Information On South Africa's Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
All You Need To Know About How To Catch Largemouth Bass In South Africa
Introduction To South Africa's Largemouth Bass
The Largemouth is a very popular freshwater
angling species in South Africa and many anglers spend a lot their
fishing time targeting these "Little Green Fish" as they are sometime
called. The Largemouth Bass can live over 15 years and can attain a
weight of 12 kilograms, this is uncommon in South Africa though and on
average the Largemouth will attain a weight of 1 kilogram with
exceptional species reaching 5 kilograms and more. See pictures
of Largemouth Bass here.
The Largemouth Bass was introduced to South Africa in 1928 from The Netherlands. Since then they have been introduced to farm dams, natural lakes and rivers. They have made a big impact on our indigenous small species of fish which has caused many of them to be put on the freshwater endangered list unfortunately, but plans are in place to regulate this problem and try to control it. The Smallmouth Bass is another species which is also to blame for this and to a certain extent the Rainbow Trout.
Largemouth Bass Habits & Habitat
The Largemouth Bass spawns in South Africa between the months of
October and November and they become very territorial during this
period. The Largemouth Bass eats various items of food and is a very
aggressive predator fish! Their personal preferences in South Africa
include Red Breast Tilapia, Vlei Kurper, Bluegill, Minnows, smaller Bass
and Trout, crabs, insects, small birds and small mammals, snakes,
lizards and frogs. The Largemouth Bass will readily attack a prey item
half the size of it. The Largemouth Bass is know to eat anything they
consider alive or real.
Largemouth Bass are a structure fish and they hand around drop offs, submerged trees, reeds, rocky bottoms, weed beds along sandy bottoms and under lily pads and other floating vegetation. The Largemouth Bass can be caught all year round in South Africa but there is no doubt Summer and Spring are the best seasons in which to target these fish. Winter fishing is tough for Largemouth Bass but some trophy species can be caught in the colder months. Largemouth Bass breed very quickly and can populate a small dam very fast. Pound for pound the Largemouth Bass is rated as a sluggish fighter compared to the Smallmouth Bass but it still pulls its weight. The Largemouth Bass is a great freshwater sport fish and many anglers are "Bass crazy"...
How To Catch The Largemouth Bass In South Africa
There are many different rigs, techniques and baits in which to target Largemouth Bass. My two favourite methods are targeting Largemouth Bass on fly and using the Wacky Rig technique.
Largemouth Bass love lures and crankbaits, small poppers, flies, plastic worms, plastic snakes, plastic topwater frogs, minnows, jigs, spinners and spinnerbaits are their preferred lures to "hit".
There are many specialised Bass techniques and terminal tackle
available to read or purchase... These are not as essential as the
experts make them out to be. When fishing for Largemouth Bass 7lb main
line and a 5kilogram leader is perfect, you can fish weightless, with a
jig head, split shot or dropshot style sinkers. The best tackle would be
a rod between 6 foot and 7 foot 6 inches with a baitcaster that matches
the rod or a small coffee grinder reel, size 3000 is perfect. Hook sizes
can vary but the best sizes are between 1/0 and 4/0. Short shank wide
gape hooks and special Bass hooks are perfect for the Largemouth Bass in
South Africa.
