What's This Bass Feeding On?

[Josh Smith]

Hi Folks,

 

Forgive the poor cell phone pic.  I'd not planned on taking pics, or I'd have brought my camera.

 

I caught this bass today, smallish critter, and it has a mouthful of small black worm-looking things:

 

 

I'm guessing leeches?  But I've never seen leeches this small.  This year, I'm trying to figure out the diet of the bass in this lake, and this is something for my notes.  I'd just like to know what they are.

 

Never have seen this before, or, if I did, didn't note it at the time.  If these are indeed a major food source, then it could explain why plastic worms work so danged well here.

 

That said, I did catch this one on a blue and black swim jig.

 

So, what are these?  Leeches, or what?

 

Josh

[Senko lover]

Sorry man, can't tell.

[KayakKid]

It's really hard to tell from the picture but I think they might be tadpoles. I've never seen a bass scarf them down so I can't say for certain, but this would be about the time they are in too.

[fishballer06]

Not the clearest picture, but the one on the left definitely looks like a little minnow of some sort. There appears to be a forked tail, which is why I think it's some sort of minnow. Keep in mind, things can change colors whenever they die. 

[Mccallister25]

Hard to tell from the picture. A buddy caught one the other day that had a mouthful of something similar. My guess would be tadpoles.

[Penguino]

Probably tadpoles. Also could be baby bullhead catfish, as I have seen tiny catfish fry in the shallows before.

[kcdinkerz]

I've caught bass with leeches in they mouth before I don't think they were feeding on them more like the leeches were feeding on the bass

[Paul Roberts]

Can't quite see well enough. If it turns out to be leeches you'll probably do well with a small marabou or plastic swimming tailed jig, or a small worm. But... that looks like a pretty small bass and bass that key on leeches are going to remain small. Piscivory is what grows bass. You'll want to be homing in on what the larger bass are eating, and it isn't leeches. 

[livemusic]

I've caught bass with leeches in they mouth before I don't think they were feeding on them more like the leeches were feeding on the bass

 

I can't see anything in the OP post but I was wondering what you said here ^^^. I caught bass recently that had little critters attached to the roof of their mouths, some kind of parasite. I also caught a bass that had something I have never seen; it looked like mini crabs, maybe 1/8" long. And this is a totally freshwater lake. They were even on the skin of the fish. They were mobile, crawling on the fish. Too weird!

[everythingthatswims]

He may have gotten into a school of catfish or bullhead fry. Bass love those things. I don't think they are big fans of tadpoles though from my experience. Tadpole under a float never worked for me back when I fished that way.

[HoosierHawgs]

Where are you fishing at? Do you know what the main forage is in that area? Have you seen shad swimming around or crawfish on the water? These would definitely be good to know... but bass are opportunistic feeders so they will eat just about anything that they can fit in their mouth... So who knows. 

[BassMaster17]

He may have gotten into a school of catfish or bullhead fry. Bass love those things. I don't think they are big fans of tadpoles though from my experience. Tadpole under a float never worked for me back when I fished that way.

I don't know why bass wouldn't like tadpoles, they sure do scarf down frogs!

[everythingthatswims]

I don't know why bass wouldn't like tadpoles, they sure do scarf down frogs!

My only guess is that a tadpole is similar to a newt and newts are poisonous. But who knows

[gardnerjigman]

He may have gotten into a school of catfish or bullhead fry. Bass love those things. I don't think they are big fans of tadpoles though from my experience. Tadpole under a float never worked for me back when I fished that way.

 

 

I agree. I've never witnessed bass chasing tadpoles, and one of our farm ponds is full of them. I also tried them under a float and have had no luck. 

[retiredbosn]

I'll do a quick search to find the article, but bass do not eat tad poles. Can't remember why tho.

Edit: from a post Paul Roberts made long ago
Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) learn to avoid feeding on toad (Bufo) tadpoles
Kipp C. Krusea and Bradford M. Stonea
aDepartment of Zoology, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois 61920, USA
Received 14 July 1983;
revised 30 November 1983.
MS. number: a4130.
Available online 3 June 2006.
Abstract
Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), when starved for 1 day, almost totally abstain from eating toad (Bufo americanus and Bufo woodhousei) tadpoles. However, there is a positive relationship between bass hunger levels and the acceptability of Bufo larvae as food items. With experience, there is a decrease in the number of toad tadpoles engulfed (taken into the mouth), and that actually consumed by the bass, while the number of larvae expelled (spat out) increases. Bass strongly prefer Hyla crucifer tadpoles to B. americanus larvae, and learn to distinguish between the two species. These results agree with the hypothesis that the schooling behaviour found in B. americanus tadpoles functions, at least in part, as a deterrent to predation.


So short answer no, unless u can differentiate bull frog tadpoles from toad tadpoles. The bass can

[bigbill]

Hellgimites sorry poor spelling. I've caught trout that are them too.

[Paul Roberts]

I don't know why bass wouldn't like tadpoles, they sure do scarf down frogs!

Some tadpoles carry toxins in the skin. Toads do and toad tadpoles have been used in fish behavior research on fish learning. I've heard of bullfrog tadpoles being toxic at some stage, but am not certain of it. I did look into it a while back but don't have those files available to me right now. I have been surprised to see numbers of bullfrog tadpoles in my bass ponds and wondered why they seemed so nonchalant. 

 

As to frogs, yes bass do eat frogs but not as often as one might think. "Frog" fishing in slop with weedless frog-shaped topwaters is not as much bass targeting frogs as it is bass hunting prey fish -sunfish mostly- under dense vegetation.

[lectricbassman]

I have also heard that bass do not eat frogs. Just curious has anyone caught a bass with a frog in its throat or stomach?

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

They looked just like this:

 

 

Josh

[retiredbosn]

Leeches, look like they were attached to the gills or in the process of being swallowed, just got on my laptop so I could see the picture better. Bass do eat leeches, don't know why but they gobble them up. From an article called luscious leeches "Unfortunately for leeches, as if this miserable existence weren't enough already. In the world of fishing, with few participants is a leech in worse company. At the right time of year on the right body of water, there is likely no better live-bait additive....."  I know Berkley makes them in their gulp line, and they are real popular with walleye fishermen, and smallmouth fishermen on river systems.Some striper fishermen have told me that there is no better live bait than a big leech, but I think that is due to the saltwater in their DNA where they feed heavily on eels.

[BassMaster17]

I have also heard that bass do not eat frogs. Just curious has anyone caught a bass with a frog in its throat or stomach?

Now that is false, depending on the frog of course. i have used live frog as bait, just let them swim away from the boat, and the bass cant resist those things. Massive blowups.

[Josh Smith]

Leeches, look like they were attached to the gills or in the process of being swallowed, just got on my laptop so I could see the picture better. Bass do eat leeches, don't know why but they gobble them up. From an article called luscious leeches "Unfortunately for leeches, as if this miserable existence weren't enough already. In the world of fishing, with few participants is a leech in worse company. At the right time of year on the right body of water, there is likely no better live-bait additive....."  I know Berkley makes them in their gulp line, and they are real popular with walleye fishermen, and smallmouth fishermen on river systems.Some striper fishermen have told me that there is no better live bait than a big leech, but I think that is due to the saltwater in their DNA where they feed heavily on eels.

 

Hello,

 

They were definitely being swallowed, and the location is one in which I'd expect leeches to be.

 

Plastic worms work really, really well in this lake, especially black jelly worms.  Those, blue and black swim jigs, and chartreuse/black cranks all seem to work best.  Crawdad lures seem to work well, too, but I'm just starting to experiment more with those so it's too early to tell how well compared to the others.

 

Josh

[retiredbosn]

I've had luck with Zoom black with red fleck trick worms where there is an abundance of leeches.

[Paul Roberts]

I have also heard that bass do not eat frogs. Just curious has anyone caught a bass with a frog in its throat or stomach?

From what i remember toxins can be lost by adulthood.

 

Hello,

 

They looked just like this:

 

 

Josh

Look like aquatic worms. 

[F14A-B]

Leeches around here don't look like those..