Largemouth Bass
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a popular game fish had a native range covering the eastern half of the United States including parts of northeastern Mexico and southeastern Canada. The fish has now has a range the covers the most of the continental US. The fish has even been introduced to lakes in Europe, South Africa, Hong Kong, Philippines, and Brazil.
The largemouth bass has an average weight of 1 to 2 pounds and has an average length of 8 to 18 inches long. They are dark on the top fading to green with an off white belly. A dark band blotchy line also run longitudinally along the side of the fish. The dorsal fin is divided into two parts. The forward part of the dorsal fin is spiny and back part is soft.
Largemouth bass are carnivores, and their diet includes insects, fish, crayfish, frogs, insect larvae. They shallow clear water with abundant aquatic vegetation, which they use to hide in. In the morning they are deep and active, then during the afternoon they tend slow down, but as night approaches they move into shallow water and become active again.
They spawn on a firm bottom in about three feet of water during the spring when the water temperature reaches between 60 and 65 degrees F. The females can lay up to a million eggs in a shallow hole created by the male. After the female lays the eggs the male guards them until the little fry hatch.
