What do bass eat?

[Dan360]

Is there a better way then guessing? I want to focus on quantity of fish right now that aren't dinks.

I found out that a bunch of lakes were shock tested for warmwater enhancement studies in the early 2000's. Ive been able to find some of these reports with google and it determines the biomass by percentage in a lake. Then, I call the local wdfw biologist for that region to find out if the various soecies are naturally occuring or stocked. If naturally spawning, I ask for an estimate of spawning period and how much they grow and try to guestimate lure size and color from that. If stocked, I ask how big they are at stocking. If they are prey sized, I look at the stocking report to see if there was a recent stock.

For me, I don't deviate much in color with lures that draw a reaction strike. I'll change spinner blade colors for water color but seem to stick to white, chartreuse and black skirts.

If the fish gets a good look, I try and match the hatch. Seems like anything in the bluegill/perch/baby bass realm will do well anywhere out west. I prefer darker baits with darker water. Even jigs, I tend to have better luck with bluegill colors unless there is definitely crayfish around

[sbasser]

Back in the '90's, several clubs (including WBC and Castmasters; I was a member of both for awhile) helped a UW Fisheries student do a study on feeding habits of Bass on Lk. Washington. Sculpin, Crawdads, Perch and Bass fry were major menu items, as I recall.

I watched the student doing the purging of the fish...basically, shoved a small hose down their throat (about 1/2" OD, IIRC) with water flow about like a garden hose...must have had a pump on their boat. The fish was held by the lower jaw over an old window screen, or similar, to catch what the fish puked up. I don't know why this wouldn't be legal for you to do, but I think you'll be surprised at how little you get, and how little of that you'll be able to identify. None of it will be "Shad". I get rather disgusted with the BASS types writing about "look for the shad", "follow the shad", etc.

I have personally seen live lizards in Riffe Lake, and they looked nearly identical to a G.P. 6" Zoom lizard. I use 4", 5" and 6" Zoom lizards...awesome baits. Don't overlook using a 4" or 5" on a Dropshot rig. The 5" is my standard for Splitshotting, which I love doing. The 6" is great for Carolina Rigging or pitching. When in doubt, throw one! ;)

[Amx]

shad = the south. That would be gizzard shad, but 'they' don't always say that. Not the shad that we have in this part of the country, our shad are way too big, except when they are minnows lol.

Those writers have no idea that the west, and especially the Northwest, even exists.

The best books and articles to read are those written by the locals to the Pacific Northwest. Stan Fagerstrom - 'Catch More Bass', Pete Haley - 'Washington Bass & Guide', people like that.

Yes lizards, 6" worms texas rigged and weightless.

Trout colored, and shaped lures.

Jigs, and top water, and everything between.

[sbasser]

Yup. I'm not a big fan of topwater. Lots of misses, and typically a short window of opportunity...low light. But my buddy in AZ says he'll catch 'em on a popper 24/7. I haven't fished with him, or experienced that. I've put my time in with topwaters...1/4 oz Jitterbug and the Dalton Special are faves. I doubt that you can buy a Dalton Special anyplace but eBay now, and I just won't do that. There's probably something similar, however. Sort of a chugger with a prop on the back, floats tail down. It's a matter of experience to know the right time & conditions to pull it out of your bag of tricks.

[ChromeSlayer]

They will eat anything that they can fit in his or her mouth.

[Lobsterbait83]

Theres only one lure you need a 7 inch tequila sunrise powerworm texas rigged i catch fish in every boby of water i fish.

[branweeds]

I don't know how you guys aren't ranting about senkos. Nothing has even come close to catching more fish for me than those. Wacky rigged they don't imitate any natural prey of the bass, however they still go crazy for them. If you ever have trouble, just go grab some Gary Yamamoto Senkos in green pumpkin, a few O-rings, and a 1 or 1/0 hook. You don't even need the O-rings, they just help lengthen the life of the senko. If you haven't tried this rig before, give it a quick google search and you'll figure out how to set it up pretty quick! Also, my favorite over last summer for top water was the Whopper Plopper in the perch color. I even had a few fishing that were hardly bigger than the bait itself. I also spend most of my time fishing smallies, so I'm not positive these will be as effective for LMB but I cant imagine there being much of a difference.

[TrackerPro16]

I can't believe you gave away my (our) secret... I mean, we have never met, and most fishing 'how to's' include senko's, but still,,, giving away our secrets...

[fisherman92]

Gary Ys Senkos are my go-to always! and produce the best results in most cases for me. I generally texas rig mine since it helps fishing through weeds and structure a lot better in my opinion. But the wacky rig drives bass crazy and produced Washington's new LMB bass record last year if I'm not mistaken.