At what size/weight do bass start eating 9-10" Trout?

[fishwizzard]

Like the title says, I am looking for info about the trout eating habits of bass.  I have been fishing a small suburban pond for a few years now and have been able to catch quite a few LMBs in the 1-2lb range, with a decent number in the 2.5lb range.  Recently I have been catching more and more of the larger bass, culminating in a 3.1 and a 3.6 the other day.  This pond is stocked with trout two or three times a year, the smallest being around 8-10".  The pond is about 10 acres in size with a retaining wall around most of it, with only a short section of natural shoreline along the perimeter and a small "island" on one side. The only other forage species that I have seen are an abundance of small sunfish. I have seen very dense schools of them when little kids throw bread to the ducks.  I poked around the natural bank a bit this spring and didnt see any crawdad towers.  

 

I remember reading somewhere that as a general rule, a bass can eat something a third of it's size.  I am not sure if this is true or I am remembering wrong.  In any case, I would love some insight into this topic.  The pond gets a lot of pressure, but, I have only seen a handful of people fishing it with a "plan" other than just throwing their lures out to the middle and reeling back in.  I am hoping that there might be some even larger fish in there feeding on the trout that will take a bit more effort than others are willing to put in. 

 

I plan on devoting a lot of time to this spot this fall/winter and dragging a large jig/68 Special over as much of it as I can reach, but I would love to know where to set my expectations.  

[J Francho]

I can tell you that many a 16" bass has taken one of my 68s.

[XpressJeff]

That's incredible. I have seen a number of Musky's go after abnormally large meals. A few die with them still there stuck too!

[Raul]

I've caught 2 lb LMBs with a 8-9 " trout half In the stomach and half in the mouth. pretty much a third of those 2 lbs was the trout.

[WRB]

Bass like most animals can't judge their own size. The bass learns by trail and error and often make mistakes, that is one reason we catch them on artificial lures.

LMB have a large mouth, the head to the throat is about 1/3rd the body length, the throat to the elastic stomach is another 1/3rd, so bass are capable of swallowing narrow body trout about 1/2 their length; 24" bass can swallow a 12" trout, with the trouts tail sticking out it's throat.

The average 4 lb LMB is about 19" long and have mature mouth size for it's body length and can easily eat 8" trout.

You can use anywhere from 6" to 8" Hudd depending on your tackle, the bass have no concept how big your lure is until it commits to strike.

Tom

[JustJames]

This past spring I only caught two bass on hudd68, they both were in 3lbs range. After talking with a marine patrol guy, I found out that this lake never stick trout whatsoever such a bummer. 

[fishwizzard]

Very interesting info guys.  It sounds like the bass in this pond could have been feeding on the stockers for the past few years.  I am gonna really give this spot some attention in the coming months.  

[Raul]

6 hours ago, JustJames said:

This past spring I only caught two bass on hudd68, they both were in 3lbs range. After talking with a marine patrol guy, I found out that this lake never stick trout whatsoever such a bummer. 

Other than those pay to fish lakes high in the Sierra where the water is cold enough to grow trout bass in my neck of the woods have never seen a trout and I catch a bunch of fish with "trout" lures.

[Ktho]

A 68 isn't really a particularly big bait imo, pretty small fish will be able to eat it no problem, ofc big fish will eat it as well.  Even a 8" hudd 2-3lbers will readily attack. They might not realize how big it is, it could be a territorial strike, could be a lot of things that I'll never know but what I do know is bass have big eyes and big mouths and it's really difficult to use a bait that's too big for them to eat. Forage species is overstated as well imo unless they're actively pushing bait schools, then having something that matches can be real important but even then not always. That 68 trout pattern could be a trout, a shad, a bluegill, a small bass, or just their next meal. I really don't think they stop to think about it and even know themselves. 

[Bluebasser86]

This fish wasn't even 4 pounds and choked an 8" Hudd. Hit it on the fall like a senko even.

[fishwizzard]

I am less worried about them hitting my lures but more excited that they might be feeding on the stockers and getting nice and fat.  

[JustJames]

Yup that what my concern too, what I've heard that only lake with stock trout regularly get very big

[finatic]

Yep, those "large" mouth will swallow anything

 

 

[deep]

A 3# will eat a 10" trout no problems. Although whether it'll prefer something else is a different question altogether, and is related to (the question) if a 10" bait is the best lure to target the biggest fish (sometimes it is).

 

A 68 hudd is a pretty small bait (not always a bad thing though). And, if they are stocking only 8-10 inch trouts, you might want to consider 8 and 10 inch hudds and real preys instead.

 

The problem (IMO) with bigger (8"+) softbaits and smaller fish is that there's only one hook on top (I dislike stinger hooks with a passion for several reasons, one of which is potential for gill hooking). And the fish has to eat the thing to get hooked. I would try hardbaits too especially if you are not solely dragging the bottom.

[fishwizzard]

Yea, I am still a bit gunshy about throwing a $25 chunk of plastic into the water, so I am sticking with the smaller weedless swimbaits for now.  If I start getting hits but not hookups I think I will change my tune though.  For now, my plan is to fish the 68 around obvious cover and use a larger jig to drag the bottom as much as I can.  None of the rangers I have bugged have any idea about the bottom contour so it will at the very least get me some good intel about what is going on down there.  My current catching streak has had most of the larger fish right up on the retaining wall, so I have little idea about the further out areas.  

 

 

[Paul Roberts]

Maybe...

 

You and WRB are right about the math. However, that is more likely true when the bass are in peak metabolic conditions. Prey is hard to catch and big prey is exponentially harder. In feeding studies it's been found that bass that swallow extra large prey often end up regurgitating it when only partially digested, if they can catch and handle that prey to begin with.

 

Just bc there are bass and trout in that pond doesn't necessarily mean they interact all that much. Likely the trout avoid cover and stay in open and, likely, cooler water. Trout are faster than bass and may be energetically expensive to catch. Esp if the trout are 1/3rd the size of the bass. That's asking a lot of average-sized bass to handle. Now if the pond heats up and the trout are compromised, that may help the bass some.

 

This is not to say that that are no bass eating those trout. There may be some big mama's that have figured that out. Best way to find out is go on a pig hunt.

 

As to taking lures, bass may attack things way too large and I think it has more to do with their misperception of what the lure is. I think, in general, bass (educated ones -pretty all our bass nowadays) take lures due to misperception -just enough appropriate cues to trigger that fish. But if there are BIG bass in there, BIG lures is one way to select for them. Definitely worth a shot.

[fishwizzard]

The heat thing seems likely, I live in central MD and depending on the weather at the time of stocking, the trout can be in water way way too hot for them and at times it is hard to get a spinner to run slow enough for them to catch it.  On a few occasions I have have had trout die in the time I takes me to get them unhooked.  The state tries to shift the stocking times/locations around based on water levels, but there is little they can do about the temps I guess.  

 

FYI, do not try to wrap a trout in the outside of your rain coat to take home.  I now carry a few plastic bags in my tackle pack incase I end up taking home an unplanned fish.  

[WRB]

I grew up fishing a trout lake that had largemouth and smallmouth bass populations. Working on a boat landing, called marinas today, the DFG would back up thier trout stocking truck and empty the hatcury raised rianbow trout into lake. The trout being unfamiliar with their new surrounds swam around in a school confused. The big bass that lived under the dock would swim out and look them over and oddly I never witnessed a bass eat a trout. The bass were northern strain and between 3 lbs to 6lbs and could have easily eaten the trout, but they didn't.

It wasn't until the late 70's at lake Castiac and Casitas that I witnessed bass chasing and eating planted trout. What changed was Florida strain LMB were now in our lakes and they preffered to eat the long narrow bodies trout over bluegill or crappie. I believe this is a genetic thing for FLMB that evolved eating golden shiners, trout resemble big easy high protein shiner meal.

The FLMB will show up on trout stocking days waiting for trout to be planted, big difference from thier northern cousins.

Tom

[Jtrout]

On Fri Sep 08 2017 at 2:04 PM, fishwizzard said:

The heat thing seems likely, I live in central MD and depending on the weather at the time of stocking, the trout can be in water way way too hot for them and at times it is hard to get a spinner to run slow enough for them to catch it.  On a few occasions I have have had trout die in the time I takes me to get them unhooked.  The state tries to shift the stocking times/locations around based on water levels, but there is little they can do about the temps I guess.  

 

FYI, do not try to wrap a trout in the outside of your rain coat to take home.  I now carry a few plastic bags in my tackle pack incase I end up taking home an unplanned fish.  

Are you talking about allens pond in bowie? 

[Gundog]

I've witnessed a roughly 17" bass try to swallow head first a 9" trout. That bass swam away with most of the trout sticking out of his jaws. It was incredible. I was fishing with a friend and said "Look at that trout.". He said it was a bass. I said "Nope, its a trout." and just as I said that I saw the bass swim in and grab the trout. Wild. 

[fishwizzard]

10 hours ago, Jtrout said:

Are you talking about allens pond in bowie? 

 

Yes!  It is a much better fishery then it looks like it should be.  I had another great day there Saturday.  I have been fishing there for a few years and only this season have I really started doing well.  The bass in there seem to be a bit larger then normal for the other little ponds around here, I thought maybe the trout stocking could be the cause.  Do you fish the Bowie/Crofton ponds much?