Fat Bass!!! Why Are They Short?

[psuangler91]

I started fishing a new creek last year and kill em everytime I go, both largemouth and smallmouth. All of the fish are really fat and healthy but there are very few over 13" and none over 16". I'm a little confused because I would think that if there is enough forage to sustain the population, which there obviously is since the fish are so chunky, they would continue to grow in length also. If anyone could give me some insight into this problem I'd really appreciate it. Some factors to consider... I live in Pennsylvania and the average depth in the creek is probably less than 2' but there are plenty of holes over 3' or 4' deep where we catch most of the fish. Also there are a ton of huge carp in the creek so I'd assume it should have the ability to hold larger bass.

[Missouribassman95]

Well maybe since bass grow with age, all the longer bass are older, and have been conditioned to fishing lures.

[psuangler91]

I thought that too but I've never seen another angler on this creek and only know of three other people who fish there. I'm wondering if it's just the fact that there is so much forage, I mean every time you look down there are minnows swimming around and crayfish scooting under rocks. Maybe the older smarter ones just won't hit anything that isn't alive. I'll try catching some crayfish and using those to see if I can get a big one.

[outdoorsman110]

I rarely see a tall fat person..

[psuangler91]

I rarely see a tall fat person..

very true...

[mrmacwvu1]

It could be over populated

you are not fishing Conneaut creek are you

[LVLDVL]

Young bass. Check the mouth size of the largemouths. Young largemouths that are lucky enough to live in a fishery with lots of crawdads will have that small head look because their mass is outgrowing their natural mouth and body length growth.

Humans stop growing (in height) once they hit like age 20-ish but most fish continue growing throughout their life.

[psuangler91]

It could be over populated

you are not fishing Conneaut creek are you

No it's almost in the pittsburgh city limits, I know it's selfish of me but I don't want to say the name because my family and I basically have the place to ourselves and I'd like to keep it that way. Around here whenever people hear about a good spot they usually show up in crowds and keep everything they catch.

My dad said that up until recently the creek was so polluted it couldn't sustain any fish population but since all the steel mills and other industry has stopped dumping it's become a great fishery.

[RoryO]

It could be over populated

you are not fishing Conneaut creek are you

If it were overpopulated the fish probably wouldn't be fat.

[buzzfrog]

I rarely see a tall fat person..

I am 6'4 and fat, lol no sad but true

[200racing]

ive heard before that fish come in 2 body shapes and it tells the fishes habits short fat fish are lazy ambushers and longer skinny fish are cruising schoolers.

it would stand to reason that your creek fish fall in the first group.

my $.02 bigger fish would not feel secure in that skinny of water and move down stream.

[psuangler91]

I'll try fishing further downstream. I like that theory, it makes sense to me because the creek fish just sit behind a rock and wait for a meal to pass by or get swept down with the current.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

It's all about the genetics!

[Raul]

In my neck of the woods the bass are heavy and short, the body circumference is almost the same as the body length. It only means that there´s a ton of forage, they got a lot to eat and they get really fat.

[tomustang]

Bet the climate and seasons have a result to it. Since we have hot summers and cold winters it will affect the overall growth in its lifetime, being porkers means they're eating good now, but come winter time I wouldn't doubt you'll see more thinning out.

[NoBassPro]

Not sure on largemouth, but I know smallmouth will migrate to winter holding areas that may not even be in the same stream. Could well be as they get larger they find suitable areas closer to the wintering grounds where they are able to feed year round.

I tend to believe large fish are lazy.