Bass

The designation “bass” is applied to a great many fish, true bass being saltwater fish such as grouper and striped bass. The freshwater food fish most often called bass include largemouth or bigmouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, and sunfish. One traveler to America in 1800, John Maude, observed, “Bass … is a favorite word with the Americans; they not only call trees by this name, but five or six distinct kinds of fish.”

Bass are typically medium to large, white fleshed, and mild flavored. Some are commercially fished, and others make good sport fish. Like many favored fish, bass has been introduced beyond its usual range and is farm raised for stocking ponds and lakes. The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a major warm-water sport fish but is found in cooler northern waters as well. Largemouth bass, so called because the jaw line extends well past the eyes, averages approximately one to one and a half pounds in the north but is larger in southern waters, growing as large as five pounds. The Florida largemouth bass (M. salmoides floridanus) is the largest largemouth. The smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) is somewhat smaller than the largemouth bass.