What Do Bass Eat 101: Finding The Right Lures For Awesome Fishing

Ever wondered what bass eat? Bass fishing can be hard if you’re just starting out. Understanding the full range of a bass’ diet can be useful when selecting your bait.  Large-mouth bass (Black Bass)  are veracious predators with a mouth as big as their appetite. But seasonal changes including temperature, location, and access to specific natural forage, can lead to different feeding behaviors. Other factors like water clarity, light, and oxygen can be factored in, but let’s take it slow for now.

The easiest way to understand a bass’ feeding habits is to break it down into forage categories, find corresponding lures that imitate that forage, and place the lure in the right season. Some lures overlap. A topwater can work from summer to late fall, and I have yet to find a season when a drop shot doesn’t work. But you’ll step up your game by understanding what bass eat naturally.

Fish

Bass are veracious predators that feed mostly on smaller fish. This makes sense as there tends to be a wider range of fish species than other eatable sources for them. Smaller fish also inhabit the same area and behave similarly to bass. You might be wondering, do Bass eat other bass? Yes. Largemouth will eat smaller largemouth and other species of bass like smallmouth and spotted bass. Some of these fish species include;

Shad: Bass will commonly feed on shad due to their abundance of spawning behavior. My theory is that they also appear more delectable due to their flashy scales; they’re easy to spot from a distance and chase down.  Common shad species include Threadfin and Gizzard Shad. Many lures are designed and painted to imitate shad like the 6th Sense Crash 100 X Crankbait

Trout: Many lakes stock trout for recreational fishing. As a result, bass will target smaller (and sometimes larger). Lures like paddle tail swim baits and glide baits are effective trout imitations when targeting larger bass.

Bluegill: Most low-land reservoirs and creeks have bluegill. They inhabit many of the same areas that bass do which is why bass will often target them. Bluegill and bass are often caught in a circle of life during spawning when bluegill will feed on bass eggs and fry, and bass will raid the nests of bluegill.

Bass Lures & When To Fish Them

Paddle tail swim baits, glide baits, jointed swim baits,  jerk baits, and crankbaits imitate a bass’ natural prey. These lures are can imitate a variety of species and are effective year round, jerkbaits being most effective during winter when fished slow. Spring is a good season to begin fishing a red crank bait like the Rapala DT 6 and a paddle tale swim bait. You can get up-shallow and throw shallow running cranks and paddle tails in summer and fall.

A paddle tail swimbait with an under spin is lethal in fall (pictured below). You can cast around cover or open water and up shallow when bass are gorging on bait fish. Additionally, spring and summer are good times to fish them when water temperatures warm. Try a swim bait first then add the underpin if you aren’t getting any bites.

Jerkbaits play a huge role in fall fishing as bass begin schooling and goring on bait fish. Its important to match the hatch and use lures that resemble local forage. A medium heavy or soft tip rod with a good parabolic bend work well with jerk baits, and 10-12 lb monofilament line. Cast out and dive your lure down by reeling in a few times. Pint your rod tip down and twitch it by popping the slack in your line. For more on jerkaits, check out this wired2fish article. 

Megabass Vision 110 Jerkbait – Buy From FishUSA

Keitech Fat Swing Impact– Buy From FishUSA 

Dirty Jigs Tactical Bassin Underpin – Buy From FishUSA

 Crayfish

 Crayfish are a staple in a bass diet. They can be found in lakes, rivers, creeks and ponds nationwide. They’re calorie-rich and easy to catch. Springtime is especially a good time to throw a red lure like a crankbait due to its similar appearance to a crawdad. Target hard bottoms like riprap, concrete boat launches, and chunk rock. These areas provide shelter for crayfish and also hold heat. It’s a perfect forage for bass that have spent an entire winter with low body heat and metabolism.

Lures That Imitate Crayfish

Bottom-bouncing lures like jigs and Texas-rigged craws imitate similar movements to a scurrying crayfish. Just cast out, let your bait hit bottom, and begin dragging it back or hopping it by raising the rod tip.

Dirty Jigs Tour Level Pitch’ Jig – Buy From FishUSA 

Dirty Jigs Luke Clausen Finesse Jig – Buy From FishUSA 

Top Water Insects & Other Prey

Bass are opportunistic, especially when they are young. Top water insects provide an easy meal for juvenile bass to snatch off the surface. This is true during insect hatches when bass will gorge themselves. It can be a difficult time to fish as you’ll need to match the hatch, so have a variety of colors and sizes.

Bass will snatch prey from the surface like frogs, mice, snakes, and even small birds. It’s not uncommon for bats to fall into the water and become a meal. This is why topwater lures are so effective during certain seasons when bass are oriented to the surface. Types of topwater lures include;

Walking Lures: These imitate the erratic movement of fish. Cast out and pop the slack in your line to achieve a side to side “walking” action.

Popping Lures:  Popping baits are more subtle than others in that they create minimal water displacement. Cast out and pop the slack in your line. This pulls the lure face down and creates a plunk-plunk sound.

Top water lures can be used from mid-spring to late fall. They’re especially effective when bass are feeding up, meaning they are more oriented toward the surface, whereas when a fish is hunting down, a jig or worm would be best dragged along the bottom. Finding bass can be part of the challenge (and fun)

 

Walking Lures:

Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg Hard Knock – Buy From Fish USA 

Heddon Super Spook Top Water Bait – Buy From FishUSA

 

Popping Lures: 

Rapala Ultralight Pop- Buy From FishUSA 

Strike King Bitsy Splash Popper- Buy From FishUSA

 

What Do Bass Eat: Worms

Earthworms are a great food source for bass. Low-hanging trees and shallow banks provide areas for bass to feed on grubs and larvae that fall into the water. Rain will also flush worms into the water. Anglers often rig a nightcrawler with a split shot weight above and let it sit. They also often use a Texas-rigged worm and hop or drag it along in open water.

You can also fish heavy cover with a braided line and peg above your weight. Texas-rigged worms work year-round, in my opinion. But they are most effective when bass are oriented to the bottom. In colder water in winter, or during cold fronts in spring, bass will hunker down on rocky bottoms as the barometric pressure will cause them to slow down and wait it out. This is a perfect time to drag a finesse worm past its snout.

Zoom Trick Worms: Buy From FishUSA

Roboworm Straight Tail Worms – Buy From FishUSA