Due to the large portion of their diet being made up on insects, this is an excellent fish to catch using fly fishing techniques.

Distribution & Habitat

The Redeye Bass can be found in rivers and feeder streams of the Alabama, Savannah, Coosa, warrior and Chattahoochee rivers. These rivers all have the same characteristics.

The have clear, low turbid waters. They start off with a moderate flow in relatively shallow waters, getting deeper and with the flow slowing down as the river gets closer to its lower end.

These rivers are located in the south-eastern United States in Georgian and Alabama.

Not a Lake Fish

The Redeye Bass does not care for lakes and reservoirs. While it can be found in reservoirs and lakes in the high heat of the summer, it is more likely to head to deeper pool, riffles or just migrate down stream until it finds water temperature around 68°F to 70°F.

While you can fish for redeye bass in lakes and reservoirs and catch one, you are more likely to catch a largemouth bass or some other fish. If your focus is really on catching the redeye, then stick to river and stream habitat.

Diet

The diet of the Redeye Bass consists largely of insects common to the southeastern United States. Spring, summer and autumn is a big time for the Redeye Bass as the insects are out in force, especially in the late hours and night of the summer. Some of the larger insects include dragonflies, mayflies and damselflies.

They also position themselves under trees where many insects fall into the river from the trees including caterpillars, moths and centipedes.

The Redeye Bass also goes after small bait fish, especially in the winter months when insects are not plentiful. While the southern United States is very hot and tropical in the summer, the winters are cold and snow is common and can even reach into Florida in really cold winters.

They are know to eat fathead minnows, gizzard shad, golden shiners, worms, leeches and small crayfish.

Fly Fishing

Due to the large portion of their diet being made up on insects, this is an excellent fish to catch using fly fishing techniques. They are best caught with light tackle or even ultra light tackle. However, be aware that the Redeye Bass is not the only fish in these river systems that will strike at flies, many of them being larger than the Redeye Bass.

Use a three weight rod and make sure your flies are right sized for these one to two pound fish. Use larger flies and you will entice the larger fish and risk snapping your line on ultra light tackle. Moreover, if you are fishing the headwaters, there is a less chance of encountering large fish than if you were fishing in lakes and lower portions of their river distributions.