Other names—black bass, largemouth, bigmouth, linesides, Oswego bass, green bass, green trout, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, southern largemouth, northern largemouth; French: achigan à grande bouche; German: forellenbarsch; Italian: persico trota; Japanese: okuchibasu; Portuguese: achiga.
The largemouth bass is the biggest and most renowned member of the Centrarchidae family of sunfish and its subgroup known as black bass (see: bass, black). As the result of widespread introductions throughout North America, it has become available to more anglers than any other species of fish. Its adoption of varied environments and its penchant for aggressive behavior have helped make it the most popular sportfishing target in North America.
Classified as a warmwater species, the largemouth bass thrives in relatively fertile bodies of water, primarily inhabiting reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and large slow rivers with quiet backwaters. In all of these environments, it is one of the top predators. It has a wide-ranging diet and seeks numerous forms of weed, rock, or wooden cover, which it uses to ambush prey. These characteristics make it suitable for a plethora of fishing techniques, thus also endearing it to manufacturers of fishing equipment. A species tailor-made for casting, it has probably spawned more artificial lures—and variation upon variation of lures—than all other freshwater sportfish combined. And its short-lived but action-packed fight, replete with aerial maneuvers and explosive bursts for cover, keep anglers coming back.
The largemouth bass is not actually a bass, as are the various members of the temperate bass family of fish, which include striped bass and white bass. It is a large sunfish, related to such other popular sunfish as the bluegill (see) and crappie (see: crappie, black; crappie, white), as well as to fellow members of the Micropterus genus. The word “bass” derives from the Middle English basse, which is either a corruption of the Old English baers, meaning bristly or spiny, or of the Dutch word for perch, barse.
Whether appropriately or inappropriately named, the largemouth is the one species that people in North America think of when they hear the word “bass,” and this generic term has also come to be used in reference to boats, rods, reels, lures, and other gear specifically employed in pursuit of these fish.
Although largemouths are popular throughout their range, they are not as popular with some people as their close relative, the smallmouth bass (see: bass, smallmouth), even though the largemouth grows considerably larger on average. This is because smallmouths have an even friskier disposition when hooked and are more likely to be repeat acrobats. Smallmouths alternately jump and bear down for the depths, whereas largemouths head for the jungle, looking to break the angler’s line on the nearest obstruction. The largemouth is more the kick boxer than the pugilist.
Largemouth bass have not always been atop the popularity chart in North America, although they have always been widely appreciated. The rise of levelwind tackle in the mid- to late 1800s, and the development of early lures, spinners, spoons, and plugs, helped move all forms of North American fishing from the cane-pole-and-bait approach, or the fly rod, into a different element that was perfect for bass.
Bass fishing arguably got its biggest boost in the mid-twentieth century when scores of dams were erected on rivers, creating large reservoirs that allowed populations of baitfish and predators to explode. With these changes came fast fishing and an explosion of opportunity.
Today bass fishing is an entrenched activity in North America, and largemouths (and their black bass relatives) are the only species that see a widespread and high level of club activity and competition. They have benefited from intensive fisheries management and special regulations, and there is no commercial fishing for or sale of these species in the United States or Canada (although there is some in Mexico). Some populations have declined due to environmental and fishing pressures, however, and habitat alterations have played a part in the changing nature of some fisheries as well.
The bass fishing culture is such today that most avid bass anglers release every bass they catch, including trophy specimens. Many have a replica taxidermy mount prepared instead of keeping the fish. Largemouth bass are of fairly good table quality, especially the smaller specimens and those from clear-water environments; their white, flaky, and non-oily flesh is generally mild and not unlike larger specimens of other sunfish. Those taken from more turbid and weedy waters tend to be less flavorful.
The largemouth bass is sometimes confused with the smallmouth in places where both species occur, and also with the spotted bass (see: bass, spotted). One subspecies, the Florida largemouth bass (see: bass, Florida largemouth), M. salmoides floridanus, is capable of attaining large sizes in appropriate waters but is otherwise similar.
Identification
The separation between first and second dorsal fins is less in
smallmouth bass (top) than in largemouth
bass (bottom), a difference that aids in differentiating these species.
The largemouth bass has an elongate and robust shape compared to other members of the sunfish family; this shape has come to define species that are called bass, whether they be true bass (see: bass), true black bass (see: bass, black), or merely look-alikes. It has a distinctively large mouth compared with other family members, as the end of its maxillary (jaw) falls below or beyond the rear margin of the eye; the dorsal fin has a deep notch separating the spiny and soft rays; and the tail is broad and slightly forked.
Although coloration varies greatly and is especially dependent on biological factors and host environments, the largemouth bass generally has a light green to light brown hue on the back and upper sides, white lower sides and belly, and a broad stripe of diamond-shaped blotches along the midline of the body. This stripe particularly distinguishes it from its close relative the smallmouth bass, as does the upper jaw, which in the smallmouth does not extend past the eye.
There are patches of dark scales above and below the lateral stripe, three dark bars on the sides of the head, and a complete lateral line. There are no scales on the base portion of the soft-rayed second dorsal fin of the largemouth bass, a characteristic unlike those of other black bass. The largemouth lacks a tooth patch on the tongue, which helps distinguish it from the spotted bass. Coloration can range from pale green or nearly silvery to extremely dark and near black on the upper sides and back. The lateral line, stripe, and other markings may be indistinct—all are dependent on the clarity and color of the water. The most distinctively marked fish tend to come from the clearest waters.
Size/Age
Although the largemouth bass can live up to 15 years, the average life varies; these fish seldom live more than 10 years. Throughout their range, largemouth bass encountered by anglers average 1 to 11/2 pounds (10 to 13 inches) but are commonly caught up to 5 pounds and less commonly from 7 to 10 pounds. In northernmost waters, a largemouth bass over 5 pounds is uncommon, due to slow growing seasons. Fish exceeding 5 pounds are common in good lakes in southern regions, where fish can grow faster and enjoy a longer growing season. A 10-pounder is a trophy anywhere, and, with few exceptions, is harder to come by in modern times.
The maximum size attainable for largemouth bass may be 25 pounds, but this has not been proven, and only about a dozen bass in the 20-pound class are known to have been caught. The largest specimen is the all-tackle world record of 22 pounds, 4 ounces, caught from Montgomery Lake, Georgia, in 1932. This is one of the longest- standing freshwater records and certainly the most coveted of all sportfishing records. Although Florida once had the best chances of producing record-threatening largemouth bass, that distinction has moved west with transplanted fish (Florida strain) to California. Texas also boasts many large specimens today, and Cuba is another candidate for producing the biggest largemouths.
Distribution
The largemouth bass is endemic only to North America, and its native range was generally the eastern half of the U.S. and southernmost Ontario and Quebec in Canada. It occurred roughly from Iowa south to Texas and northeastern Mexico, and east to the South Atlantic coast and to western New York and western Pennsylvania; it was absent from most of the Appalachian and Ozark Ranges, most of the northeastern U.S. from Maryland to Maine, and easternmost Canada.
Since the late 1800s, its range has been expanded to include major or minor portions of every state in the U.S. except Alaska, and most of the southern fringes of Canada, as well as numerous countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Habitat
In capsule summary, the largemouth bass is typically described as a fish that frequents the weedy sections of ponds and lakes. In reality, the largemouth is highly adaptable to many environments and to many places within various types of water. They inhabit creeks, ditches, sloughs, canals, and many little potholes that have the right cover and forage, but they live principally in reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and medium to large rivers, and not always in the weedy sections.
More specifically, however, they orient toward cover in those environments and find most of their food in or near some form of cover, whether it is visible in relatively shallow water or existing beneath the surface out of sight. Favored haunts include logs, stumps, lily pads, brush, weed- and grassbeds, bushes, docks, fencerows, standing timber, bridge pilings, rocky shores, boulders, points, weedline edges, stone walls, creekbeds, roadbeds, ledgelike dropoffs, humps, shoals, and islands. Although much bass cover is nearshore, some bass do spend time away from shore, especially in unvegetated lakes.
Largemouth bass are most active in waters ranging from 65° to 85°F; the lower 70s is likely optimum. Yet they do well in temperatures much higher and lower, including waters that touch the 90°F mark as well as frozen lakes that dip to the mid-30s. They can and do thrive in waters that are clear, as well as in those that are highly turbid.
Life history/Behavior
Largemouth bass spawn from late winter to late spring; the timing depends on latitude and temperature. Southern populations spawn earliest, and most northern populations latest. They begin to spawn about the time the water temperature reaches 60°F. Fish of about 10 to 12 inches are mature enough to reproduce for the first time. Males select and prepare the nest site, a circular bed usually in 1 to 4 feet of water, often positioned near or including some type of object along the shoreline. The female is nudged to the nest site by the male, deposits her eggs, and leaves; the male guards the eggs, which hatch in a few days, and then guards the young fry for a short period.
Largemouth bass do not undertake extensive migrations and are essentially cover-oriented homebodies. The pattern of their lives is fairly simple: hide, ambush, eat, and eat some more. This is oversimplified, but bass do have “home areas” that they seldom range far from unless environmental changes require it. The larger the fish, the larger its home area; the more vegetation, the smaller the home area. They are susceptible to changes in water levels and temperature, and may change behavior based on food abundance or availability. They usually favor shallow-water living (1 to 20 feet), but when temperature, falling water, abundance of deep baitfish, or other conditions dictate, they may move to deeper water.
Growth rates for largemouth bass are extremely variable, influenced as they are by broad geographical location (north versus south), the specific body of water they inhabit within a particular region, and individual differences even within the same population. Despite these influences, bass are capable of growing quickly under the right circumstances.
Food and feeding habits
Adult bass predominantly eat other fish, including gizzard shad, threadfin shad, golden shiners, bluegills and other sunfish, small catfish, and many other small species, plus crayfish. They are extremely opportunistic, however, which explains why anglers like them so much, and they may consume snakes, frogs, salamanders, mice, and other creatures. They swallow their food whole instead of biting off pieces, which limits the size of the prey they can consume. Any prey having a body depth less than the diameter of the largemouth bass’s mouth may be consumed, usually headfirst.
As aggressive predators, bass primarily are ambush feeders, but they may pursue fish in open water, where there are no ambush opportunities. In normally warm waters, digestion occurs fairly quickly; however, at extreme warm or cold temperatures digestion actually slows, causing the bass to feed less frequently and making them less suscep-tible to anglers.
Bass are well known for their ability to locate prey in turbid water and at night. Although they are primarily sight feeders when water clarity permits, they otherwise use their highly developed lateral line to detect vibrations and locate prey. They can also detect odors, but their senses of smell and taste are poorly understood by scientists, and evidently used less for feeding than sight or hearing.
