it eats other fish, frogs, and even mice or birds. I personally saw one strike at a water snake, which managed to get away. They like to ambush their prey by hiding in brush or in a drop-off.
There two subspecies of Largemouth Bass, the Florida Largemouth and the Northern Largemouth. The Florida Largemouth is the bigger of the two. They use sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, but in addition have a lateral line. The lateral line is used to pick up vibrations in the water, so they can hunt when and where visibility is bad. They can detect color and seem drawn to the color Red. They will feed at most times of the day or night but avoid bright sunshine.
Bass spawn in the spring and the male will guard the nest and won’t feed. However he will attack fast moving objects near the nest. They tend to nest in coves away from the wind, in 1 to 4 feet of water. There are between 2,000 and 12,000 eggs per nest. Out of all those eggs, less than 10 will survive to be 10 inches in length. When the babies are about an inch long, the male stops guarding them. Oh yeah should he run into them later, he will eat them!
Catching the Largemouth Bass
The typical way is to mount your bass boat and go looking for them. But if like me you are not blessed with a boat, don’t worry they can be caught from the bank. When the air and water temperature is hot they tend to head out to deep water. However in the cooler evening hours they can be found in the shallows.
You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on Bass Rods and equipment. But you don’t have to. Most serious fishermen use Baitcasting rods, and I do have one. But I have not mastered it and use a spinning rod.
Bass will hit a wide variety of live bait and lures. Topwater buzz baits are good to use, especially on a nest when going after a male that is guarding it. An artificial worm is probably the most popular bait. You can rig it to be almost snag proof and Bass will usually hit em. Spinner baits also work well at time. The movement and color in the water often invite ole Mr. Largemouth to take a bite. There are way too many artificial lures and baits to mention here, so it depends on how you like to fish.
