Young Spotted Bass eat plankton, insects, insect larvae and other small fish they can find while the adult bass prefer a diet of golden shiners, shad, crawfish and salamanders.

 

Despite a preference for the golden shiners, shad, crawfish and salamanders, Spotted Bass adapt to the food available in their habitat. This can vary greatly across North America. One bait appears to be universal, though it will catch pretty much any other fish, and that’s the night crawler.

 

Spotted Bass avoid brightly lit areas, preferring low light conditions where they wait to ambush their prey. They seek out the cover of rocky ledges, sunken trees, weeds and sunken pools in rivers.

 

At night, they roam away from their normal cover and are more aggressive eaters especially if there is a lot of human activity during the day.