Do bass eat perch? And what is predatory behavior?

[einscodek]

8 hours ago, WRB said:

Rainbow Trout are microscopic vision fish and selective feeders, Brown trout are closure to LMB in feeding habits, fish eating predators first everything else secondary, but abundance can  trump preference.

Imo backed by years of experience the thought big adult size bass biting a solitary ambush predator is mis placed. LMB bass grow up in a school and break up as the mature into groups, the bigger they get the smaller the group size due to population density. Most bass anglers catch a decent size adult bass and move on thinking it's a loner....big mistake. Big bass often hunt in groups called wolf packs for success in capturing prey. When I catch a big bass my expectation is more are in the area and I am usually right. There is a reason big bass are using that location, abundant prey is available and the timing is right.

Tom

I think that what you said may be true of certain waterways but every body of water is a bit different as is each bass different.. some still cruise with smaller bass, some go solo in ambush, some cruise with fish their size which like you said may not be many of

[Dwight Hottle]

On 5/16/2018 at 1:39 PM, Turkey sandwich said:

@Mr. Aquarium - for sure, those can be some really fun conditions to fish.  But I also think that those conditions make up the minority of feeding opportunities for most fish in most systems.  I think there will be pelagic schools of largemouth in most larger systems that will spend long periods following schools and busting on herring species (shad, alewives, blueback herring, etc), and sometimes white perch, etc.  And getting on an active school is great for numbers, but this strategy, for me at least, hasn't generally resulted in catching larger (18"+) versus midsized (12"-17") fish.  So, it could be a few things.  One possibility is that those larger pelagic bass have a more keen eye for live bait versus artificial lures.  Another is that pelagic fish tend to not pack on as much weight because they're constantly on the move versus their breathren that tend to be home bodies that keep a smaller home range and rely more on opportunity and cover for ambush.  I've also seen plenty of huge smallmouth (lakes) that move constantly chasing perch, but I'm curious if they're separate populations from those that simply follow structure to ambush gobies, madtom, sculpins, and crayfish.  I also think that bass get forced into specific roles because of other dominant predatory fish in a system (musky, pike, walleye, larger trout/salmon, etc) dominating specific hunting grounds.  

 

I'm kind of curious on @Dwight Hottle and @Catt 's opinions on this.  

 

My experience is that smallmouth definitely will eat yellow perch & do. Before the arrival of gobies in the great lake system perch were more heavily predated by smallies. Smallies & walleye are often mixed in with perch schools & caught accidentally by perch fisherman. Some of my most effective baits are perch coloration.