What Do Bass Eat? It’s Not As Simple As You Think

The most important part about understanding bass eating habits and what bass eat is understanding the mouth sizes of both small and largemouth bass.

Logically, they can only handle what can fit in their mouths, so knowing this seems simple but it is crucial knowledge to stay aware of at all times.

The size of what they can eat corresponds to the size of their mouth, so choosing your lure accordingly will help decide the potential size of fish you want to catch.

The next most critical thing to know about bass eating habits is the fact that bass are like humans: they are all different. Preference can be determined by a number of factors like weather, and it can differ between different schools of bass, and/or by the individual fish: and this can make things easy or hard.

If you had success with one type of lure for one school or period of time, it doesn’t mean the next school of bass are going to have the same preferences. This is why knowing this is crucial, and you should always plan to have at least two very different setups ready to throw at all times!

The diet of a bass can change with the weather as colder weather and water make fish slower, more lethargic and sluggish, and ultimately just less inclined to eat. Understanding a fishing situation where the water changes temperature can severely impact what the bass will eat.

This is where we as anglers want to use bait that is also much, much less active and slower than other types of lures and baits. In this situation, using a typical worm or night crawler can be key.

Using plastic worms can be great as well, and the in this case it’s just important that the movements are slow because so are the fish!

There are a number of ways to rig your worm bait (like the Texas or Carolina type), so once you have your worm securely on cast and let the worm natural sink with the line until it reaches the bottom.

What most anglers aren’t aware of (unless they are of course seasoned vets) is that the majority of bass hit this type of bait as it sinks and before it hits the ground. Using scented plastic worms or just real worms is key if you are going to let your bait sit any longer than 2-5 seconds.

In most cases, you will want to keep your rod and line extremely tight to feel the slightest hit on your rod’s tip. Be aware of the amount of weight you have attached on your rig so you have a better idea of how fast it’s actually going to sink, and repeat this process until you get a hit.

Of course you will want to check your bait a fair amount, and if you are using a larger rod it will always be a bit harder to feel that initial slight touch depending on how big the rod actually is.

So using a medium to smaller sized rod will definitely benefit you when you are trying to feel out smaller taps on the rod and your tight line!

Knowing how fish can be affected by the rain is crucial, and if you’d like to read more about it in depth click on an article about just that topic here.

A front can really change the entire day of fishing, and if you aren’t aware that it can do so, this might eat you up and lead you through a boring day of casting and not catching. So there’s no doubt you’ll be glad you’ve read this!

The last eating habit we’ll discuss that is essential for every angler to understand is the fact that each situation and day of fishing can and very well could be different.

If you are fishing on a pond it will definitely be customary to find out the rhythmic aspects of how aquatic life functions in these waters, and the great thing about ponds is that they can be very predictable.

As fisherman if we know when the fish are feeding, then we know where and when to fish! If you live close to a pond you can try to understand and pick-up on the tendencies of the fish in that particular body of water.

As anglers fishing on rivers and on the ocean will discover, these rhythmic and structured patterns largely don’t exist because of the changing nature of the composition of the marine environment.

Being aware of the weather, the temperature of the water, and individual fishing scenario as a whole will really make you more keen to understanding how to understand how bass eating habits can be the same or change depending on the situation.