Largemouth bass biology and ecology

Largemouth Bass

The waterways in America are loved as they provide a useful place of stay for the plants and many types of animals. The plants and animals are different in different types of speeds of movement of water - some prefer the fast moving water in the middle of the river, while others prefer the relatively still water in the backwaters or in the slow moving waters coming out from a field or institution which has used the water for cooling. At the same time, waters and streams are places where the people, animals and plants on land interact regularly with those in water. At these borders there may be only woodland, or wetland, prairies or even only aquatic life. There are differences in depth and velocity of the water that is flowing and this determines to a large extent what type of life will stay in these waters. (Iowa Waterways)

Where the water is slow and moving very slowly, the water ends up collecting a lot of heat and thus becoming very hot. This makes the water unsuitable for some types of fish like trout and small mouth bass. Certain other fish prefer to stay in these waters and these are largemouth bass, bluegill and other varieties of sunfish. Again the flow of water determines where the fish will make their small nests under the water, and this is where their young ones will come into the world. When the water is quite shallow, it happens that many animals from the land become a part of the animals living in water, and their presence also affect the fish. As an example one can see that mink hint for musk rats on the shores of streams for muskrats and other similar beings. Even large animals like raccoon, opossum and deer keep coming to the banks of the streams as evidenced by their footprints. (Iowa Waterways)

There have been many studies regarding the behaviors of large mouth bass as this is one of the most popular sporting fishes in the country. The studies show that these fish prefer the water temperature to be between 77 degrees to 86 degrees F. The fishermen prefer the temperature to be lower as that encourages the fish to bite even when the fish can locate water at higher temperature nearby. There are some reasons for this as the fish do not like water at high temperatures even when available due to the presence of bright sunlight or when food is available at a nearby place. The fish are allergic to high temperature and die in water over 98 degrees. Even if the water has no depth, the effect of having overhead cover will be to provide shade as also lower temperatures and this will help the bass to stay there for all of summer. Weedy edges also help the fish as it enables them to suddenly dart out and get hold of smaller fish for their meals. The fish also have trouble due to their high demand for oxygen, when this requirement is compared with other game fish. This is affected in depth of water as there is sufficient oxygen in the lower depths only when it is deep. (Largemouth Habitat)

In the lower levels, some lakes have enough oxygen, but there is problem when the lakes have a high amount of nutrients. These produce a lot of plankton, and at the end of their life cycle, these will die and drop to the bottom. At the bottom these will decompose and use up the existing oxygen, and that makes the lake unsuitable for large mouth bass. The same problem can also happen due to large scale proliferation of algae. When the water of the lake itself becomes very cold, then there will be formation of ice on top, and this will not permit any sunlight to come in the lake and this will stop the production of oxygen. In the meantime, decomposition continues in the lake and that removes oxygen from all depths. This will be a cause of the large mouth bass to die. These fish prefer deep clear waters as it is in the canyon reservoirs and strip pits. Here the fertility of the water is not much, and this permits a lot of oxygen to be in the lake at all levels. This helps bass and they are also left free to move where they want. (Largemouth Habitat)

The name of this fish comes as its upper jaw extends to a very large extent, and even behind its eyes. There is coloring on the fish from a dark spot to a black back. The sides of the fish vary in color from green to olive on the sides though the belly is colored light. The sides of the fish contain a long line of dark spots or bars and these markings extend almost to the tail. The fish has two dorsal fins and the first is spiny and exists midway on the tail of the fish. This dorsal fin is almost separated from the second dorsal which is soft. The fish is an American continent fish and exists from Minnesota to Quebec and down south up to the Gulf of Mexico. Originally the fish comes from the southeastern part of United States, but it is now found in the entire area as it has been introduced by the people to these localities. (Micropterus salmoides)

In the northern parts of the continent, the fish weighs less and is rarely more than 10 pounds, but in the south, there have been sightings of fish weighing more than 20 pounds. The highest record for a catch all over the country is 22 pounds 4 ounces and that was caught in Georgia. Every state has its own record and for example, the record for Florida is a little over 17 pounds. Compared to this fish, there is also a liking for black bass among all freshwater fish. These fish live in a wide area and when they strike, they strike hard and also show great strength during the process of being caught. The fishes are very active and their food includes many things found in water and they will attack all types of bait or lure. (Micropterus salmoides)

The sexual maturity of these fish also comes quite early and at an age of a little over 2 years. The descriptions of the fish in terms of body colors have already been given. The descriptions cannot be however stated in specific terms as there are variations in between different fishes. There are differences between the sexes and the males are generally slender and of a darker color when they are compared with females. When the fish get into the spawning season, they show a territorial behavior. The fish build a pit of around 1 meter in diameter and this is lined with leaves by them after cleaning. The spawning is done into the pits and then the eggs are guarded in turn by the pair. The eggs hatch into young fish after about a week, and after that there is no care taken by the parents. (Largemouth bass)

The fish are the natives of America, but has been distributed all over the world as a sporting fish, and can be seen even in Australia. The fish are well-known for their feeding habits and adults eat fishes, crayfish and frogs while the young ones consume crustaceans, insects and small fish. In the absence of food the fish are known to exhibit cannibalistic behavior. The fish stop eating when the spawning season is on, or when the water temperature is below their comfort levels or above it also. In countries where the fish have been introduced as an experiment, there have been many difficulties and most of the trouble is caused by their heavy eating. This habit has caused some types of flora and fauna to even disappear. (Largemouth bass)

There have been studies on the fish to find out their behavior in terms of movement, and one was conducted at Par Pond which is a reservoir in South Carolina receiving heated water from a power plant. The fish was noticed to be in larger numbers in areas where they found heated water, and this was seen more in winter. Individual fish however keep traveling and it was seen that individual fish travel as much as six kilometers in many cases. The fish which were in the heated area did not however seem to have moved much. (in a Reservoir Receiving Heated Effluent from a Reactor)