I have a question

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I have seen videos of largemouth Bass taking a bait by flareing their gills and kind of vacunming or sucking the bait into their mouths without moving their bodies at all. I have also seen this while site fishing during the spawn.

My question is: Do any of you know if spoted bass take the bait in that same manner?
It would be good to know about smallmouth as well but my question is mainly about Spots

[Ricky-S]

I have seen all three bass do it. It tends to be the larger ones. The senko is a great bait to watch a fish suck in. It's darn cool to see it happen.

[Steve]

As far as I know, by design, that is the only way a fish can actually eat something.

[Mark Lassagne]

Largemouth's engulf the bait while smallies and spots bite. That is why sometimes you have to wait for spot to get the bait in there mouth. The phrase tail biting spots come to mind, when you set quick on a spot your worm comes back half gone. Hope that helps.

[Mark Langner]

I don't doubt that spots and smallies "bite"....I've had worms come back bit in half tons...heck..I've almost had the fish in the boat and it wouldn't let go of the bait (hook forward of the mouth).

But I sight fish smallies annually on a particular lake, and have watched their gills flare as they sucked in the bait.

For whatever it's worth...

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Not to be just arguing with anyone, but I think most fish feed using the suction action associated with flaring gill..In some cases they are also actively swimming towar the prey and it may look as though they are actually biting on the prey rather than sucking it in..This is especially true for those fish not having teeth in their jaws..

mac

[Hitman]

I've read something on this a while back and remember something to this affect..

Fish inhale all their prey even when eating a reaction bait....it's called negative pressure. They use more force when sucking in prey off the bottom but still use negative pressure when eating something on the go. They seem to have control over how much power is used to create the negative pressure force. So in essense the fish are always sucking in prey using negative pressure.

Makes sense to me.

Hitman

[Jeff Jewell]

Jim,
Having watched all three species in an aquarium, I can tell you that without a doubt they all do the sucking-in thing on occasion. I would say Largemouth more than the others though. All three species will also violently attack a baitfish and pin it against the gravel bottom then blow gravel out thier gills as they eat the baitfish.
Jeff

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I am just looking for a little more insight that may help all of us in recognizing the bite and perhaps to better figure out how to rig our baits

[Guest]

I had a 250 gallon aquarium with 3 bass in in. Actually had a smallie in there for a while before he had to go..... that thing tore up my whole house from inside the tank!

I can tell you that when those fish fed they didn't do much sucking.. they attacked the bait fish! They also didn't eat the crawdads while the crawdads were in the defensive mode... they'd only eat the crawdads when the crawdads weren't paying attention to the fish!

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

I have heard about live bait guys breaking the claws off of live cradads when using them for bait

[Larry Hemphill]

Hoover, Dirt Devil, and Oreck all make great vacuum cleaners, but God made better ones - the bass family!! If you watch the movie "Bigmouth", you will see bass suck up a bait in 1/24th of a second. It is impossible for a smallie, spot, or largemouth to "nibble"!! They can't pick up a potiential meal with their fin and look at it! They close their mouth, flare their gills which exhales the water from their mouth cavity, and anything within an inch or two from their mouth is IN their mouth when they open it in 1/24 of a second or less!! The naked eye can't see it! So, I don't want to hear anyone in my boat saying "I think I am getting a bite, yes, maybe that's a bite!" If something doesn't feel right, or if you suddenly can't feel where your bait is, SET THE HOOK! The bass has probably inhaled the bait but because of wind or slack in your line, you may not be aware of the bass having already inhaled your bait and deciding that it is not a "normal dinner"! The bass also might have moved towards you (the pressure) and finally spits it out. That is the "tick' you feel sometimes. Yes, I have set the hook many times on the blowout - water doesn't have much resistance! And yes, I have almost fallen out of the boat on those hooksets! The bass do win sometimes!!!!

[Phil Crader]

Larry, where would one find a copy of "Bigmouth" and what is it about?

Thanks

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

WET & WILDLIFE IMAGES
PO BOX 480
SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34489

(800) 661-4286

iT IS A 50 MINUTE DEFINITIVE STUDY OF LARGEMOUTH BASS WITH GREAT UNDER WATER PHOTOGRAPHY

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

*NM*

[Marc]

...as with most any rule, there are some exceptions to the suction method of feeding in bass that I have observed. Clearly an actively feeding bass depends on the creation of negative pressure by flaring their gills to create a suction action in most cases.

However, there are times when I have observed large smallmouth bass feeding on crayfish by clamping their upper and lower teeth patches at the front of their mouth on their prey, and keeping them clamped until they swim off and engulf the bait deeper. I have seen this behavior in clear water with a dropshot worm as well, with half of the worm hanging out of the mouth until being engulfed a second time. This also happens often when a bass is clearing a bait out of a nest that it really has no intention of eating. There have been days when the bite was tough and I have set the hook and brought back half a worm.

In a Big Bass tournament in Potholes Reservoir, WA that I won, I pitched a weightless Senko in color #031 to a large bush on the shoreline, and in the clear water I could easily see the silver senko as it sank. A large bass glided out of the shadows and bit the Senko. My partner also saw what happened, and he yelled for me to set the hook. I told him to stay still, and I waited because I could clearly see the front half of the Senko (the half with my hook) hanging out of the mouth of the bass. It looked like that 5 pounder was smoking a cigar! After an agonizing 5 or 6 seconds the bass started swimming and then sucked in the entire Senko. Then I slammed home the hook, and had that bass in the waiting net within three seconds.

I don't think we will ever figure out all we would like about bass, which is the reason I am addicted to fishing for them.

[Calistar]

Tom LeoGrande wrote:

They also didn't eat the crawdads while the crawdads were in the defensive mode... they'd only eat the crawdads when the crawdads weren't paying attention to the fish!

Interesting....what I had heard was that jigs were more likely to be eaten when they appeared to be moving defensively...(i.e. shook, hopped, or pulled in short spurts...like a crawdad attempting to fend off a bass). So if bass will only eat a crawdad/jig when it is not paying attention...does that mean a bass is more likely to eat it when it is motionless?

Good topic...would love to hear if anyone else has an opinion on this...

[C-Bone]

I had a largemouth in my tank for awhile and he was pretty comfy munching baitfish...he would "suck" so many in at a time that his mouth wouldn't close...you could see the poor bait with eyes wide open still breathing awaiting their final demise...

HOWEVER.....my younger son put a 3" tender live Crawdad in the tank and he would NOT touch it!!!! SAGA CONTINUES,..2 weeks go by and I clean the tank....I just happened to bump that Crawdad an he SHOT backwards....HE WAS SUCKED IN BY THAT BASS BEFORE HE HIT BOTTOM!! Seems he liked a Reaction Bite...This was a Delta Fish!!!

[Jim Conlow Sr.]

Its something that I suspected for a long time. otherwise why as you have explained come up with half a worm or missing tails on grubsafter setting the hook. Without real teeth they certainly cant just clip it off