The northern largemouth is native to North America, while the Florida-strain largemouth is a hybrid developed by fisheries scientists. Northern and Florida largemouth are known to interbreed. The Florida strain tends to exhibit faster growth rates and attain a larger weight than the northern, due in part to its preferred temperate climate zone.
Distribution: Largemouth bass were originally distributed east of the Rockies, with limited populations in south-eastern Canada and north-eastern Mexico. Because of its importance as a game fish, the species has been introduced into many other areas worldwide, including nearly all of Mexico and south into Central and South America and even across the globe in Europe and Africa.
Habitat: A Largemouth is structure-oriented by their predatory nature. Any combination of rock, vegetation and wood that is located near a variation in bottom depth, are attractive to this game fish.
Behavior: Adult largemouth bass are the top predators in the aquatic ecosystem. Fry feed primarily on zooplankton and insect larvae. Largemouths become active predators in the juvenile stage, usually when they reach two inches in length.
Largemouth’s spawn in early spring, depending on water temperature. In the South, spawning can begin when the surface temperature reaches at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Males build spawning nests in two to eight feet of water and can become very aggressive. Females stay on the nest long enough to deposit eggs and then move back out to deeper water. Largemouth bass prefer to nest in quieter, more vegetated water than other black bass, but will use any substrate besides soft mud, including submerged logs. A good area for bass to bed is where there is some sort of hard bottom.
Immature largemouth bass congregate in schools, while mature adults are usually solitary. Sometimes several bass will gather in a very small area, but they do not interact.
Diet: The juvenile largemouth bass consumes mostly small baitfish, crawfish and insects. Adults consume the same forage, plus frogs, snakes, salamander and even small water birds and mammals. In larger lakes and reservoirs, adult bass occupy deeper water than younger fish, and shift to a diet consisting almost entirely of smaller fish like shad, trout, shiners, and sunfish. Prey items can be as large as 25 to 35% of the bass's body in length. Paradoxically, with little or no cover, bass can decimate the prey population and starve or get stunted. Under overhead cover such as overhanging banks, brush, or submerged structure such as weed beds, points, humps, ridges, and dropoffs, Are key areas for bass to hang out. The largemouth will use its senses of hearing, sight, vibration, and smell to attack and seize its prey.
By: Michael Inscore..