What does a largemouth bass eat?

Largemouth bass will eat just about anything the will fit in their cavernous mouths. Anything small that swims across the top of any freshwater lake, pond, river or canal is risking its life whether it knows it or not.

A largemouth bass will eat a myriad of rodents like rats, mice, gophers and any other furry critters that will fit in its mouth. Many lure companies actually have rat and mice lures specifically to target large bass. You know that bass eat mammals a lot when the lure companies actually make lures that look like rats and mice.

Largemouth bass will also eat water fowl. They will eat ducks, moorhens, coots, goslings and many more species of birds. Lure companies also have taken advantage of this niche too. You can buy duckling lures that mimic the yellow and black ducklings that many duck species are known for.

Largemouth bass will not say no to a snake, lizard or a baby alligator either. I have not seen any baby alligator lures but I wouldn’t be surprised to see one soon. There are tons of lizard lures available already.

Let’s not forget the amphibians. Bass love to eat frogs, salamanders and mud puppies. One of my favorite top water bass lures is the good old frog lure. They work great for catching big bass.

Crawdads are the filet mignon for a largemouth bass. They will feed on crawdads all year long depending upon what part of the country they are in. A bass will not ignore a nice big crawdad suspending from a bobber. They make great live bait for big bass.

Of course fish are their main forage where ever they are. They will eat minnows, shiners, shad, bluegill, sunfish, catfish, shell crackers, speckled perch, other bass and any other fish that they can catch.

A better question would be what don’t largemouth bass eat? They eat just about anything that swims in their vicinity.

Do largemouth bass have teeth?

Largemouth bass has lots of small needle sharp teeth for holding onto slimy prey items. It feels just like really rough sandpaper when you grab them by the mouth to unhook them and will not harm humans. They are designed to grasp prey items in spite of their thick slime coating.

If you catch a bunch of bass in a day’s worth of fishing your thumb will start to lose its skin and you might even bleed a little bit. It is just like if you rubbed sandpaper on your thumb. Eventually you will get down to the bloody part and need a bandage.

Do largemouth bass eat their babies?

Yes, largemouth bass will eat their own babies. The male and female spawn when the female deposits her eggs in a nest that the male has created. The female swims away to recuperate from the energy expenditures of creating and laying many thousands of eggs.

The male’s hunger center is basically turned off while he guards the eggs and the baby fry once they hatch. This fast might last for a few weeks until the baby bass are about an inch long. Then the male’s hunger center comes back on in full force. Any baby bass whether it is his or someone else’s will get eaten if they get too close at that point.

The females are hungry too and will eat any baby bass that get too close to them. So it is a bad idea for any baby bass to get too close to any adult bass once they get abandoned by their fathers.

How long can bass go without eating?

Bass can go a few weeks without eating. The males go without eating the whole time they are guarding their eggs and fry after spawning. Many die right after this period if they have expended too much energy chasing off predators trying to eat their eggs and fry.

It is hard to be a bass in the wild so they will eat any chance that they get but they can last a while without eating if it is necessary.

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