Rock faces or cliffs provide a shadow directly below from which a bass can dart to engulf minnows or other creatures as they pass by at shadow’s edge. Especially in the shallows of lakes and ponds, largemouths are known to even swallow baby ducks, mice or other rodents.īoth smallmouth and largemouth bass will also hover around submerged rock piles where not only minnows might congregate but crustaceans as well-crawdads in particular.ĭock pilings offer bass both a shadow for cover and a hub for smaller food fish. Swimming creatures, from leeches to frogs or salamanders, draw bass to weedy and lily-pad filled shallows of lakes. They follow the food, no matter where they dwell, thus presenting the ultimate challenge for an angler because a bass swallows so many different types of food.įrom reptiles, to small birds, to minnows and juvenile fish, to swimming insects, crustaceans such as crayfish and swimmers like leeches, a bass’s diet covers a wide expanse.Īn angler must find out which of its favorite foods it seeks during the day to find out where it is living at a particular moment.ĭrop-offs, whether a smallmouth in a stream or largemouth in a lake, will find bass stacked up and mostly waiting for minnows lingering along shelves above. Where Do Bass Live?Ī largemouth finds its home in ponds and lakes, including reservoirs or impoundments behind dams, whereas a smallmouth stretches its existence from the same water bodies to streams and even large rivers.Įach demands their own hiding spaces where they can lurch out to feast on unaware smaller fish and creatures. On the line, a smallmouth generally produces more spunk per pound than a largemouth. Smallmouth usually don’t exceed 4-5 pounds, though the world record tops 11 pounds. Some anglers hang the stuffed skins of 15-20-pound largemouths on their walls. Largemouth usually grow larger than smallmouth, depending on the type of water habitat. Because its mouth is smaller, its head and gills appear slightly smaller than that of a largemouth and absent of a noticeable lateral line. The smallmouth sports a bronze-like body with vertical striping. “Largemouth Bass” by NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Ī largemouth is usually greenish with a relatively thick, interrupted lateral line that resembles a heart-rate reading on a monitor if not a crenated or zig-zagged line of splotches extending from the gills to the tail. Both types of bass feature large scales.īesides their mouths, the two can be differentiated by examining their colors and markings. However, the smallmouth’s go-getter still appears sizable when compared to other sportfish.
#FLESH WATER BASS HOW TO#
For the sake of practicality, we will focus here on how to catch the largemouth and smallmouth.Īs their names suggest, the mouth of a smallmouth is smaller than that of a largemouth. Generally, freshwater bass come in three varieties: largemouth, smallmouth and white bass, which is actually relegated to “panfish” status because of its smaller size and different shape than its bigger brothers. Together, the dorsals extend across most of the fish’s back, unlike most other freshwater sportfish. Do Bass Respond to Sight, Smell or Vibration When Biting?Ī bass features a spinier and larger rear dorsal fin than its front dorsal.Bass Fishing for Beginners – Tips & Advice.