answer to bill dance fishing quiz?? 2025

scott k reply :

A couple of weeks ago the question during the show (and online) was something like: an adult largemouth would prefer which of the following over all others? 1) crawfish 2) shad, 3) frog. Well obviously I waited too long to check the answer on his website and the correct answer has stumped me and a few friends. Does anybody KNOW the answer? Thanks.

Edit: my answer was shad.

JCrzy4Bass reply :

I didn't see the show, but guessing as bass typically eat a lot of bait fish and especially here on the potomac (shad), I would go with the shad answer? Someone will probably come on here and school me though. I honestly have no clue. It's just a guess. But I thought that it really differs as to location, climate, available forage, etc... that Bill Dance, he's a smart dude.

BassChaser57 reply :

I am going with;

1. Crawfish

2. Shad

3. Frog

Of course this depends on the body of water and water temperature as crawfish are not in all waters and only become active in the mid 50+ degree water.

That is my final answer. 8-)

CJ reply :

I have read that a crawfish is a bass's "preferred" meal.

Bassn Blvd reply :

I don't know Mr. Dance's answer but the correct answer would be crawfish.

thunderstruck reply :

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I don't know Mr. Dance's answer but the correct answer would be crawfish.

Couldn't have put it better.

Sam reply :

This is why I love bass. We both love to eat crawfish.

My favorite food is crawfish, too. I can eat about 5 to 8 pounds at a time with no problem.

Boiled with some good seasoning along with corn and potatos and onions makes a fantastic meal.

My license plate reads "CRAWFSH" which gets some funny looks from other drivers.

I vote for crawfish.

And so do the jig and Chatterbait manufacturers along with the spinnerbait companies. And all those tungston and brass manufacturers and rattle companies that want to make a crawfish clicking sound with their products. And the jig trailer companies and plastics manufacturers, too.

My avator shows what a crawfish would look like to a bass as he moves in for a snack.

George Welcome reply :

The correct answser is all of the above - convienence is the deciding factor not type. Unlike the human that asks "what's for dinner", bass ingest the nearest and easiest.

Catt reply :

Exactly George!

Bass Feed efficiently

Maximize food intake (they biggie size it)

Minimize energy output (they get it at the drive through window)

thunderstruck reply :

The question was: "an adult largemouth would prefer which of the following over all others?". A largemouth would never give up a meal in search of another, that is common sense. But the question is referring to which food the largemouth would attack first, given they were in front of his face.

Perhaps the direction this question was going in when it was asked was: "With that knowledge, a fisherman would/should chose a xxxxx instead of xxxxx type of bait."

roadwarrior reply :

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The correct answser is all of the above - convienence is the deciding factor not type. Unlike the human that asks "what's for dinner", bass ingest the nearest and easiest.

I'm sure George has the best answer.

It seems to me baitfish is the staple, crawfish are a treat and frogs an opportunity.

dave reply :

I can't remember who said it but, they said that a bass will swim through a school of shad to get to a crawfish. Whether that is meant to be taken literally or not, it spoke to how much a bass would prefer a crawfish. It can depend on what is the main forage on a body of water. All food being available, I'm going with crawfish.

Siebert Outdoors reply :

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The correct answser is all of the above - convienence is the deciding factor not type. Unlike the human that asks "what's for dinner", bass ingest the nearest and easiest.

I guess I'm a bass too. LOL. I go for the nearest and easiest.

But that would have been my answer too. Not all lakes have crawdads, no do all ponds have shad.

I believe in the easy meal theory. Least amount of calories burned to catch the meal.

Catt reply :

Shad: capable of out maneuvering a bass through out the water column

Frog: by no means a slow swimmer & can escape by going ashore

Crawfish: capable of fast movement but only for short distances & confined to the bottom

Which do you think will be the easiest far a bass to catch?

Feed efficiently (maximize food intake and minimize energy output

MarVaBC reply :

All of you are wrong. The correct answer is E - None of the above. Studies show that a bass's favorite meal over all others is the Dancin' Eel - Available at all fine retailers.

scott k reply :

I think the question was more theoretical not what actually happens in real life. Obviously a bass isn't going to pass up an easy frog meal because he wants to check out some rocks later in the day for a crayfish meal or he knows a school of shad has been hanging around some offshore structure.

If you could somehow give a choice of those three to an adult bass, and the options all required the same energy to obtain, provided the same amount of substance/calories, and were all just as readily available which would it be? I change my answer from shad to crayfish after reading these repies.

jiangtao reply :

I can't remember where, but I read once that in a tank test that Bass would eat a crawfish 9 out of 10 times over shad. I guess that's why one of my rods is dedicated to a jig!

Lightninrod reply :

I've read that a crawfish is almost 100% protein and would be the preferred meal of a Bass but I vote for the 5", #222, Senko ;D

Dan

guest reply :

Quote
Shad: capable of out maneuvering a bass through out the water column
Frog: by no means a slow swimmer & can escape by going ashore

Crawfish: capable of fast movement but only for short distances & confined to the bottom

Which do you think will be the easiest far a bass to catch?

I repectfully disagree catt.

the question as I recall it was what do BIG bass prefer.

As I also recall big bass will sit under a school of shad and pick off the wonded ones that are injured can't escape. Let the youngins do all the work.

a crayfish cought out feeding in the open is easy pickins for any decent sized bass.

I don't care how short the race is, unless the mudbug has a secure hole in the bank or rocks within a few feet he's dead meat. Ain't no crawdad outrunning any full grown bass.

And oh how a big bassie must love a big ole frog just a laying real still next to lilly pad, waiting on some unsuspecting moth or dragonfly to buzz buy.

Bass are stealthy critters for sure. If he can get wihin striking distance of juicy ole frog he's going for it

With all due respect to Mr Dance, who after all theese years still has a pretty good tv show i gotta go with George on this one. You can never have exactly the same condtions for ease of feeding at any given time. Also water temp, season, lighting condtions etc. will be part of thae bass instinctive calculaion. My gut tels me bill d. is gonna say shad, but I thing GW's got the real deal.

mattm reply :

Avid,

If I remember correctly Bill Dance said crawfish, and sited the previously mentioned tank test as evidence.

senile1 reply :

Quote

Quote
The correct answser is all of the above - convienence is the deciding factor not type. Unlike the human that asks "what's for dinner", bass ingest the nearest and easiest.

I'm sure George has the best answer.

It seems to me baitfish is the staple, crawfish are a treat and frogs an opportunity.

I think that's a good way to put it. From what I've read, crawfish are the filet minon for bass, all things being equal. Of course, all things are never equal, so convenience would be the deciding factor.

Infidel. reply :

I remember reading somewhere that the calories that are required to digest a Crawfish are almost as much as the bass gets from eating the thing. But that is not to say that bass don't love them.

Catt reply :

Quote
I remember reading somewhere that the calories that are required to digest a Crawfish are almost as much as the bass gets from eating the thing. But that is not to say that bass don't love them.

Dude crawfish is one of the most protein rich foods a bass can eat & is one of the best food sources for growing big bass.

Infidel. reply :

Oh I don't doubt it. I am just saying that I remember reading it somewhere. I am not trying to put it out there as fact. Trust me, I know that just because something is written down and published doesn't make it true. Hell, they even let Michael Moore write books

guest reply :

Quote
Dude crawfish is one of the most protein rich foods a bass can eat & is one of the best food sources for growing big bass.

i can also attest to the universal savoriness of these critters.

delightfully enjoyed by both humans and Klingon's

berldemup croc gadivin nichthanz.....................ummm good

RoLo reply :

The In-Fisherman staff examined the entrails of many northern pike and found that "yellow perch"

dominated their stomach contents. Subsequently they performed a natural bait comparison using

live yellow perch (spiny-finned fish) versus redfin shiners (soft-finned fish). They were surprised to learn

that when pike were exposed simultaneously to both prey fish, the yellow perch were virtually ignored!

Moral Of Story: A rush to judgment would almost certainly confuse Availability with Preference.

Irrespective of the stomach contents, I will always opt for soft-finned prey such as shiners, chub and shad.

There are many accounts that refer erroneously to "protein" as being the best source of energy and weight-gain.

That is only a well-parroted myth (monkey-hear, monkey-say). Every animal contains protein, it's what separates an animal

(mayfly) from a vegetable (hydrilla). Vegetables consist cheifly of carbohydrates, but ironically, protein and carbohydrates

both deliver an equal amount of energy, which is measured in calories (unit of heat). The key calorie store is Fats and Oils,

which provide the most energy and weight gain. One gram of protein contains 4 calories and one gram of carbohydrates

contains 4 calories however 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories, which is more than one gram of protein

and one gram of carbohydrates combined!

Roger

Infidel. reply :

Well said!

Catt reply :

Exactly right RoLo and if you have ever eaten crawfish you know the head is filled with fat.

Pinch the Tails & Suck the Heads

mattm reply :

Quote
Pinch the Tails & Suck the Heads

Things that sound dirty that probably wasn't meant to be.

Chris reply :

I don't know about Billy but... I have found that when the shad are schooled up and I am fishing targets I catch them on saltcraws or jigs. When the frogs are out in numbers I catch them on frogs. When shad are schooled up and run into ambush points I catch them on cranks, spinnerbaits, swimming a jig. When the crawfish come out in the spring I catch them on saltcraws. When the bluegills are spawning I catch them on senkos. When the fry is schooled up after the bass spawn I catch them on senkos.

Depending on how you work the bait depends on what the bass thinks the bait is. Most of the time bass just see an opportunity and activity level determines if they will chase it or strike it. If a bass has been feeding on a certain item it will continue feeding on that item or something that acts like it as far as speed and motion. If the bass is not active it will feed on something less active. Just because something is plentiful don't always mean that it is the item that they are feeding on. Most of the time what they are feeding on depends on where the bass is and what is available and what activity level they are in.

justfishin reply :

I would have to agree with George and Catt on this one. I think there are a lot of factors like water temp, time of year and yada, yada, but, I think bass, day in and day out, both brown and green are opportunist.

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