The In-Fisherman staff examined the entrails of many northern pike and found that "yellow perch"

dominated their stomach contents. Subsequently they performed a natural bait comparison using

live yellow perch (spiny-finned fish) versus redfin shiners (soft-finned fish). They were surprised to learn

that when pike were exposed simultaneously to both prey fish, the yellow perch were virtually ignored!

Moral Of Story: A rush to judgment would almost certainly confuse Availability with Preference.

Irrespective of the stomach contents, I will always opt for soft-finned prey such as shiners, chub and shad.

There are many accounts that refer erroneously to "protein" as being the best source of energy and weight-gain.

That is only a well-parroted myth (monkey-hear, monkey-say). Every animal contains protein, it's what separates an animal

(mayfly) from a vegetable (hydrilla). Vegetables consist cheifly of carbohydrates, but ironically, protein and carbohydrates

both deliver an equal amount of energy, which is measured in calories (unit of heat). The key calorie store is Fats and Oils,

which provide the most energy and weight gain. One gram of protein contains 4 calories and one gram of carbohydrates

contains 4 calories however 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories, which is more than one gram of protein

and one gram of carbohydrates combined!

Roger

Well said!

Exactly right RoLo and if you have ever eaten crawfish you know the head is filled with fat.

Pinch the Tails & Suck the Heads    

Pinch the Tails & Suck the Heads    

Things that sound dirty that probably wasn't meant to be.

I don't know about Billy but... I have found that when the shad are schooled up and I am fishing targets I catch them on saltcraws or jigs. When the frogs are out in numbers I catch them on frogs. When shad are schooled up and run into ambush points I catch them on cranks, spinnerbaits, swimming a jig. When the crawfish come out in the spring I catch them on saltcraws. When the bluegills are spawning I catch them on senkos. When the fry is schooled up after the bass spawn I catch them on senkos.

Depending on how you work the bait depends on what the bass thinks the bait is. Most of the time bass just see an opportunity and activity level determines if they will chase it or strike it. If a bass has been feeding on a certain item it will continue feeding on that item or something that acts like it as far as speed and motion. If the bass is not active it will feed on something less active. Just because something is plentiful don't always mean that it is the item that they are feeding on. Most of the time what they are feeding on depends on where the bass is and what is available and what activity level they are in.

I would have to agree with George and Catt on this one. I think there are a lot of factors like water temp, time of year and yada, yada, but, I think bass, day in and day out, both brown and green are opportunist.