Largemouth Bass Facts

This fish actually has six senses: Along with the normal, hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch they also have the lateral line, which is a series of sensitive nerve endings that extends from just behind the gill to the tail on each side of the fish.

The lateral line picks up underwater vibrations as subtle as a swimming baitfish. It has been proven that by the use of their lateral lines that the bass can still find food and survive even when in the murkiest of waters or blinded by an eye injury.

They can see in all directions except directly below or directly behind them. Their eyes can not be closed so in clear water they can see about 30 feet, but in most bass waters the visibility is reduced to between 5 and 10 feet.

They can also see objects that are above the water, including you standing in your boat if you are wearing bright clothing. So remember that in the clear water situation you should always wear clothing that will match your background.

In shallow water they can detect color, especially red In one study (red and white lures) caught 3 times as many largemouths as any other color.
In the deeper water most colors appear as shades of gray so color selection is not so importance.

Their eyes absorb more light than the human eye, enabling the fish to see its food in dim light or total darkness.

They will feed at any time of the day or night, but are less inclined to leave cover and search for food under bright conditions.

So like most fish they prefer to hang out in the shade, around structure, trees or logs in the water to find low light ambush locations.

They smell through nostrils, or nares, on their snout. The nares are short passageways through which water is drawn and expelled without entering the throat. They can detect minute amounts of scent in the water, but rely on scent less than some other fish.

The weather can play a large part in your success when presenting surface lures. The fish should be in a active mode for the best luck while using surface type lures. Cold fronts and changing weather conditions are normally not the best time for this type of presentations. This is one of my three most favored surface lures.

Riverman - Wisconsin Fishing

If It Is About Bass Fishing Tackle They Probably Have It.

Bass feed primarily on smaller fish and on crawfish but also eat eels, frogs, shrimp, small crabs, and have even been known to eat small birds and mice.

This is a list of some commonly type used baits for fishing bass - spinner baits, spoons, plastic worms, jigs, crank baits, and jerk baits

My preference has always been surface lures such as bass oreno, jitterbug, or minnow type lures. The thrill of the surface strike is my favorite way to fish for these bass.

By using lighter line you can make a big difference in the number of overall strikes you get.