What Do Bass Eat? 7 Surprising Baits that Work Every Time
Every bass fisherman has asked themselves or someone else, “What do Bass Eat?”. We ask this question for an obvious reason, if we know what they eat, we can more easily catch them.
Even if we enjoy being outdoors and appreciate the time spent with nature, we would still rather not waste our time with little chance of catching a Bass.
It’s important to have a basic understanding of the feeding habits of the fish we’re looking to catch, this will save us time and money in the long run and increase the fun factor as we’ll get more bites in return.
We don’t have to be an expert on fish feeding habits, nor do we need to know what every fish likes to eat, but having a basic understanding will put us ahead of the pack and could dramatically increase our chances of success.
This video has been included for its clarification of the topic matter. Credit goes to
TylersReelFishing
Largemouth bass are known as predator fish, which means they hunt and eat other fish, bugs, insects, and pretty much anything else they can wrap their mouth around.
Given enough time, food, and a suitable environment, Largemouth bass can grow to a significant size. They are best suited to warmer waters with plenty of hiding places where they can ambush their prey. They will naturally eat smaller fish such as minnows and shad, but given the opportunity, they will quite happily take on larger fish such as trout.
They don’t only eat fish but will eat mice, rats, frogs, insects, and even small birds. I have personally seen a very large 14-pound or more Bass attack a duck!
Bass will prefer to hunt and eat things that seem to be hurt or struggling in the water, as these are generally easier kills with less energy expended to secure a meal. It’s due to the varied diet of bass that we have so many bait options and they all play in different ways when in the water.
Despite how they look, bass are pretty smart, so going out with the same bait every single day is likely to result in diminishing returns. The fish will learn to avoid what you’re offering them in very little time.
When you’re out fishing you might find that a plastic minnow works wonders, however, the very next day you’ll only get a bite if you’re using a 9″ worm. At a basic level, this means if you’re having no luck with one method after an hour, try something different and see if that produces the results you’re looking for. B
ass in popular fishing spots are less likely to perform well to common fishing methods, this is when you should try and mix things up a bit.
When do Bass Eat?
If you want to maximize your chances of catching a bass, then you need to understand the time of day they like to eat.
To better understand the answer to this question it’s a good idea to take a look at how bass eyes are designed.
A bass is characterized by very large eyes that protrude slightly from the side of their heads, they have a single large lens that allows for a lot of light to be captured from a wide viewing angle. Coating the back of their eyes is melanin which helps them see better both in bright conditions and when little light is available.
During the day Bass have what is classed as photopic vision and at night they have scotopic, which basically means that during daylight hours they will see better colors and depth perception, and at night their eyes will adjust to take in more light at the expense of depth and color.
Most experienced anglers will fish at either dusk or dawn, this is when Bass are actively hunting prey due to the visual advantage they have over prey. If you go out often enough you’ll come across plenty of occasions where shad are being pushed to the service at dusk by hunting bass.
Can Bass See in the Dark?
There’s something magical about fishing at night, it’s an experience that’s completely different from fishing during daylight hours. We’ve already established that bass have a distinct advantage over their prey when it comes to low-light conditions due to their unique eye biology. But does that directly translate into anglers being able to fish at night for bass?
The short answer is yes. Bass are frequently more active at night when conditions suit their hunting style, this means that night anglers are going to have an increased amount of success if they are well-prepared and have the right bait.
In addition to increased activity, you’re probably going to find less competition from fellow anglers at night, so you should be able to more easily position yourself in a prime spot.
In my experience and contrary to intuition, a darker bait is better suited to nighttime fishing. if you’re not having any luck with darker baits, feel free to switch to another color and see what the response from the fish is like.
It’s worth bearing in mind that fish are not the only thing that prefers nighttime, you’ll probably find a significant increase in insects, so top up on repellant or invest in a face net.
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Quietly Does It
We now know that bass has exceptional eyesight and are able to see well both in light and dark conditions, but what about their hearing?
If you manage to catch a bass, you’ll probably find that there aren’t any obvious signs of ears, at least not the same as mammals ears. But, if you have any experience at all, you’ve probably had experience of bass being drawn to bait hitting the water, so what does this mean?
Bass actually locate and attack prey based on both sound and sight. Bass ears are located inside their head without any obvious outward signs that they have any at all, but the upside of this is that their whole body can act as a sort of sounding board, helping them locate prey in a 360-degree radius.
This allows Bass to locate a frog plopping into the water, and small fish jumping, and they will also hear your lure as it moves through to water or when it breaks the surface. This also has a downside, if they can hear things hitting the water, then they can probably hear you moving around or talking.
Even these small sounds can be enough the scar fish away. This is doubly important if you’re on a boat as everything is amplified slightly due to the boat hull, motors, gear, and moving around can easily spook wary fish, causing them to swim for cover.
Can Bass Smell Bait?
We’ve all come across the various sprays and gels that can be added to lures in order to entice the fish to bite, or maybe you’ve seen the plastic worms that smell like decomposing cat food. The question is, can bass really smell and detect these things?
Bass have a sense of smell, however, the area of their brain that’s responsible for smell is not as large as the areas responsible for site and sound.
This basically means that bass will primarily rely on sight and sound to detect prey, with smell being a secondary method. In certain situations smelly bait is likely an advantage, for example, if the water is murky, then bass may rely upon smells to locate a potential food source. It’s likely that bass can smell better underwater than humans can above water, which is largely due to how smell permeates water.
A smell will linger far longer underwater than it will in the air, it won’t dissipate as easily, and in still bodies of water the smells are likely to stay around for quite some time.
Bass have a well-developed sense of smell and can indeed detect and locate baits based on scent. They possess a specialized olfactory system that allows them to detect and distinguish various chemical signals in the water, including the scent of potential prey.
When fishing for bass, the use of scented baits can be effective in attracting their attention. Many artificial baits, such as soft plastic lures, are manufactured with added scents or designed to absorb and hold scent attractants. These scents can mimic the natural odor of prey, making the bait more enticing to bass.
The sense of smell in bass helps them locate and identify potential food sources, even in situations where visibility may be limited, such as in murky water or during low-light conditions. By using scented baits or incorporating natural scents through the use of attractants, anglers can increase their chances of attracting bass and triggering a feeding response.
Spawning
Once a year bass will come up from the depths to spawn, creating a whole new generation of mini bass that will hopefully grow into monster fish for us to catch.
But, can you catch Bass when they’re in the middle of the act and are they actively feeding during this period?
The answer is not a straightforward one, unfortunately. When spring finally comes around and the waters start to warm up, Bass will move into shallower waters and begin eating as much food as they can in order to prepare themselves for egg production.
High-protein food such as crawfish are going to be the preferred prey, so you’ll probably have a decent amount of luck using a lure that looks like a salamander or brush hog. When they begin to nest the male will first move into an area to clear it out for the female, the female will then move in to lay her eggs.
During this time bass will be very aggressive towards anything they think might threaten their eggs and nest, which you can use to your advantage. Casting your bait into a nesting area multiple times may be enough to provoke bass to attack your lure.
During the spawning period, which is the reproductive phase for bass, their feeding behavior tends to change. Both male and female bass become focused on preparing nests, defending their territory, and engaging in the spawning process rather than actively feeding. As a result, their appetite decreases during this time.
Male bass, in particular, become more preoccupied with guarding the nest and protecting the eggs once they are laid by the female. They may display aggressive behavior towards intruders and may strike at lures or bait out of territorial instinct rather than true feeding motivation.
Female bass, after depositing their eggs in the nest, may exhibit minimal feeding activity during the spawning period. They often remain near the nest, recovering and regaining their energy after the spawning process.
It’s worth noting that while bass may not feed as actively during spawning, they may still exhibit some opportunistic feeding behavior if presented with enticing prey that comes close to their nests. This behavior is more likely to be seen in male bass, which are still focused on protecting the nest and territory. However, it’s generally less common for bass to actively pursue and consume food during this time compared to other periods.
Why do Bass Eat my Bait
So, why are baits and lures effective at catching fish? Baits and lures work primarily for three reasons, anger, hunger, and curiosity.
When trying to catch any sort of fish, using a lure or bait that looks and acts like something that is part of their staple diet is a decent method of securing a bite.
For bass, this might consist of salamanders, shad, insects, worms, or crawfish. When using these types of bait it’s important to try and make the bait look natural or injured. Twitching the rod as you retrieve your lure can give the bait the characteristics of something injured, but experiment with a variety of methods to see what works best for the fish you’re trying to catch.
When bass are in spawning season you might have to be more persistent in a particular area, this is due to the bass being more likely to attack lures based on protecting a nest rather than out of anger. If you can act as a persistent threat then you’re more likely to cause the bass to strike.
Do Miracle Baits Work?
We’ve all seen the adverts for miracle baits, and it’s difficult not the be drawn in by the amazing claims they make. If it helps me land a huge bass, then $19.95 is a very reasonable amount of money to pay, right? We really need to ask ourselves, do miracle baits actually work as described?
In my experience with miracle baits, they work as much as any other bait will work. The real key to using miracle baits or any other baits is making sure it’s what the Bass are looking for. I’ve used a miracle bait that was advertised late at night, the bait itself looked the part, it was a pretty convincing shad and it was made of three movable parts, this means when it moved through the water it looked like a shad swimming.
Despite the lure looking the part, I had no luck using it over a period of two weeks. Then one evening I saw Shad near the surface of the water being chased by something, I threw my lure out and I had a strike on the first cast.
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The lesson here is that the lure didn’t work because the Bass weren’t hunting shad during most of my fishing trips, as soon as they were, my lure worked.
I would suggest considering miracle baits, but just bear in mind that you need to be aware of the bass’s behavior and try to mimic the prey they’re looking for. Any bait can work if you think about how you’re using it and spending more on lure won’t necessarily provide any more catches.
Season Changes Affect What Bass Eat
You’ve probably noticed yourself that the food available to us tends to change with the seasons, summer, fall, winter, and spring.
This is part of the natural cycle of growing things and it might be more pronounced in colder climates where there are significant temperature changes between winter and summer.
Spring and summer might be filled with outdoor foods, picnics, and barbecues with more fruit, salads, and lighter food types. We may also eat later at night due to the longer daylight hours. In the winter we might be inclined to eat earlier as it gets dark earlier, we might also eat foods that are more filling and warmer.
Just like humans, bass eating habits change with changes in the seasons. Like all fish, bass are cold-blooded, so temperature has a big influence on how they behave and what they eat. When it’s spring, bass are more likely to be found in shallower water, but when it gets too hot they will retreat into the depths. When the surrounding water begins to chill the metabolism of bass will begin to slow, meaning they don’t need to eat as much and they are generally more sluggish.
Knowing how the temperature affects fish will allow you to better judge where they’re located and how ferocious their appetite is likely to be.
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Conclusion
Bass will try to eat almost anything that is smaller than they are, including mice, rats, insects, crawfish, birds, other fish, and salamanders. They have fantastic eyesight, a sense of hearing, and can smell things pretty well.
Bass, both largemouth and smallmouth, are predatory fish that have a diverse diet. They are opportunistic feeders and will consume a variety of prey based on availability and the specific habitat they inhabit. Here are some common food sources for bass:
Bass primarily feeds on other fish, including smaller species such as shad, bluegill, sunfish, minnows, and crayfish. They are skilled ambush predators and often target injured or weakened fish.
Crawfish are a favorite food for bass. These crustaceans are found in freshwater bodies and provide a high-protein meal for bass.
Bass are known to eat frogs, especially during the warmer months. They prey on both adult frogs and tadpoles, as they are readily available in aquatic environments.
Bass will also feed on a variety of insects and invertebrates, including insects that fall into the water, worms, leeches, and shrimp. They will opportunistically target these food sources when available.
Besides crawfish, bass may consume other crustaceans such as shrimp, small crabs, and freshwater shrimp if they inhabit their environment.
When it comes to the timing of their feeding, bass are most active during certain periods of the day and under specific conditions:
Bass are often more active during low-light conditions, such as early morning and evening. During these times, they tend to be more aggressive and may feed actively near the water’s surface.
Bass activity and feeding patterns are influenced by water temperature. They become more active and feed more frequently in warmer water. As the water temperature drops, their metabolism slows down, and they may become less active and feed less frequently.
Bass behavior and feeding habits can vary depending on the season. In spring and fall, when water temperatures are moderate, bass are typically more active and feed more actively. During summer and winter, when water temperatures are at extreme ends of the spectrum, they may be less active and feed less frequently.
It’s important to note that bass feeding behavior can also be influenced by local conditions, availability of food sources, and the specific body of water they inhabit. Observing local fishing reports, understanding the habitat, and experimenting with different lures and baits can help increase your chances of catching bass based on their feeding preferences in a particular area.
All of these make bass an accomplished hunter and should influence how you go about catching them. As the seasons and weather change, your tactics and baits should change to meet the bass’s needs at that time. Mimic the behavior of their favorite foodstuff and you might find the fish you catch increase by a significant amount, just bear in mind that there isn’t one ‘best bait’, instead think about what you’re doing and you should have no problems catching monster fish when out fishing.
