relatively more bluegills. The
same thing applies to any
other prey species. The
trends are what matter most.
Focus on the Big Picture
Anglers don’t generally
have the time or scientific
acumen to analyze specific
baitfish assemblages on each
waterbody, or to learn the
Latin names of all the darter
species native to the
Arkansas River basin. But by
doing a little research up
front, it’s easy to set a “mental
table” of what types of forage
are available in a lake.
It’s also smart to learn a little
base info about the forage
species available, including
how they behave and how
bass utilize them.
By spending a little time
online looking at fisheries
data and creel or shocking
surveys – or even going
down to the lake and doing
some old-fashioned looking
– you can usually get a pretty
good idea of what’s available
in your local haunts.
The key is to keep it highlevel,
as the dominant
trends are more important
than the minutiae.
Examples of things to
look for and questions to
ask include: Are there shad
in the system? If so, is it just
threadfin shad, or are there
gizzard shad as well? What
types of sunfish species are
available? How big are they?
What do they look like? Are
there pelagic (open-water)
baitfish present such as
blueback herring, alewives
or smelt? Do they stock
trout in the lake? What do
the crawfish look like locally,
and roughly how big are
they?
Answers to each of these
questions can dramatically
flatten the learning curve and
help anyone be more successful
faster on new bodies
of water, because each tidbit
of knowledge can help hone
fishing location and presentation
details.
Take a simple question
like, “Are shad present?” If
the answer is no, you might
want to focus more on bottom-related
offshore presentations,
as offshore bass are
likely eating crayfish and
other bottom-dwelling minnows
(versus shad that
would likely be up in the
water column). You might
also want to look for aggregations
of bluegills since it’s a
good bet that’s a more
important forage species on
that fishery.
Knowing what forage is
present can also help you
hone your presentation. If
the lake has shad – but only
threadfins – it might be OK to
leave the big baits at home
since threadfin shad max out
at around 5 inches, unlike
their bigger cousin, the gizzard
shad, that easily reaches
12 inches.
Similarly, a lake with a
huge population of yellow
perch should alert anglers
that perch patterns will be a
bigger player.
Seasonal Changes
If you have a good understanding
of what forage is
available in your local haunts
and use that information in
your daily fishing plans,
you’re probably catching
bass more regularly than you
were before, and that’s a
great place to start.
The next level is to
include seasonality in how
you think about bass forage.
In the term “forage availability,”
the word “availability” is
equally important as the
word before it. Just because a
prey species is present in a
given lake, river or reservoir
doesn’t mean it’s available to
the bass all year.
Experience tells us that in
much of the country the shad
spawn starts a few weeks
after the bass spawn, and targeting
bass feeding on
spawning shad is a great way
to get your string stretched.
But get there a week early or
a week late and you’re likely
to strike out.
Other examples of seasonality
in prey species
include learning the stocking
schedule in a trout-fed
lake and timing trips accordingly;
or the knowledge that
the crawfish of the genus
Cambarus tend to burrow
up in October and emerge
from their burrows in March
or April to breed. Perhaps
that’s why crawfish patterns
are so effective in the early
spring.
PHOTO BY ERIC ENGBRETSON
Putting it all Together
While this might seem
like information overload,
the key takeaway should be
this: Bass don’t just randomly
disperse across a waterbody.
After the spawn, they
are keenly attuned to the
movements and behavior of
their forage base. For that
reason, the more anglers can
learn about what the bass are
eating, the more they can
apply it to their plans.
You don’t need to be a
fisheries biologist to catch
more bass, but understanding
what they’re eating and
why those prey animals do
what they do can go a long
way toward putting you
around more and bigger
bass, which is the best way to
catch them.
LOCAL FORAGE ODDITIES
Across much of the country, the three main forage types bass feed
on are shad, bluegills (and other bream) and crawfish. However, bass
are opportunists, and as such, they are more than willing to feed on
something else provided it’s available and reasonably nutritious. Paying
attention to any “oddball” forage species available can also be key.
A few years ago, a tournament on the tidal James River in Virginia
was won by a gentleman fishing a finesse worm, targeting bass feeding
on blue crabs molting due to the new moon. Bass fishing legend Aaron
Martens won another top-level tournament on Lake Havasu by punching
deep into tule fields to target bass feeding on baby birds.
Other regional forage species include barfish (yellow bass) in Texas
and Oklahoma, golden shiners and amphiuma (a legless salamander) in
Florida, and certainly round gobies in the Great Lakes. Without question,
there are many more, too.
JUNE-JULY 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM 29