Common Names: Largemouth, bass, black bass, bigmouth bass, line side, green bass, lake bass
Description: The upper jaw with the mouth closed extends well back of the eye.  The spiny dorsal or top fin is nearly separated from the soft dorsal by a deep notch.  There is usually a dark lateral stripe along the side.

     The largemouth bass, a member of the sunfish family, is a creature that prefers to inhabit bays, sloughs and shorelines where there is suitable cover such as weed beds, brush, stumps, fallen trees and rock rip-rap.  The largemouth bass is a sight feeder and feeds primarily on insects, cray fish, frogs and other fishes.  While young, bass frequently school to feed, but once they reach a size larger than a pound they appear to be more solitary in nature.

     In Carlyle Lake, the best largemouth bass fishing is from May to mid-October.  The best spots to fish are areas with cover or an abundant food supply.  This species also seems to prefer water temperatures between 58 and 75 degrees.

     Periods that provide some of the best fishing are:

     1. The initial early spring feeding spree.
     2. The late spring spawning period.
     3. The summer months when they hole up in the cooler waters of the river and creek channels, ridge drop-offs, spring holes and submerged brush.
     4. In the fall when they once again seem to roam widely to feed prior to the winter freeze.

   Baits To Use

     The largemouth bass can be caught  on a greater variety of baits and lures than practically any other fish.  Casting with either bait, spincast or spinning tackle is probably the most popular method of catching "Mr. Bigmouth".

Artificial Baits

     During the spring, when most lakes have periods of murkiness, the single or tandem spinnerbaits, wobbling and flashing spoons with pork rinds, spinning lures and light colored sub-surface lures are the best artificials to use.   As the water becomes clearer, buzzer baits, sub-surface lures, plastic worms and the diving baits gain in popularity.

     During the summer months, diving or deep running baits and plastic worms are very productive.  If the water is clear, topwater plunker, buzzer, crawler or diving baits fished along the shoreline cover, frequently produce limit catches.  This is also the time to use the fly rod with large poppers, streamers, wet flies or hair bug lures.

     During the fall, depending on water turbidity and temperature, type of cover, and time of day, one can use practically any lure in the tackle box.

Natural Baits

     The fisherman who likes to use live bait such as crayfish, nitecrawlers or minnows can frequently catch more bass than the man with a tacklebox full of artificial lures.  These natural baits are usually fished around overhanging banks, submerged brush, logs, stumps or on hard mud and sand bottoms.   These baits are most effective if they are worked slowly over the bottom, drifted with the wind or current into pockets, holes and riffles or jigged over good cover.

     Bass generally feed best from mid-morning to mid-afternoon during spring and fall months.  In the summer, one may find them feeding on shad during the heat of the day or feeding only at early daybreak and sunset.

Bass Recipes
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