THE BASS COLLEGE

Since I was in 3rd grade, (seems like forever ago being in college now lol) I always loved keeping stuff and observing it for short periods of time. I always kept critters for a month or so, fed them and took care of them, then released them. I have about 20 empty aquariums and tanks in my basement. I've had everything from snakes, frogs, toads, salamanders, atleast 5 different types of turtles, plenty of fish, etc. All Pennsylvania native species. When I was little, I thought one day, I'd become a herpetologist or some sort of biologist. I thought about maybe raising a largemouth bass or two for a period of time, and just observing it, just to note some personal feeding observations, or find out something new about the species. Has anyone ever done this? Let me hear your story and what you did...

Ive had fresh water aquariums for 30 some years with just about every aggressive fish there is. Now I have a 55 gallon tank with african cichlids in it.  In high school science class the teacher was giving away the bass in the aquarium so I took it home. From what I remember it didnt live that long . I plan on catching a few fingerlings this spring and setting them up in another tank and see how it works out.

FishFan at January 10, 2012 at 10:00 PM

Ive had fresh water aquariums for 30 some years with just about every aggressive fish there is. Now I have a 55 gallon tank with african cichlids in it.  In high school science class the teacher was giving away the bass in the aquarium so I took it home. From what I remember it didnt live that long . I plan on catching a few fingerlings this spring and setting them up in another tank and see how it works out.

Thats awesome, thanks for sharing, you'll have to let me know how it goes

i had some in a 300gallon tank for 4 yrs but let them go not to long ago they were fun but eat alot.i had one largemouth and 2 smallmouth

I had 500 gallon tanks and raised bass for years. 

did raising them help you learn more about bass activity in general?

You need a lot of food and at least a 100 gallon tank, bigger if possible. it is actually better to just raise one in your pond Greg and just watch one small one in say a 100 gallon tank to observe things.

Tim W at January 10, 2012 at 10:08 PM

did raising them help you learn more about bass activity in general?

YES.

Did you mean raise a fingerling in one of my ponds or in a 100 gallon tank or both lol?

I currently am raising a bass. It stared out at 10 inches and half a pound and now i would estimate it at 14 inches and 1.5 lbs. I have it in a 78 gallon tank in my room. I feed it worms i find in my backyard, and an ocassional small bluegill that i catch.

That bass needs a bigger tank. He's longer than the tank is deep.

raising a bass is one of the best ways to observe their activity/feeding habits, but keeping them in a small tank or by themself also kinda negates what activities you often see.  this is because a fish isn't stupid and knows when you open the top or bring the bag of minnows over that food is coming.  granted this is after repetition and keeping the bass for some period of time, but to see real life characteristics of their feeding/behaviorial patterns, you'd need a pretty substantial body of water (tank) with several different structures (laydowns/wood/rocks/holes/points/etc) to really relate it to bass that live in ponds nearby.  In a tank, usually they have only a few spots as "hideouts" and often are fed at the same time everyday by human habit.  This would obviously affect the behaviors you would observe.  all in all tho, my buddy Hugh kept bass for a few months and as everyone said, their eating habits mimic that of us overweight Americans.  EATEATEATEATEAT.

No many overweight Americans, but not us!! LOL 

i believe we stay fit by throwing the swimjig alll day long....whewwww that can certainly wear ya out. especially on one of those big boy rods and long line reels. I been working forearms allllll winter just in preparation  hahaha

LOL  You will need it. 3 months from now, Yeehah!! I will have to put the bass in the livewell to film after you calm down. It will be that exciting. 

About 25 years ago i caught a bass about 6 inches long,i put him in a 55 gallon tank.I fed him goldfish and some type of shrimp in a can.I put the bass back in the lake when my mom said she didnt like watching the bass going after and eating the goldfish.He grew about 3  or 4 inches in 1 year.

I've always wanted to do that too but you better check the laws in the State your living in. Here in Maine it's against the law. Not sure why they come up with all these law but don't need the fine.

Good luck getting caught though.If we have enough money for a Game Garden to come door to door to look for a bass in a tank, then we have a pretty good economy or a pretty bad government, or both!!  lol I wouldn't even think twice about it. In my opinion, there are a few others laws in this country that need to be fixed right away too. 

They probably have the laws because of diseases and stuff.But  i think the laws are also there to protect lakes,alot of people dont have the knowledge to move and replace different types of fish to different locations,can screw up the lake.

Thats why. and its important, but nobody is going to come get you for raising a bass in a tank and then releasing it. If they do, shame on them for not having a life.