by Bruce Middleton, January 11, 2005

The anatomy of a bass must be understood to better fish them...

"The successful fisherman is the one who familiarizes himself with the ways of fish. He who studies out and observes the peculiar traits, habits and haunts of the fish he sets out to catch. Who acquaints himself with facts as to their sense of sight, smell and hearing, their mode of existence, foods likes, seasonal movements, etc. Thus qualifying himself to better understand them, so as to take advantage of their weaknesses, avoid their ready perceptions of things and fool their cunning.

Thus enabling him to take better seek or locate them, then to temp or deceive to that point where they will strike at an offering or attractive bait. Very few who set out fishing have any such conception or proper idea concerning these points and yet nothing is more conducive as success and he who is more prepared will enjoy the most success at the end of the day.

He should become familiar with the fishes natural foods, their methods and time of procuring it, the places they frequent, those they avoid and why they avoid them.

It is believed that bass, like snakes, see movement only, any object that is stationary is more invisible until it moves. This is an important clue that can be taken advantage of."

The Complete Fisherman and Angler Manual

By Francis H. Buzzacott

Pub 1903

These words of wisdom are the foreword in Buzzacott’s book. Although printed in 1903 it still is relevant today. You have to know everything there is to know about a bass in order to be the best bass fisherman you can. Without this knowledge your just another weekender out on the water flogging a lure in hopes a bass will strike it. So lets take so time to look at world through a bass’s eyes and study his anatomy to learn how that can help us be better bass anglers.

Web sites like billdance.com, bassresourse.com, bassdozer.com, anglersonline.com and others are absolutely chalk full of up to date information, products, weather forecasts and tips and techniques. Massive amounts of information on rigging worms, crank baits, spinner baits and more are available for free. All these ports of information are invaluable to you if you wish to be a better fisherman verses just a good fisherman. After all, success is what we want when we go fishing. The whole idea is to catch fish, quality fish, quantities of fish and the right to brag. Lets face it, bragging is an essential part of fishing. Local state and county websites like the one here in my home state is another great course of information that you can use. Washingtonlakes.com is a statewide lake guide to fishermen. You will have one in your state too; it will just take a little research to find it.

Now there will be days when you can’t beg, borrow or steal a bite. Those days happen. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something from the experience. In fact these days are great for trying lures or retrieves or rigs you haven’t tried yet. If your not catching bass, on anything you’ve thrown into the water, despite your best efforts, why not use something you haven’t tried. You might be surprised at the results.

Color it BASS



It’s a known fact that bass see colors and shades of some colors differently in different water clarities. Some colors are highly visible to fish at one time of the day and in one water clarity and become practically invisible at another time of day in different water clarity. This is Mother Nature’s way of protecting species of forage fish. Although they are sometimes highly visible, at other times of the day they can become completely camouflaged and blend into the water. If they remain visible to predators all the time they likely would be all eaten before they could breed and lay eggs.

A bass’s eyes are up oriented. While it may be low in the water column, it’s built to see and ambush anything next to and above it. Anything below it, a bass must turn on its side to see and eat it.

It is well known that bass can see browns, reds and oranges very easily and can distinguish many shades of these primary colors.

Fishes eyes are different than ours and they see differently than we do. We know that bass see 5 times better underwater than we do but exactly what they see under there is a mystery.

Bass can see shades of greens, reds and oranges. They can detect some shades of dark blues, violets, blacks, whites, light grays and light yellows. This is a very wide range of colors to see, one of the widest in the whole animal kingdom. And now you know why bass fishermen have so many colors of lures and plastics. Bass can also see fine detail like fishing line and hooks. But because they have no eyelids they often develop cataracts and go blind. This is another reason they stay out of the sun on bright days. All this has been studied by scientist over many years but since the 1970’s and the growth of bass fishing and nation wide bass tournaments the research behind new products and development of new materials for fishing applications has seen a real boom. Breeding of bass, conservation movements, groups like B.A.S.S. and other have demanded more and better research for products to keep fish alive in holding tanks, safer biodegradable plastic baits, better scents and attractants, better lures and so on. The list goes on and on. The red laser light in a bass fish tank was done by a kid but when people noticed that the bass attacked the red dot where ever it was pointed the research boys jumped on the band wagon and now we have red hooks, bleeding baits and a slough of other spin-offs from it. More money is being spent on research today than ever before but sadly even at present rates its only about 1/2 millionth of what’s being spent on lipstick in the cosmetics industry alone.

Bass Anatomy and Habits



The lower jaw of a large mouth bass is large and under slung, a feature that allows the fish to quickly engulf large prey in a single gulp. But it also makes the bass less adept at picking food off the bottom as it takes in a lot of non food items in at the same time it take in its food. When swimming a bass cruises at about 2 mph but can burst up to 12 mph to catch prey. This is about 5 times faster than you or I can swim and about twice as fast as most prey fish. It is also about 4 times faster than you can reel in a lure at top speed. So if a bass wants a lure, he has the speed to catch it quit easily.

A study done at the University of Florida shows that increasing bass size and jaw structure combine to make larger bass slower to open and shut their mouths. A five-pound bass strikes a bait 50% slower than a one-pound bass and that the percentage is directly proportional in its increase, as the bass becomes even bigger. Basically what this research paper is saying is that big bass like slow moving baits. They don’t sprint out and gulp a prey fish like a teenager does; they would rather meander over to a banquet and join in. This under scores one other point.

Largemouth Black Bass do have a home range territory. Studies have shown that these bass will inhabit the same places, month after month, year after year. This means that if you can find a good fishing spot, remember it and return to re-catch the same bass, if he was released previously. These studies show that years later the same bass will be found within 300 yards of the same spot he has always stayed in. A channel with some cover like an undercut or stump at a depth of 18 feet will hold a bass year round and it will never move from that spot unless caught or forcibly removed. Most bass live year round within 300 yards of their spawning grounds. This has been scientifically shown in 4 separate studies. Bass are territorial.

Scientists have put tracking devices in bass and followed their movements for years at a time. Here is what they have found: the majority of bass spend most of their time in brushy habitat. Most bass stay in a home range of 2 ½ acres. Most stayed at a depth of 15 feet or less and those that went deeper than 15 feet seldom went past 20. Bass roam the widest in May, June and February. Activity levels rise when water temperatures chances from 68 to 82 and from 80 down to 68 degrees. In summer bass are most active between 8 and 10 A.M. and after 4 P.M. In winter bass are most active between 2 and 4 P.M. A bass caught in a lake and released anywhere else on the same lake will return to where he was caught or very close to it in a very short time.

Most big fish are caught between 10 AM and 4 PM. Big bass are usually slightly deeper than most other bass by 3 to 8 feet. Most are caught in lily pads, flooded brush piles and thick vegetation. All were caught on larger than normal lures.

Male bass don’t get much over about 4 pounds but female set records by going over 20 pounds and can live to be over 30 years old whereas a males seldom live past 9.

A bass will strike a lure for 4 basic reasons; 1- hunger, 2-anger, 3- reflex. And 4- defense of territory.

Seven pound bass and larger are loners. They live year round in 12 to 25 feet of water. They tend to spawn first and deeper than the average bass by about 10 feet. They also do a lot of feeding at night and very little in the day. They may suspend at ten feet in thirty feet of water or hold on a stump on the side of a channel. They feed 12 on and 12 off with dusk and dawn being usually in that cycle, but not always. When they do feed, they gorge. A bass that weights seven pound is usually about 12 to 15 years old. And in all that time, survival has taught them to be smart. The dumb ones are already gone. Big bass don’t strike fast moving baits, because of their size it takes longer to open their mouths for the strike and it takes longer for them to get their mass moving from a dead stop to full speed. Big bass live on slow moving prey like crawfish and crippled minnows. When a group of bass attacks a school of shad the larger bass will usually be below the smaller ones waiting for crippled shad to flutter down to them where they can easily eat them. Big bass don’t bite like a smaller bass either. He hits the lure with a kind of a tap, like you just hung up but you haven’t. Smaller bass more or less sock it when they hit and you pretty much know right away.

Since bass are cold blooded their metabolism kicks into high gear in warm water and shuts down in cold water. Water temperature is the most critical factor in bass fishing. Bass have a comfort zone of 60 to 75 degrees F. with 71 degrees being the optimum. This is when a bass’s metabolism is most active and it feeds most often. A bass’s main concern is not food or cover but comfort.

The Where's and When's

In spring the best fishing is in vegetation and around it in 8 to 12 feet of water. But in summer the bass move to deeper water of about 12 to 15 feet. Why? Comfort, it cooler, there is plenty of shade and there is more oxygen there.

In spring cold waters during pre-spawn when shallow flats begin to warm up, it draws in bass. The initial move is not to spawn, that happens several weeks later after the water temperature is in the high 60’s or low 70’s. The early migrations into the shallows are for feeding. Bass follow prey fish and other forage into the shallows where they have moved because it is more comfortable for them. At this time of year bass feed heavily to build up reserves for the upcoming spawn when they stop feeding or feed very little.

Large mouth bass feed in shallow water but spend most of their time in slightly deeper water between feedings. They also come out of cover to feed by ambushing prey anytime. The majority of bass are caught in less than 8 feet of water and within 5 to 12 feet from the shoreline. Bass are found in as little as six inches of water. They also roam in packs along the shoreline looking for forage and small prey fish. They have a habit of moving from a shady point of cover to another point of cover, to another and so on.

Large areas of little depth change or shape change will grow the best vegetation, host the most forage and bass will be found clinging to distinct physical edges and any structure inside these flats. A rocky patch in the middle will not grow weeds but the bass will congregate around the opening. Bass are creatures of shallow flats and food rich zones of less than 20 feet.

A large flat, formed at the top of a point that has thick vegetation along the outside edge, clumpy reeds on the flats and dense weeds along the shoreline, will hold a large percentage of a lakes bass, as much as 80%. Largemouth Black Bass are creatures of shallow cover.

The best fishing is 3 days before and after a new or full moon. Many, many fishermen use the Moon Phase System to predict the best times of day or night to go fishing. Go to moonguide.com to learn more about the yearly, monthly, weekly and daily cycles and how fishing is affected and how this system can help you become a better fisherman. This is not spoof website. There is solid scientific fact and formula’s used in this system and it works. Be skeptical, but be curious too and take a little time to investigate this website.

This is just a start to understanding bass behavior, but you can now say you have an idea of what a bass sees, the temperature he likes and the depths he likes and why. Continue the quest for knowledge to better understand the bass. When fishing, think like a bass. You will catch more fish that way.