Does anyone think it’s weird that bass eat crawfish?

[plawren53202]

Labor Day weekend I was out in the johnboat on our family farm lake and, out in the middle of the lake, a little mouse appeared from under a bench. I used the landing net and scooped him out into the water, hoping to get to see a bass go after him. Alas, I was disappointed. Fun fact, mice are great swimmers. Who knew, I sure didn't. That little guy doggy paddled (mouse paddled?) like a champ halfway across the pond and back to shore.

[soflabasser]

14 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I know that’s true for largemouth, but what about smallmouth?

Smallmouth bass will eat anything that will fit in their mouth if they want to and they even hit lures almost as big as they are. Lots of muskie fishermen catch smallmouth bass on muskie lures. 

9 hours ago, Big Hands said:

I was part of a group that emptied a veggie platter piece by piece over the stern of the Queen Mary just to watch 5 to 8 lb calico and sand bass chow down on clumps of broccoli and cauliflower.

 That must of been awesome to see.

9 hours ago, Big Hands said:

Most fish in general are opportunistic predators, and bass are no exception. Some are even omnivores. Bass eating crawdads seems totally normal.

Black bass are not the high class fish some people think they are. Bass will eat anything they think is food. That is a good thing since it makes catching them a lot easier compared to other species of fish that are much more picky.

[OCdockskipper]

The thing I find unusual is that male bass will spend days making a bed, attracting a female to spawn, guarding the eggs & then guarding the fry when suddenly, as if a switch has been thrown, they stop guarding the fry and will eat them instead.

 

That is a lot of work for a meal.

[Ohioguy25]

55 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Smallmouth bass will eat anything that will fit in their mouth if they want to and they even hit lures almost as big as they are. Lots of muskie fishermen catch smallmouth bass on muskie lures. 

 That must of been awesome to see.

Black bass are not the high class fish some people think they are. Bass will eat anything they think is food. That is a good thing since it makes catching them a lot easier compared to other species of fish that are much more picky.

What would you consider a high class of fish?

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, Ohioguy25 said:

What would you consider a high class of fish?

A tarpon in a highly pressured public body of water is much harder to catch than a largemouth bass in the same place. I know a couple places that are loaded with tarpon and most people bass fish there not knowing the tarpon that live there. Have had days I have caught over 100 bass but never caught more than 20 tarpon in 1 day. Tarpon are masters at shaking the hook off. Have you fished for tarpon? They will eat cutbait just like black bass do.

[NorthernBasser]

On 9/13/2020 at 11:53 PM, Hammer 4 said:

Years ago, I was fishing a city park pond, the park had ducks, geese and the usual animals. Anyway, there's a Mom duck swimming with 4 little ducklings in tow. Out of now where there was a big swirl in the water, I just caught the very last of the little duck being pulled under water by a fairly good sized bass.

 

Needless to say, Mom got her little ones out of the water. As I fished this pond pretty often, I seldom saw any baby ducks swimming after that. So yeah, bass will eat most anything that looks good to them. 

 

Smallies don't mess around, either. (not my pic)

 

[Big Hands]

 

6 hours ago, soflabasser said:

That must of been awesome to see.

 

 

It was the highlight of the event for me. The couple were friends of my wife, and I didn't really know anyone there and afterwards, my wife thanked me for going in spite of not knowing anyone. I said it was OK, as it turned out that I had a great time. One of the other guests I happened to meet at this wedding reception was a local half-day boat skipper. He grabbed a small plate full of veggies, and said "follow me". That's what started the whole ordeal.

 

We had such a good time doing it, and a small crowd was enjoying it as well. Soon, I spotted a school of more fish headed to the stern to join in. Some of those were buttermouth perch that were the biggest I had ever seen. So, we emptied a couple more veggie platters. Made me think that it might be possible to rent a room (part of the ship is a hotel), open the porthole window, and dangle some broccoli florets down with a pocket fisherman and fill a cooler with fish.

 

Every time I see the Queen Mary, I think about those fish noshing on those veggies.

[Ohioguy25]

7 hours ago, soflabasser said:

A tarpon in a highly pressured public body of water is much harder to catch than a largemouth bass in the same place. I know a couple places that are loaded with tarpon and most people bass fish there not knowing the tarpon that live there. Have had days I have caught over 100 bass but never caught more than 20 tarpon in 1 day. Tarpon are masters at shaking the hook off. Have you fished for tarpon? They will eat cutbait just like black bass do.

No but I’ve heard they put on quite the show, lots of aerial acrobatics. Unfortunately I’m landlocked, what would you consider a high class inland freshwater fish? I’ve fished all over the US and Canada for northern pike, walleye, salmon and trout but nothing is as thrilling to me as hooking into a nice sized smallmouth. Stalking them down the beautiful wild scenic river I fish and seeing them breach the riffles and leap through the air trying to throw the hook is way more enthralling to me than sitting on a stagnant lake or pond cooking in the sun, or spending an entire day being eluded by pike and Muskie even in the beautiful Canadian wilderness.

[the reel ess]

It's defnitely not the weirdest thing. I caught one on a Gummi Worm to prove I could.

[galyonj]

2 hours ago, the reel ess said:

It's defnitely not the weirdest thing. I caught one on a Gummi Worm to prove I could.

I believe it. Nate Marling caught several on a block of wood with a treble hook screwed into it, and ndyakangler caught a mess of smallmouth on a Lego Chewbacca. Those are just a couple examples that I remember off the top of my head.

 

Fish are kinda dumb.

[king fisher]

22 minutes ago, galyonj said:

I believe it. Nate Marling caught several on a block of wood with a treble hook screwed into it, and ndyakangler caught a mess of smallmouth on a Lego Chewbacca. Those are just a couple examples that I remember off the top of my head.

 

Fish are kinda dumb.

I saw a 12 year old kid in Mexico use a lure made from a tooth brush handle fished on a hand line catch dinner for a big family.  He would let the tooth brush handle sink a foot, then twitch it just under the surface.  It walked the dog sub surface well enough to catch a dozen bass.

[J Francho]

It would be weird that they didn't try to eat something like a crawfish.

[galyonj]

That's pretty awesome.

[roadwarrior]

So, how 'bout the first guy that ate a bug? Or jalapeno pepper, umm... that's great! 

And what about an oyster? Ick! I like that stuff, but I just can't imagine being first in 

line to give them a try.

 

[the reel ess]

11 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

So, how 'bout the first guy that ate a bug? Or jalapeno pepper, umm... that's great! 

And what about an oyster? Ick! I like that stuff, but I just can't imagine being first in 

line to give them a try.

 

My theory is when the first person decided to eat an oyster, said person was at the point of starvation. However, if they roasted them, dang good, IMO.

 

Scientists believe insects evolved from shellfish and that cockroaches are closely related.

49 minutes ago, galyonj said:

Fish are kinda dumb.

Yeah, people give them way too much credit. They don't think or ration or not bite to ruin our day. They see something and their tiny stem of a brain makes them attack it or not. They really had no choice. Some things work better than others. But when they're stomach is eating their backbone, more things will work.

[J Francho]

26 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

So, how 'bout the first guy that ate a bug? Or jalapeno pepper, umm... that's great! 

And what about an oyster? Ick! I like that stuff, but I just can't imagine being first in 

line to give them a try.

 

"Hey Fred, I'm thirsty.  You think this barrel full water with rotten barley and hops is okay to drink?"  LOL.

[NorthernBasser]

Few weeks ago I caught a bass in some rocks. As I was taking the hooks out, it pooped this out. Obviously not a surprise since crawfish are a main forage of bass. What was surprising is how much it stunk! 

 

 

[soflabasser]

9 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I’ve heard they put on quite the show, lots of aerial acrobatics. Unfortunately I’m landlocked, what would you consider a high class inland freshwater fish? I’ve fished all over the US and Canada for northern pike, walleye, salmon and trout but nothing is as thrilling to me as hooking into a nice sized smallmouth. Stalking them down the beautiful wild scenic river I fish and seeing them breach the riffles and leap through the air trying to throw the hook is way more enthralling to me than sitting on a stagnant lake or pond cooking in the sun, or spending an entire day being eluded by pike and Muskie even in the beautiful Canadian wilderness.

Tarpon are known as one of the best gamefish in the world and they earned that title. Hook into a +20 pound tarpon on bass tackle in a freshwater canal and you will see why so many people like to fish for them. Smallmouth bass are fun to catch but I rather fish for muskies if lived in the MidWest. I have caught muskies, smallmouth bass, walleye, and other Northern fish in my travels. 

14 hours ago, Big Hands said:

It was the highlight of the event for me. The couple were friends of my wife, and I didn't really know anyone there and afterwards, my wife thanked me for going in spite of not knowing anyone. I said it was OK, as it turned out that I had a great time. One of the other guests I happened to meet at this wedding reception was a local half-day boat skipper. He grabbed a small plate full of veggies, and said "follow me". That's what started the whole ordeal.

 

We had such a good time doing it, and a small crowd was enjoying it as well. Soon, I spotted a school of more fish headed to the stern to join in. Some of those were buttermouth perch that were the biggest I had ever seen. So, we emptied a couple more veggie platters. Made me think that it might be possible to rent a room (part of the ship is a hotel), open the porthole window, and dangle some broccoli florets down with a pocket fisherman and fill a cooler with fish.

 

Every time I see the Queen Mary, I think about those fish noshing on those veggies.

 I did some research online and saw a video of Calico bass eating fish pellets like it was their favorite food. It is amazing what fish will eat when they are hungry!

[J Francho]

Please leave your other species posts in the proper forum.