Do bass eat bugs?

[billhouk]

I caught a 16" large mouth on a Black Pennell. Not sure It thought It was a bug or small fish. In any case, one surprised bass when It found a hook in that bug. I have caught several on different wet flies (not plugs). I seem to have better luck with plugs on the smallies.

[Uncle Jesse]

I don't remember the pattern but it was tied on a 1/132 oz. jig hook. I caught a 5 1/2 lb. largemouth on it and I have caught several others about the same size on wet flies fished under foam hoppers or something similar. Bass will eat about anything they can get in their mouth.

[okflyfisher]

i think as a general rule bigger fish eat more small fish as a part of their diet but they always have room to eat whatever is most readily available

[James Smith]

Sure they do. I've caught bass on dry flies, but they're usually smaller bass under 15 inches. As a rule the larger the bass, the larger the food items it tries to take. It's a matter of conservation of energy. If it takes the same amount of energy to take a one inch food item as a six inch food item, the fish will go after the larger item because it is more efficient. That said, I've seen bass sip mayflies from the surface with about as much ripple as a trout, or pull a duckling down with almost no ripple or splash. That's part of what makes them fun to catch.

Jim Smith

[NJTroutbum]

At dusk, a #12 elk hair caddis can make for a great evening. I've caught some nice bass on Damsel Fly nymphs as well. The bigger the fish the more energy they expend to feed. They make it worth their while. Even trout are much the same.

[AllenOK]

I've caught A LOT of LMBs on a size 8 Olive Wooly Bugger. I always assumed that the bass were feeding on Dragonfly larvae. I've also caught nice LMBs on nymphs and scuds.

[Tig]

There's video on youtube of my boss, Ken Collins on the New Fly Fisher show with Bill Spicer and they are catching smallies on hexes (dry).
One of the largest smallies I caught was on a Gold ribbed hare's ear. Short answer to your question - yes!!

[bowfin47]

Once caught a 5# bass that "sipped" a #14 popper and have caught largemouth and spotted bass (Kentucky Bass) on #18 nymphs...

Had an old friend, who said that in the 50's, he and his buddy would catch bass in the 100 degree heat of the summer in north Louisiana bayous by casting #18 dries/midges into the shadows of the still waters and then just wait... sometime 2-4 minutes without moving the fly. Large, largemouth bass would slowly swim to the surface and sip the midge flies...

Yeah, bass eat whats in their waters...