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Special post time: Had an incredible weekend all culminating with an ABSOLUTE monster fish. Started the weekend out with a couple nice frog fish - made plans to hit it with @FishTax and we did and we caught them great! Did most of our damage with buzzbait/jig one two punch! Caught em just about everywhere on the lake that we went but couldn't connect with anything bigger than ~3 lbs. Fun fun. Me and Jake waxed the crappie and small bass when the cold cloudy front hit on Sunday. Caught all our fish on spinnerbaits. Jake caught 10 bass and 3 crappie on a Johnson beetle spin! We woke up this morning - Jake had the day off and we decided to go to the lake for a boat trip around noon. We caught 3 decent sized bass - I missed a big one in the lily pads on the buzzbait. Missed one in the back of a wind protected shady pocket on the frog that looked big. Lake wants everyone off the water by 4:30 this time of year so me and Jake went to one of our bank fishing spots with the waning daylight and it had a bunch of fellas crappie fishing and cooking the fish they caught in real time on the bank! Got my stomach grumbling. Saw some GIANT wakes on my frog that wouldn't commit. A man fishing a point for crappie packs up and moves down river and I move up to his point and grab my glide bait rod. Remembering a giant I saw shoot out and grab my big soft swimbait earlier this month - I throw my glide bait parallel to the same channel swing. The wake this girl produced freight training my BPS swerve was comical to say the least - impressive and magnificent and powerful to put it more bluntly. She looked like a motorized beaver going 30 MPH 20 feet to slam the glide. I felt the THUD and set the hook and felt her on. GIANT I shout to Jake. He's pretty far away and she comes up and she's WAY bigger than I expected... I scale the sandy bluff wall of the point while keeping my pole tip candy caned while she thrashes around in some brush right where the water meets the bank and I lip her triumphantly. 8 lb 9 oz NC monster on the BPS Swerve Second biggest of 2024 and my biggest ever on a glide bait and such a special memory for me and Jacob! If she wasn't spawned out as heck she'd easily go 10+!!! Wow!!! Happy veterans day to all who serve or have served! Thank you! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Reasons 😀

I hit the Columbia on Sunday the 10th. I was excited because my previous trip had been pretty great and the wind was forecast to be calm. After I got home I checked the definition of calm in the dictionary because whitecaps and waves do not fit the description I am used to Needless to say that after a brief start of light wind the conditions quickly deteriorated and I ended up spending the day bouncing up and down like I was fishing on a pogo stick. In the kayak that makes for some tough fishing. Every time I would try to really focus in on my rod and line I would get turned sideways and hit with a wave that would give me that sickening feeling in my stomach as I would tilt precariously to the side. Of course I could have just gone home but where is the fun in that. Plus, I am not sure if I will many more or any more trips out on the big C this fall/winter to chase bass so I did not want to cut the trip short, even though that would have been the smart thing to do. Once again, the day started out OK. At the first spot there was some foretelling of the conditions to come as the breeze and current made it hard to stay on a spot. After a while I caught a little pound-sized bass and missed a couple of others, but even though I was getting some bites I decided to head up river in search of greener pastures. That was my first mistake of the day. I fished a few spots without a sniff when I got to one of my favorite spots. The fish were not setup like they normally are but instead I found them a bit downstream of a big rock that comes all the surface but has 50' deep water behind it. I picked up 2 bass in that spot and was feeling pretty good but I wanted more and bigger fish so once again I left a spot with some fish to try to find something better. Mistake number 2. By that time the wind had picked up pretty ferociously and I gave serious thought to just heading back to the ramp. Instead, I cleverly decided to head another mile or two upstream into the teeth of it to a couple of other favorite spots. Normally, I go about 3mph upstream in that section but on Sunday my speed has bouncing between 1 and 2mph. Most of the time closer to 1mph than 2mph. Once again, part way there I thought about turning around but instead I just kept pushing on. I finally made it to the spot that has been my best producer for the last month and half. I thought, "Whew, that was tough but it is going to be worth it now". Narrator's voice "It was not worth it now" I fished that spot hard but I could not buy a sniff. I think a lot of the problem was that the wind was quartering to the current the weirdly the waves were quartering from a different direction. It was just a complicated mess and I just could not hold my position and watch my rod and line. The wind whistling in my ears was also not helping my concentration. After and hour or so I decided I would go even further upstream. I thought that the Columbia would reward my struggles but she was not impressed. At the final "good" spot. I once again worked my butt off to try and at least have a semblance of actually fishing. Finally I felt a thunk on my drop shot and set the hook. This felt like a good fish! After what felt like forever of keeping an eye on the waves while trying to concentrate on landing the fish I finally was able to slip my net under a big pikieminnow. That was disappointing. I think the Columbia was just really in a mood and wanted to mock all my efforts. I though, well that is better than nothing. I headed back up to the spot and kept rotating through a drop shot, wobblehead and blade bait. FInally after a long lull I felt something smack my blade bait and I set the hook into another fish. This turned out to be a little pound-ish smallmouth. Still, catching anything under those conditions felt like a huge victory by that point. Eventually I left that spot and decided to head back and fish a few other spots. At the first spot, I thought I might be marking fish but the graphs were so jaggy from the bouncing up and down that I was not sure. I flipped out my drop shot and worked it along for a minute when I felt a thump and I set the hook into a decent fish! I was stoked, hooked up on the first cast to this spot!. I worked the fish up and grabbed a decent 2lb smallmouth (only fish I weighed all day). I thought I must have finally landed on them but a fruitless half hour showed otherwise. I decided to continue my trip back and stopped at an earlier spot where I had not had any luck. However, the wind had eased up a little bit on the trip back so I thought to give it a try. Once again, I quickly caught a pound-ish bass on a wobblehead (my only wobblehead fish of the day) and then it was crickets. I finally conceded and decided to call it a day. I think that is the hardest I ever worked fishing and I only managed the 6 bass and the pikieminnow. My legs were burning by the time I got to the ramp and it was a struggle to pull my kayak up it. Even as I write this the next day I feel the ache in my legs. I think part of the issue is that I have been reduced to getting IV fluids only onece a week. There is an IV fluids shortage due to the hurricane that hit NC (where apparently they make like 90% of it). Hopefully they get up and running again soon because these last few weeks have been extra tough. Well enough complaining. Here are some pics of half the bass I caught and a short video.

City fishin! Only had an hour of daylight left after work so I never even got on plane

If you don't fish tournaments, why do you fish for bass? There are more non-tournament anglers than there are tournament anglers. So the question should be why fish tournament? As far fun fishing vs tournament fishing. I'm a bass fisherman, my preparation is the same if I'm going to the bayou across the street or the Bassmaster Classic.

Because I can. If I was a mountain climber, I would climb mountains, if I could play a guitar I would be a musician, if I could hit home runs, I would be a baseball player. I can't do any of those things, so I am a bass fisherman, therefore I fish for bass and I wouldn't want it any other way.

When I was a kid, I fished for anything that would bite a worm under a bobber. Then I discovered bass fishing and met the Bait Monkey at the same time. As I grew older I started fly fishing for trout, and continued to fish for many species of fish, but still considered myself a bass fisherman. I moved to Alaska when I was 25 and started guiding for trout and salmon. I loved the AK wilderness, and became skilled at catching All of the species of fish, where I resided. Even though there are no bass in AK I hadn't fished for them in over 30 years, and it makes zero sense, I still considered myself first and foremost a bass fisherman. I continued to read articles on bass fishing and every new lure that came out while I tried to think of a way it would work in my old childhood bass fishing holes. When I moved to Mexico I became a saltwater angler, for a living. I do enjoy catching many species of saltwater fish, and like my fishing in Alaska, I am far more skilled at fishing for fish in the Mexican saltwater than I am at bass fishing. I spent many years in Mexico,befoer had an opportunity to catch a bass, but I always considered bass my favorite sport fish. A few years ago I got the opportunity to go bass fishing again. The passion returned with the first cast, along with my friendship with the Bait Monkey. Now, other than for work, I rarely fish for anything else. I wish my skill has improved as much as my tackle collection, but slowly I am becoming a better bass angler, and so far haven't allowed the Monkey to put me in bankruptcy. I have never fished a bass tournament for two reasons, one I have never had an opportunity, and two for the same reason I don't gamble. I know I will loose money, so why give money to some one else, when I know the odds are not in my favor. I do hope to someday go as a co angler simply to have the experience. I have kept close track of tournament angling for over 40 years and have great respect for all the professional fisherman that have worked so hard and taken the gamble to make their living fishing for bass. The answer to the question of why I bass fish, is really I don't know. I am better at catching other species, I have to drive many hours to get to a bass lake, when the ocean and great saltwater fishing is only a mile from my house, Most of my life I lived where there isn't even any bass to fish for. It makes zero sense and I have no logical reason for why I am a bass angler. I may not know exactly why I bass fish, but when I hook a big bass I know there is nothing else I want to be. I am a bass fisherman and I am happy.

I fished tournaments because I fished for bass. You enter a tournament be it bass or any sport because you want to compete and test your skills against others. Not everyone is a competitor but I am and always was, it’s in my genes. I fished Tuna, Marlin tournaments and fresh water bass tournaments in the same year. World Record Bass was my goal most of my life because I wanted to catch the biggest bass not because of fame or fortune but because I thought it could be done. Tom

Why do guys bowl and golf and not be in the PBA/PGA?

Been a braid to leader basshead with spinning gear for a while now. I did 'try' to use FC on a spinning reel once. Once. If you Look up 'Crash & Burn', you'll no doubt see my picture holding that reel and the twisted mess of line that was supposed to be on the spool. So, back to braid I went and have never looked back. As noted in previous replies here, there are very few down sides to it. Some point to the connection knot, but I've been having success with a uni-to uni knot for a very long time. I can tie it confidently & effectively morning, noon and night, rain or shine, hot, cold & windy. May have even done it a few times under water. A generous leader length is the secret sauce. YMMV A-Jay

New Academy had their grand opening sale in Fort Myers, so I snagged some pretty good deals while I was there. Baits and lures were all buy one get one 50% off, so I snagged some Zakos since I was running low, picked up some 6th Sense Provoke jerkbaits to try out, some MiniMax chatterbaits, and some Yamatanukis.

Rode the skunk for about 8hrs today. I thought I was gonna ride it home, then I ended up picking up two on a main lake point with a steep break into 30'. Both were right on top of the ledge in about 12'. 32" and 45". Only took a pic with the 45. Raised four others with the A rig, but they wouldn't commit. Crappie rig saved the day again. Guide buddy and his bunch got three today, all on crappie for them also. It's tough out there right now, but I saw some BIG shad schools out deep today. It won't be long now if the forecast holds. 🤞

Cuz it’s fun

Interesting day ! Fished my way up the river and wasn’t having anything but dink nibbles . After a couple hours I finally got a solid hit and it was and 18.5 + inch SMB on a black jig! Ambassaduer 4600c and 50 lb seguar tactx braid . Great fight lots of fun. For some reason I went way on upstream and tried some different stuff until I drifted back down to where I caught the first one. I tried one of @Bluebasser86’s bladed jigs with no trailer in sparse millfoil and a 4.82 lb large grabbed it! Using the st croix mojo rod seviin reel and seaguar jdm braid. Only two fish but they were two nice ones for here

I say this every year around this time. To all you guys/gals that get to open-water fish all year 'round, I hate you.

Not a purchase by me - but a b-day gift from the wife (a week early) Too late in the year to give it a water-test, but it actually feels good in the hand and seems to be well balanced. I like the slate-gray color of it too. One thing I noticed is that the blank 'peeks' through the handle. The way I grip my rod, I'll have a finger on the blank at all times...I like it.

Man, I had a feeling this thread would get some action, but I didn't expect 4 pages in just a day. It seems that the title I chose may have been a bit more provocative than intended. A better title may have been "Why are bass your favorite species to target?" I've enjoyed reading some of the stories about experiences that got people hooked and the discussions I've had with others to better understand why they love bass fishing so much without competing. It's made me think about how I got here to the Bass Obsession. Like many, my dad got me into the outdoors- hunting and saltwater fishing mostly. We live on the Chesapeake Bay and folks who live here tend to prefer the salt over the small lakes we have nearby. I imagine if I had grown up on the shores of Lake Guntersville, I likely would've been a bass head all along. It makes me wonder if things would've been different if I had gotten hooked on these fish sooner. Maybe I would've fished on a collegiate bass team and be fishing bigger tournaments now. Maybe some of y'all wouldn't ever fish for bass if you grew up on the salt. We all got here different ways, but we've found common ground with this fish that's found nearly everywhere. Where I stand today, I can 100% say that I would not be as obsessed with bass fishing if it weren't for tournaments. I would still bass fish occasionally, but my angling would be far more diversified across fresh and salt. The melding of a sport (fishing) I've always loved with the competition I've always craved, is the perfect hobby for me at this stage in my life when I can't compete on a baseball diamond or football field at the same level that I did a decade ago. That same competitiveness is what drives me to become a better fisherman and fuels the fire to spend too many hours fishing or learning about bass fishing. If I was just a fun fisherman, I wouldn't care if I was an average angler or great angler on a given day. But as with everything I've been passionate about in my life, I want to be the best. When I compete against a field of others it helps me check on that progress and not winning motivates me to keep working so hard at perfecting my craft. It's awesome that chasing bass can mean so many things for so many people, and there's no wrong answer to why. The same way we all have our favorite techniques to catch these fish, we all have our favorite reason for why we chase them.

I don't think that nostalgia has been specifically mentioned. I love the piney forests of Maine, but when I return to flinty gorges in Ohio, with ridges topped with beach trees, that familiar rock and flora of my childhood plucks my heartstrings. So do bass, which I caught as a kid. Also, because bass are so abundant, they were within reach of a former 1969 kid with a Zebco 404 and a steel pole on a used bike. Now I catch 40 bass instead of the one I might have managed in 1969, but inside, I'm still that kid, so I thrill to such abundance.

I've gone braid to leader on all my spinning rigs....almost eliminates line twist issues and I seem to get longer casts.

I have to admit that after I fish a few bass tournaments it’s hard to get back into regular bass fishing. I always have to say to myself that “Im practicing.” lol When it comes down to it, I’m all in it for the hunt and the fight. Peace and tranquility and all that jazz goes along with it. It’s around me everywhere and the fact that I know it and see it and feel it, that’s all I need about it. The only thing that I’m gonna meditate on is getting that fish. I want something that tries to yank the rod out of my hands. I want something that bumps and bruises and bites back. Over the years I found that with blacktip sharks. They feed right off the local beaches. They’re big and strong pushing 7 feet 150lbs. They spend half the fight out of the water! Best of all, they pump me full of an adrenaline rush like no other, filling that void. The challenge for me was in trying to figure out a way to actually catch them on a light surf rod using only top water poppers. So I did just that. So to answer your questions when I’m not fishing for bass, tournaments or not, why I’m out on the local beaches hunting for these guys!

@JHoss, I have also enjoyed this thread because it prompted some backstories, like @king fisher's and @Catt's. @king fisher's is the most persuasive for why an angler prefers bass, for he's caught other species professionally from the Arctic to the subtropical seas, many much larger and stronger than bass, but he still chooses bass on his free days. As impressive as @Pat Brown's bass are, there are single marlin and tuna whose strength far surpasses the combined strength of every one of Pat's posted bass. The highest leaping bass that ever swam could only dream of equaling the least leap of a mako shark. Bonefish and wahoo make bass seem pokey. And so on. So, to have an angler with @king fisher's experience say that he prefers bass, well, that makes me say:

One of the most incredible anglers I have ever known, never fished a tournament. Why bass? I can spend all the money I want to catch a limit or hope I loose count.

I grew up on the Louisiana/Texas Gulf Coast. I fished from Brownville Texas to Panama City Florida & out 135 miles. I've fished numerous saltwater tournaments both inshore & offshore. I worked as Deck Hand & First Mate. Working on a Charter Fishing Boat someone has to clean all fish, wanna guess who! I got tired of the smell of fish guts, diesel fuel, & even the smell of saltwater. Being a Cajun during the 50s & 60s everything was a food source including bass. Bass fishing down here for me was a simple choice because they are so plentiful. I got into tournament fishing during the 70s on Toledo Bend & Sam Rayburn. I fished with guys called the Hemphill Gang. Exactly 😉

3D printers use a digital model to create a physical object by adding material layer by layer. There are numerous useful things you can create with a 3D printer. From household items like coasters, door handles, and wall hooks to more complex items such as musical instruments, camera gear, and even prosthetics. You can also print educational tools like anatomical models or geographical maps.

As a life long bass fisherman this question really confuses me. For 17 years I played football competitively. Then for 40 years I coached in high school and college. I have had a life of completion and fishing was always my form of relaxation and tranquility.. As soon as I make that first cast the tension from the week were gone. The tranquility of nature, and figuring out a pattern for that day, and that hour were the only thing on my mind. Since I have retired I now get to fish six days a week and it still does the same job. It is so much cheaper than a therapist! I would never bring competition into my fishing world. I respect the guys that do, but it is not for me!

all of the above.....plus it's who and what I am.....also if I can't fish I will lose my mind....that's what my wife tells me...and I listen to her, she's smart.....she married me.....LOL......

I disagree. I like the question and didn't find it a whit of a bit offensive. And I like how @JHoss has fielded the wide range of responses with calm and grace. I wrote an essay a couple years ago for Gray's Sporting Journal called "Why Trout?" I won't write an essay for "Why Bass?" but I will outline why: They are the nearest, biggest fish. Sure, there are stripers and other saltwater fish near me, but like @padlin, I am a canoeist as much as an angler and only a fool would paddle the North Atlantic here, as the Gulf of Maine has tides that could take me to my cold, pathetic death. As others have noted, they're shifty fish...literally. I caught them under bushes this year, beneath shadowing trees, from open water wolf packs, in reeds, out of lily pads, in the deepest and shallowest water, in little and larger rivers, and on and on. They hang in so many different places that it feels like you're fishing for different species. Viva la difference! Speaking of difference, their shapes and colors change. See below. So, when you look into the net, you're seeing so many different colors and shapes. They love surface lures and so do I. They jump! I like to cast. If I fished for landlocked salmon or lake trout, I wouldn't be casting. My two best skills are paddling and casting. I'm a consistent bass catcher because these two skills catch bass. See how the colors and shapes change? The first is Ann Margaret chesty. The second is Cro-magnon. The third is a streamlined black beauty. The last is big-headed, which is why it's big-bodied. That big head can swallow pert near everything! You had me at taking your daughter fishing. 20 minutes is pretty good for a 4-year old, btw, and child development is my wheelhouse.

@JHoss when I first read this post, I actually thought you were writing it in jest. I mean C'mon man, really, You find it odd ? How the other half thinks ? Like you came out of the womb and fished a tournament the very next day right ? Good Luck with your quest for the answer to this this most "complicated" question. Looks like winter's setting in early - again. A-Jay

Bass fishing for sport goes way back before tournaments. Read Dr Henshall book on black Bass it’s written in the late 1800’s. Bass can be caught by a kid using worms with a cane pole or a pro with $100,000 worth of tackle, plus they located nearly everywhere. Tom

Woo! It’s Monday, top of the week! Let’s get provocative! I like this post because the author brings up some good points but the community will bring up some excellent reasons they prefer to fish for bass. After all, it’s a hobby. We should do what makes us happy!

@JHoss's thread about why we target bass yanked me down the rabbit hole of strongest fish and the Giant Trevally is up there. Read this: "I had one trip to the Marshall Islands where every single Giant Trevally I hooked broke me off in the rocks. I was only using 50lb braided line and that was not enough to land a single one, even ones that I could see were only in the 10lb range. The water was too shallow and the reef was too sharp. That was very humbling. Giant Trevally top out around 200lbs but fish that size are nearly impossible to land on sportfishing tackle because there is almost no way to keep them out of the reef. The hook will bend, the line or rod will snap, or something will give before a fish that size will. Anything over 100lbs is a real trophy." Giant Trevally pull like gorillas and are very adept at heading straight to the reef and breaking your heart and your line. These are one of the toughest fish to land on rod and reel. You need to use the best and heaviest tackle and you still will not land them all. If you bring 50lb braid and are fishing for them in the reef, you might as well just throw your stuff into the ocean because that is where it is all going to end up.

Fishing tournaments is not for everyone. I fished a few many years ago. I was never very good at it. I wasn't good at fishing under pressure. I like bass fishing because I like to figure things out. Figure out what they're biting on, patterns, seasonal etc. And, there's always the thrill and excitement of possibly hooking a big one. It's a puzzle. I've been trying to solve the puzzle for a long time.

Casting.

I would submit that people who fish in bass tournaments do it because they like catching bass. It's not that they fish for bass because they like tournaments.

I gave you a like, but you need to spread it out on the counter and get funny looks from your wife like the rest of us.

Thank You. Somebody had to do it ! A-Jay

I don't have what it takes to be a tournament bass angler. I'm a competitive person but I already know I'd get my butt whipped. I'm only good at a few presentations and I generally stick to waters I'm more familiar with. Those combinations are not a recipe for success fishing in bass tournaments. I used to think that being a pro bass angler was a dream job when I was younger too. Boy was I wrong about that.

Then you're way ahead of me. I skunked twice last spring! Yeah, multiple skunks: To cut myself a little slack, one skunk was me standing on snow and casting, but the other was in my canoe, so no slack cuttin' there, just me slackin'. Love city bassin', Russ!

Took advantage of the TW 20% off on rods and plastics. I’m excited to try out the Black Bass

Been in Fort Myers for the last ~9 days for work. Had one day off to fish a large pond next to the hotel, according to past satellite imagery it's been there for a bit over 30 years, super fishy looking and the weather was calling for high winds and overcast skies so I was pretty hyped. Didn't have much room for rods, so I took a gamble that the chatterbait bite would be the ticket. Here's what I caught: Lost the gamble, sadly. Fished my way around a good portion of the pond a couple of times, never got so much as a follow. Very little activity in general, just saw some baitfish and plecos, with only one blowup that I believe was a bass. This makes my first skunk since December of 2021, hate to see that streak end but it was bound to happen sometime. On the plus side, a new Academy opened in Fort Myers and I snagged some good deals while I was down there.

IMO taking a hobby and making it about money is the quickest way to suck all the fun out of it.

Only started fishing because I heard its a great way to meet women.

Why? Cause I wanna 😉

Problem solved My grandson Evan reminded me he has a 3D printer.

Went out on the creek last night with son #3 in his jon boat. Tide was going out, caught several species: perch, speckled trout, Reds.

In case you hadn't heard, but a few weeks back, Hank Parker fell out of a tree stand when one of the straps broke. He had to be airlifted to the hospital, but was back home several hours later. He was banged up pretty good, but considering what could have happened, he came out relatively unscathed.

Full clouds, light rain. Slight breeze. Thought it was going to be a great morning. But one missed (dink) bite and one catch. That was it. But the catch was unique. I saw a bass busting baitfish against the bank and cast a TR Senko to the spot. It took it right off the bat then it felt like it was gone. Then it started fighting again but it felt completely different. As I got it near the boat I saw it hooked in the belly. But I saw my Senko up near its mouth. After netting it, I saw it was an old, almost rusted through hook stuck in its belly and my line was threaded through the gap in the eye. As I lifted the bass out of the net, both hooks fell out. So I caught one bass and helped it get rid of an old hook.

Last day out for the season. 2 nice bass were the highlights of the day. It was a great way to finish a great season.

More after work fun. They have been slamming the shad on this bank all week. The mayor and hybrid swim jig. I need to dig out my scale.

Mrs. Chunkworth in the fog right after breakfast this morning… a hair under 6, good start to the day..