Bass diet and rats, mice

[Festivus]

I know bass eat whatever they can fit in their mouth but what I'm curious about is how many anglers have opened up a bass and discovered some real weird and gross stuff. In particular mice and rats, yuk. If I ever find a rat or mouse carcass in one I don't know if I could ever eat another fresh water fish again, haha. I'm just curious to see how often they do or can. As soon as I saw rat lures I had to look into it and then you see people feeding mice to their pet bass on the internet. Eating a duckling doesn't bother me nearly as much as a rat. I know it sounds a little critical but rats freak me out more than anything. I can do snakes and most insects but not rats. I did do some reading around and the vast majority of their diet is other fish and whatever else they can find like worms, frogs, lizards, etc., but I just want to know what other people have found and what other weird stuff they may gobble up. 

[A-Jay]

Birds, lizards, all sorts of bugs, snakes, mud puppies, sculpins, tadpoles, and even a newt.

Oh my.

A-Jay

[Way north bass guy]

I’ve watched largemouth hammer a red squirrel that was swimming across a small cove through some pads, if there was ever a better sign to throw a red coloured frog, I don’t know what it was. 

I also caught about a 3lb smallie that absolutely crushed a big spinnerbait and he had a full sized squirrel in his throat already, talk about a hungry bass!

[Dtrombly]

Anything they can fit in there mouth is on the menu, they are equal opportunity feeders ? Ish Monroe claims he caught one with a gopher in its mouth before. 

[WRB]

Anything terrestrial that lives above the water surface and anything living below the water surface that provides a protein meal and can fit down the basses throat is editable.

You ever look at the creature lures we use? nothing in nature could be uglier.

Tom 

[OCdockskipper]

I caught a bass that, when he got to the boat, coughed up a bunch of feathers & the carcass of a swallow.  He wasn't that large of a bass, under 2 lbs.  Made me wonder if the bird was sick and flopping on the water or if the bass shot out of the water like a missile to intercept that quick little jet fighter of a bird.

[Sam]

Festivus, I remember seeing a rock in a creek and on top of this rock was an acorn.

 

Then, I noticed a squirrel in a tree eyeing the acorn.

 

The squirrel came down the tree, jumped on the rock and went for the acorn.

 

Just then, this big bass (had to be 10 pounds) jumped out of the water, grabbed the squirrel and ate it in one bite.

 

When the water calmed down, would you believe that big bass then jumped out of the water and spit that acorn back on the rock?

 

[scaleface]

I've seen lot of creatures sticking out of a basses throat including a mouse tail .

 

  Off topic but I saw a bullfrog eat a sparrow.

[geo g]

Bass are opportunists  They will attack whatever is in their strike zone that will fit in their mouth.  I have seen them take a baby duck but never a rat or mice.  I have seen a guy cut one open, with a baby snake in its belly.  No biggy, snakes hang out in the strike zone often.  After that, I always look in the mouth before lipping them.

[Bluebasser86]

I had a bass with a mouse in it's stomach once. I've caught them with tails from snakes and birds feet sticking out of their throats. I caught one with a baby turtle still in it's mouth. Caught a smallmouth at Table Rock on a 6" lizard, that spit up about a 6" salamander that was still very much alive in the bottom of the boat. I don't think there's much they won't eat.

[Cak920]

There was a pond I went to when I was a kid and I would find anything that would float laying around like a stick, flower, weed and throw it in the water and the second anything touched the water a bass would hit it. If they’re hungry they literally will go after anything that fits in their mouth

[JustJames]

And some of you guys refused to eat carp but okay to eat bass, eww.

[OCdockskipper]

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

...Off topic but I saw a bullfrog eat a sparrow.

Was that at the lake next to the nuclear reactor? 

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, OCdockskipper said:

Was that at the lake next to the nuclear reactor? 

It was next to a chemical plant .

[the reel ess]

Every bass stomach I ever cut into was either full of shad if they were present or minnows or smaller bluegill if it was a pond or they had nothing in them. I did catch one bass with a crawfish claw hanging out the old back door and I caught one with about an 8" bass sticking out it's throat and another that spit up a 4" shiner. So I must assume seafood is their diet. But they're like the feral cats of freshwater. If something wanders into their territory under the right conditions it must pay with its life. They can't help themselves.

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, Sam said:

Festivus, I remember seeing a rock in a creek and on top of this rock was an acorn.

 

Then, I noticed a squirrel in a tree eyeing the acorn.

 

The squirrel came down the tree, jumped on the rock and went for the acorn.

 

Just then, this big bass (had to be 10 pounds) jumped out of the water, grabbed the squirrel and ate it in one bite.

 

When the water calmed down, would you believe that big bass then jumped out of the water and spit that acorn back on the rock?

 

Hahahah! My cousin tells that story the exact same way but it’s a Muskie not a bass

[frosty]

The only thing I’ve ever found was a crawfish all curled up in the stomach. 

[frogflogger]

Twice in my fishing life (over 40 yrs. apart) I've seen a bass leap and take a red winged black bird out of the air.

[OCdockskipper]

13 hours ago, frogflogger said:

Twice in my fishing life (over 40 yrs. apart) I've seen a bass leap and take a red winged black bird out of the air.

That is a pretty old bass, I never heard of them living past 15 years or so.

 

And how tough is that blackbird, to get taken out of midflight and still live another 40 years only to have it happen again...

 

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 5:52 PM, Festivus said:

I know bass eat whatever they can fit in their mouth but what I'm curious about is how many anglers have opened up a bass and discovered some real weird and gross stuff. In particular mice and rats, yuk. If I ever find a rat or mouse carcass in one I don't know if I could ever eat another fresh water fish again, haha. 

Rats are actually very clean animals. I would worry more about looking for any parasites in the fish than a Rat in it's stomach.

[Raul]

 

ok, I’ve seen something similar in a pond I used to fish, in the case of this video I don’t know if it’s a wild duck or some souless son of a ..... put a baby duck on the pond to be eaten.