The water is starting to get warm enough for fish to be in the shallows now.  My question is this:  If I come to a nice little pool of protected water, and there are multiple small bass (8-12''), and school's of bluegill moving around, is it safe to assume that there are no big bass hanging around there?  I came to a little pocket today with about 6 small bass, and the bluegill were everywhere.  Didn't know if they would hang around there if there was a big predator around as well. 

Give me your wisdom!!

i would almost bet there are bigger bass lurking in that area looking for a bluegill to snack on. perhaps waiting for the smaller bass to chase some of the bluegill out to them. what i would do, if legal in your state, is try and catch one of the smaller bluegills there, throw him out on a hook and let him jerk around, a bass big enough to eat him will likely show up out of nowhere and slam the bluegill

If the smaller prey fish, both the small bass and bluegill are prey fish to adult size bass, are swimming around in a relaxed manner, the local big bass are more than likely resting or inactive. When the prey fish disappear suddenly, then you know a big predator is active nearby.

WRB

WRB

That is what I was thinking...these fish are lounging around like they own the place.  I figured if a big cow was hanging around, they would'nt be so relaxed.

The water is starting to get warm enough for fish to be in the shallows now. My question is this: If I come to a nice little pool of protected water, and there are multiple small bass (8-12''), and school's of bluegill moving around, is it safe to assume that there are no big bass hanging around there? I came to a little pocket today with about 6 small bass, and the bluegill were everywhere. Didn't know if they would hang around there if there was a big predator around as well.

Give me your wisdom!!

Predators and prey coexist together and prey isn 't always worried about having a predator hanging around, the predatory response of a predator happens when/if the predator detects signs of weakness or the opportunity to ****** the prey, if that doesn 't happen the predator doesn 't enter in predatory mood. So assuming that there are no big predators around because you see prey  is a wrong assumption.

Another excellent point!!  I guess whenever I see prime big bass habitat, I will assume there is probably a prime big bass there.

WRB

That is what I was thinking...these fish are lounging around like they own the place. I figured if a big cow was hanging around, they wouldn't be so relaxed.

Think of lions laying under a shade tree and all the prey animals ignoring them as long as the lions are lazy or sleeping. When a lion gets up and looks around, the prey animals start to distance themselves for survival.

A big bass could be close, just not in an active mood and the prey fish can sense the change in activity or they don't survive.

WRB

WRB  I actually had that exact thought today!  Great analogy.