Freshwater Fish of Georgia Field Guide (Fish Identification Guides) - Softcover

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Dave Bosanko was born in Kansas and studied engineering before following his love of nature to degrees in biology and chemistry from Emporia State University. He spent thirty years as staff biologist at two of the University of Minnesota’s field stations. Though his training was in mammal physiology, Dave worked on a wide range of research projects ranging from fish, bird, and mammal population studies to experiments with biodiversity and prairie restoration. An avid fisherman and naturalist, he has long enjoyed applying the fruits of his extensive field research to patterning fish location and behavior, and observing how these fascinating species interact with one another in the underwater web of life.

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Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides

Family: Sunfish family (Centrarchidae)

Other Names: black, bayou, green or slough bass, green trout

Description: dark green back, greenish sides often with dark lateral band; large, forward-facing mouth; lower jaw extends to rear margin of eye

Habitat: shallow, fertile, weedy lakes and river backwaters; weedy bays and extensive weedbeds of large lakes

Range: southern Canada through the United States into Mexico, extensively introduced worldwide; Georgia—common throughout state

Food: small fish, frogs, crayfish, insects

Reproduction: spawns when water temperatures reach 60 degrees; male builds nest in small clearings in weedbeds 2 to 8 feet deep; male guards nest and fry until the “brood swarm” disperses

Average Size: 12 to 20 inches, 1 to 5 pounds

Records: State—22 pounds, 4 ounces, Montgomery Lake, Georgia, 1932; North American—22 pounds, 4 ounces, Montgomery Lake, Georgia, 1932

Notes: The Largemouth Bass is the most sought after game fish in North America. This denizen of the weedbeds is a voracious carnivore, eating anything that is alive and will fit into its mouth. Largemouths are common in lakes and wide streams with weedbeds less than 20 feet deep. Largemouths are often 1 to 3 pounds, but 8 and 9 pound fish are not uncommon. They are fine table fare when small and taken from clear water, but are not known for table quality when large are taken from muddy water.

Similar Species: Smallmouth Bass (pg. 150), Spotted Bass (pg. 152)

• Largemouth Bass: mouth extends well beyond brown eye
• Smallmouth Bass: mouth does not extend beyond red eye
• Spotted Bass: mouth does not extend beyond orange eye