Rank the most nutritional forage for bass

[clh121787]

please rank what most nutritional for bass to eat

[slonezp]

Do bass read the side of the packages when they buy these tasty morsels?

[roadwarrior]

Maybe Raul has some scientific input, but my observation is that most prey are specific to a region and are mixed. Throughout most of the country crawfish are a mainstay. In the Mid South threadfin shad represent the largest biomass. Bass will eat almost anything, virtually any species of young "minnows". Bluegill, skipjack, slick minnows, chubs, crappie, etc...

On the other hand, for protein and bulk it's hard to beat tilapia and stocked trout. 

 

[JRammit]

Ive read shad is #1.... But that may be because others on this list are not available in many waters

Curious to see where trout and salmon rank 

[GetJigginWithIt]

Depends on the location of the bass.

[long island basser]

While I have no clue which is the most nutritional....

i voted for bluegill. On your list, this is the only one in all the lakes that I fish.

[slonezp]

If a bass is an opportunistic feeder, why does it matter? The most nutritional prey is the one he is able to capture with the least amount of effort.

[Paul Roberts]

Why do you ask?

[the reel ess]

2 hours ago, long island basser said:

While I have no clue which is the most nutritional....

i voted for bluegill. On your list, this is the only one in all the lakes that I fish.

I'm not arguing with you, but there are probably crawfish everywhere there are bass. I fished a local lake for decades and was convinced it didn't have crawfish because I never saw one. Then one day i caught a bass with a claw hanging out its posterior-I helped the poor fellow out by removing it. I asked a DNR guy at a sporting show and he told me they're everywhere there are fish.

[Raul]

Trout is the most nutritious out of all those, the catch is that the most nutritious doesn´t mean it will be what the bass will have to eat the most.

South of the border Tilapia is the No1 bass forage for several reasons, it´s commercially exploited and the government puts all it´s effort to supply it ( followed by mirror carp ) to every single body of water it can find, it multiplies easily ( anywhere from 1 to up to 4 spawns ) it´s sexually mature at young age ( in warm climates with warm waters ( and yes, believe it or not we to have warmer water and climates ) tilapias can reach sexual maturity at the age of 8 months ), grows fast and reaches commercial size at around 6 months of age, eats practically anything ( when there´s poor food supply the even eat the mud and filter microscopic plants and organisms ). So bass in this neck of the woods has a lot of baby tilapia to eat almost all year long, that, some Florida bass genes and benign climate create big mommy bass.

Bluegiils, believe it or not are not so common down here.

[WRB]

Trout ( planted rainbow) and Kokanee ( land locked Sockeye salmon) are equal. I would rank Hitch and Golden shiners as equal #2 and Crayfish ( crawdads) as 3rd.

Tom

[Deleted account]

Oh, Great!

Now I have to order gluten free swim jigs?!

[clh121787]

11 hours ago, slonezp said:

 

[clh121787]

Really just out of curiosity. I enjoy learning about the eco system I think it makes me a better angler. There are so many variables to all the whys and hows of trophy sized bass. But a big piece of the puzzle is forage. I wonder if some forage are more less empty calories with little protien. Crawfish may be a staple, but I would think it takes alot of energy to digest that tough shell for what small amount of meat is in the claws and tail. What if california had no trout? Would they still pump out the same amount t of giants on the sole fact that the growing season is almost ideal? Given there were enough other baitfish to fill the void. Carolinas have trout but no where near the trophies like cali. Bottom line  bass are stupid. Very instinctive, but not smart, they eat whatever is easy, just like everything else in the animal kingdom. 

[soflabasser]

Trout is #1.Just look at how healthy and fat those California Bass are!

[WRB]

18 hours ago, reason said:

Oh, Great!

Now I have to order gluten free swim jigs?!

The entire list is gluten free.

[WRB]

14 hours ago, clh121787 said:

Really just out of curiosity. I enjoy learning about the eco system I think it makes me a better angler. There are so many variables to all the whys and hows of trophy sized bass. But a big piece of the puzzle is forage. I wonder if some forage are more less empty calories with little protien. Crawfish may be a staple, but I would think it takes alot of energy to digest that tough shell for what small amount of meat is in the claws and tail. What if california had no trout? Would they still pump out the same amount t of giants on the sole fact that the growing season is almost ideal? Given there were enough other baitfish to fill the void. Carolinas have trout but no where near the trophies like cali. Bottom line  bass are stupid. Very instinctive, but not smart, they eat whatever is easy, just like everything else in the animal kingdom. 

Small scaled high protein fish that are easy for the bass to swallow provide the most calories per lb than large scaled spiny finned fish with less calories per pound. For this reason Kokanee or Sockeye salmon would be #1, very close are rainbow trout, both are perfect prey fish regarding weight gain; the Kurita WR 22.3 lbs from Japan had landlocked salmon similar to Kokanee for a prey source. The WR and new pending WR spotted bass both had Kokaneee and trout for prey fish. All of California FLMB lakes have trout or Kokanee for a prey source except lakes Hodges in San Deigo, the Delta and Clear lake that have a giant bass population. Hodges produced a 20.4 lb FLMB without trout, the Delta record is 18.6 lbs, no trout or Kokanee however high biomass of smelt and baby salmon, Clear lake has Hitch, however the lakes record falls short of 18 lbs, the Hitch population isn't a big biomass   In Clear lake.

Shad are a good protein source, not as high as trout or salmon. Threadfin are common  however may be too small to provide lbs of calories,  Gizzard Shad are good as juveniles, may be too big as adults for a prey fish for most bass. The only California FLMB over 20 lb from Hodges had a high biomass of Threadfin Shad, crappie and crayfish as prey, so it's possible for a bass to grow to giant size without trout or salmon, very rare!

Crayfish are high protein however it's calories per lb and a bass can't eat lbs of crayfish often, they can easily eat over a lb of trout, salmon.

Tom

[Raul]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

 

Crayfish are high protein however it's calories per lb and a bass can't eat lbs of crayfish often, they can easily eat over a lb of trout, salmon.

Tom

In one single gulp they can eat a pound of trout and more.

Down here where I live there´s hatchery raised trout in a few pay to fish "lakes" ( actually large ponds ) in the Sierra de Lobos, the only place cold enough to grow trout, several years ago there was a bass & trout fishing tournament, I entered the tournament and won the bass tournament and a 10ft jonboat with a 3.25 lb LMB, the catch was that my tourney winning bass had a 1 lbish rainbow trout in it.