Djamesbond3

I said bigger bass. We fish tidal rivers here in south Mississippi so a 15 pound bag will win the majority of tournaments. We only fish one small reservoir as well. Im just wanting to know how to target the larger than average fish. Im trying to determine if I am fishing the wrong depths (shallow), wrong techniques, or if the bigger bass tend to be in different areas

Thank you for the input. And yeah I am trying to get more comfortable with the jig. It definitely takes time. I think my main problem is not fishing the deeper portions of the river. I have been practicing fishing deeper in a reservoir near home but still have a lot to learn. My best day on the local reservoir I ever had was with a 5XD and had around a 20 pound bag. All fish came in 15 foot of water. Just haven't been able to replicate that day.

Hey guys I just wanted some insight from some guys that fish tournaments. I am doing pretty well in my club through the first three tournaments and I am actually in first place in the points but I am having some trouble catching the bigger bass. I have posted a similar thread before but is catching the bigger bass more about presentation or are the bigger bass typically in different areas that we may overlook? I usually throw cranks, spinnerbaits, topwaters, flukes, and flip soft plastics but just haven't been getting consistent bigger bites. I am trying to gain confidence in a jig but it is a slow process. Almost all of our tournaments are on tidal rivers but I fish reservoirs and lakes too so any advice on those is fine also.

Homemade buzzbait. I know a guy that makes them and sells them to me real cheap. Idk what it is but whether its at Guntersville where I go once or twice a year or on the rivers down here on the Gulf Coast where I live, it out fishes my Whopper Ploppers or any store bought buzzbait I buy. I am the same way man. for some reason I catch more without a trailer and I concur with the trailer hook. Just fished a tournament this past weekend and got third primarily with a buzzbait. Probably half of them were hooked with the trailer hook only. Its a must for me unless Im fishing across heavy cover. Then unfortunately I just deal with the misses

They're pretty good man. My only complaint is that grass easily gets caught in the tail portion which throws off the action. I personally prefer buzzbaits since they are more weedless and I don't think you can beat the trusty ole buzzbait but that's just what I have confidence in. If you do get one, I have had more luck in the 110 or 130 than I have in the smaller size 90.

Its a good question and im sure that they get a little more gun shy after being caught a few times but I feel that if they are actively feeding, their instincts will kick in to eat whatever is available and pops right in front of them. I mean after seeing the video of Alton Jones Jr. catching a bass on a wrench, if they are feeding, they are going to eat. Im not saying dogs and fish are similar in any aspect but we usually dump our grease from our fryer in the woods behind my house when we change the oil in the fryer and my dog has gotten into it before and gotten sick from it. But it never fails that every time we dump the grease back there since then the dog still tries to get into it. When it comes to food and eating, idk if animals can help themselves.

Im trying to get a grasp on what you mean by breaks and breaklines. Is a breakline for instance where the weedline stops? Also, is a break like a ledge?

Yeah im prefishing tomorrow for the tournament next weekend and its supposed to be a rising tide and south wind so we will see what happens I am trying my hardest to work on jig fishing. I have a big problem with wanting to throw faster moving baits and im trying to learn patience with the jig

By deep I mean 10+ feet. I have just been catching a lot of small males on the banks near spawning flats and was wondering if maybe the females were hanging a little deeper. These river banks have steep drops too. You can go from 5 to 20 foot depth in a matter of 3 feet.

I mainly fish tidal rivers where I live and was wondering if tidal river bass go deep? I live on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and usually run up the rivers out of the marsh area and was wondering if you can catch river bass deep in the main channel. Our rivers are usually 20-30 feet on the outside bends and was wondering if medium to deep crankbaits are good to use or should I just stick to the banks? I usually catch a decent number of fish bank beating but was wondering if maybe the better fish hang out around cover that's a little deeper.

That's good to know thanks. Sounds like ill bank fish in the morning and maybe I medium diving crank in the afternoon. I have to believe with this warm weather the spawn is coming here in the next few weeks

Is it primarily deep? I figure just being a canal its got to be sharp drop offs from the bank

thanks man. We decided to put the Mega transducer on the transom and hopefully the step doesn't effect the imaging when idling. We just kept the small lowrance unit mounted as well and will just use it for reading the depth when running.

Hey guys I just bought a Helix 9 Mega Imaging SI unit and was wondering what location to put the transducer. Out boat has a step between the bottom of the boat and the transom. We mounted the old Lowrance transducer on the step itself and it worked great but I don't know if I should put the new Humminbird transducer there because it doesn't read depths above idle speed anyways. Also the manual states "The transducer should be mounted in a location that is high enough on the transom, so it is out of the jet stream when the boat is on plane." Later on it then says it could be mounted on the step. I was wondering if anyone that has a mega imaging transducer can tell me the best place to mount it. thanks

Oh I definitely want to just fish the bigger bass. I want wins, I know sometimes only hunting for kickers will bite you but I want to wins. I am just trying to figure out what tactic and where to find the bigger ones. Thanks man. Our next tournament is the 24th at the Jordan River over here in Bay St. Louis. Hopefully I can find some bigger ones this go around. Then next month we fish lock one on the pearl which I have never even seen so may have to make a trip over there to practice.

Oh no im not talking about double figures either. Just those 3-5 pound fish will work down here. There have been 8-12 pounders caught in these rivers but usually 15-17 pounds will get you a win or top 3 in almost all tournaments here. Honestly some tournaments are won with 10 pounds but our club has a guy that is consistently averaging 15-17 pounds so I am trying to figure out what he is doing differently. All of our rivers are tidal.

When you fish for the kickers, are you just fishing bigger baits like jigs? Also if you ever fish rivers do the bigger bass generally sit out a little deeper? I know when I fish lakes I routinely catch bigger fish out deeper and off the banks but haven't tried that in the rivers

Yeah we fish the pearl about 3 times. That's where our first tourney was last month. Caught over 10 fish but all small. The guy who won had 16-17 pounds. Idk if it is certain techniques to catch the bigger fish or if the bigger fish pattern is different than the rest.

Hey guys I just joined a bass club down here where I live and fished my first tournament last month. I finished middle of the pack but the guy that won whooped everybody. We mainly fish rivers here in South Mississippi and he had a 16 pound bag which is pretty impressive. I was wondering if there are any tips on how to catch the bigger bass. I caught plenty of fish and usually do on the rivers but they are always smaller. Every now and then I have days where I get a few good ones but never the 15lb bag it takes to win. How do y’all catch the bigger fish?

Hey guys. I just got a new Humminbird Helix 7 for Christmas with Side Imaging and was wondering if anyone had tips on how to determine what is fish and what isn’t. I’ve done a little offshore fishing for bass with some success but I had a lot of times where I was just guessing where fish would be. Our old unit had arches pop up everywhere but I don’t feel that they were all really fish. I was just wondering if y’all had screenshots or tips for interpreting fish.

Just an update. I have went deep cranking twice now and today it went great. Caught 12 fish and in the lake I was fishing, 12 is an awesome day. One was 5.5 pounds. I'm learning that it definitely has to bounce off the bottom or off of something to get a strike. Really glad I started doing it cause I'll do anything to avoid finesse or worm fishing haha

Yeah that's why I bought the 7'10 so that I can get as much distance as possible on The cast

Yeah honestly I think I need another depth finder. I have like a 200 dollar one but I may need to upgrade to a better structure scan and side scan.

Yeah I have quite a few 5 xd's and a couple of 6 I'm just waiting on my gear to get in. I know you can fish shallow all day in some areas but I just want to learn to fish that 10'-25' range during the day cause I've heard that's when you can catch some big ones or find some schools. Everywhere I've fished I'm just usually banging the banks so the bite really slows down in the afternoon for me. Yeah I've tried to use the lipless in deep but I'd much rather fish the 5 or 6 xd quicker. I'm the type of guy that would rather fish quickly and try everything before I settle for working a worm haha. Don't get me wrong I use a worm frequently but that's after I've tried crankbaits, spinnerbaits, or jerkbaits usually.

Hey guys I'm just wanting to ask some questions about deep cranking. I've never tried it and have a 7'10" medium heavy rod and 5.4:1 gear ratio reel coming in this week to get started. I've read about fishing structure and ledges but I just want to know is learning to deep crank worth it? I've always fished shallow or used lipless cranks in under 10 foot of water and I love cranking. Are there any other tips or stories about others who finally took up deep cranking and have you had success? If it helps I live in south Mississippi and the water temps are over 80 so I imagine they are in deep water.