Their meat is often filled with parasites and does not have the greatest taste.

Rock bass feed during the day, in the evening and in the morning, though there are always exceptions. In areas where there is a lot of human activity, they hide away during the day and feed more at night and in the early morning.

Food Preferences

The Rock Bass eat a wide range of food, common to lakes and rivers in much of eastern North America. They will strike at crayfish, dragon flies, fathead minnows, golden shiners, gizzard shad, worms and leeches. However, the most common used bait and most recommended bait for Rock Bass is the common earth worm.

In some larger lakes, the young rock bass are food for larger fish including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and pike. This is not uncommon in the bass world as they will actually catabolise their own species, let alone close family members.

Competition for Food

Rock Bass are hungry fish with large appetites and enjoy the same food that larger game fish seek out. Large populations of rock bass has resulted in reduced populations of larger game fish like largemouth bass. Those smaller populations have also reduced sizes.

Avoid moving rock bass or any other fish species from one watershed to another as they often have significant effects on the local ecosystem. Their ravenous feeding habits deplete minnow populations, thus reducing an important food source for other larger fish species.

Table Fare

Rock Bass can grow large enough to eat and many anglers will serve them up. However, their meat is often filled with parasites and does not have the greatest taste. While a great fish for children to get into the sport, they are not recommended as table fare.

Lures

There are many spinners, crankbaits and spoons that work well at catching rock bass. However, regardless of how effective they are, in areas where there is high risk of getting your line snagged, use a simple worm on a weedless hook.