Largemouth Bass

[Sam]

Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
"Black bass, Greenbass, Lineside Bass & Oswego"

Description: The largemouth bass is dark olive green on the back with light green sides shading to a white belly. A dark mottled band extends along the sides. The upper part of teh mouth extends past the eye. The lateral line is a series of pores located along side the bass. This set of pores is used to detect vibrations in the water. This is sensitive enough to detect the speed, size and shape of another fish. The largemouth bass have color vision and they mostly use their sight in clear water. However, in low visibility conditions the bass use mostly their sense of vibation through their lateral line or their sense of smell. Depending on water clarity, largemouth bass can see anywhere from 5 feet to 100 feet. Bass have ears located inside of their skull. However, because sound travels through water much better than air, a bass has a very keen sense of hearing.

Similar Fish: The smallmouth bass

Where Found: Largemouth bass are found in all waters of Maryland from freshwater to brackish (a mix of fresh and saltwater) waters. They like large, slow moving rivers or streams with soft bottoms. They especially like clear water.

Size: Growth rates are highly variable with differences attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season. Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male bass. Males seldom exceed 16 inches, while females frequently surpass 22 inches. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of males. One-year old bass average about seven inches in length and grow to an adult size of 10 inches in about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years. The oldest bass from Florida whose age has been determined by fisheries biologists was 16 year of age. Generally, trophy bass (10 pounds and larger) are about 10 years old.

State Record: 11 lbs. 2 oz. by Rodney Cockrell, October 4, 1983

World Record: 22 lbs. 4 ozs. by George Perry, June 2, 1932 Georgia

Bait used: Good baits for catching largemouth bass include live minnows, night crawlers, and worms. They will strike almost any kind of artificial lure or live bait, but most are taken on plastic worms, surface plugs, spinnerbaits, crank baits. For Trophy size Largemouth, most are caught using Large Wild Shiners.
Tactics to catch: Casting; Still Fishing; Live Bait and Trolling. Light casting and spinning tackle is adequate in most instances. When fishing heavy cover you may want to use line from 12 to 25 pounds depending on the structure.

Climate (water temperature range): Thy can tolerate a wide range of water clarities and bottom types, prefer water temperatures from 65 to 85 degrees.

Spawning habits: Largemouth bass spawn as early as March or as late as June. The males build saucer shaped nests 20 - 30 inches in diameter. The male guards the nest and eggs from all intruders, until the fish hatch.

Table food? The meat is white, flaky and low in oil content. The flavor depends upon the way the fish are cleaned and prepared. The strong weedy taste of bass caught in some waters may be eliminated by skinning the fish and salting and peppering the fillets before battering. Fillets usually are fried, while larger ones may be baked.
Feeding habits: Greedy carnivores (meat eating), largemouth bass feast on minnows, sunfish, gizzard shad, worms, grubs, baitfish, frogs, snakes, crawfish, and insects. It will eat all types of colors and sizes of these animals. The largemouth bass will wait in grass, brush, laydowns, drop-offs to ambush its prey. Then, it will swallow it whole and digest it.

Remarks: Largemouth bass can live up to 23 years. Largemouth respond well to catch and release because of their hardiness, and the ability of their large mouth to withstand repeated hook injuries without compromising their ability to feed or damaging their gills.

References:
Maryland DNR
Wikipedia
Champion-Pro Services
fishbase.org