Fishing Tips For Bass - What Do Bass Eat?

Fishing Tips For Bass - What Do Bass Eat?

Many anglers will already know what a bass diet consists of. Some may still be surprised at just how diverse that diet can really be.

For those that are new to the sport of bass fishing you'll find out that if the bass are hitting it won't really matter what you want to put on the end of your hook, the bass will go after it.

Young bass will eat zooplankton, insect larvae, and microscopic crustaceans. Once young bass (otherwise known as fry) grows to a couple inches in length they will become predators.

Bass will eat almost anything that they can fit in there mouth. I've heard stories of finding dead bass with there prey sticking out of there mouth. Presumably, they overestimated the size of there prey.

Bass eat insects, worms, leeches, grubs, snakes, salamanders, minnows, frogs, and baitfish. A couple of examples of baitfish would be shad, and bluegill.

Bass will also consume larger prey as well. Among this prey would be ducklings, rats, and mice. Crayfish are a favorite because of availability and ease of capture.

So now, your asking yourself "if bass have such a huge diet, why am I not catching anything"?

There are still a wide variety of factors that go into being a successful angler. You need to know where the bass like to be. The time of day is important. The weather conditions for that day, and even what the conditions were days before that play a huge role in having a good day fishing.

Believe it or not, any scents on your hands that are transferred to the bait will be enough to keep the fish from biting. Bass have taste buds on the outside of it's mouth as well as the inside. They can taste the food before it even gets in there mouth. This makes the difference between having the bait in there mouth for only a couple of seconds, or having it in there mouth for several seconds more seconds and giving you time to set the hook.

Just about any type of bait you want to put on can be a potential meal for a bass. I personally wouldn't try throwing a rat on the end of my hook and seeing what happens. But, considering the menu available there are plenty of options that can be very successful.