Little Fish Or Skunked?

[Bluebasser86]

Depends on your classification of a "dink" I suppose. If you're talking a 10" fish or nothing, then I'll take nothing. If it's RW's classification of a dink, I'll take a 3 pound fish any day of the week. The lakes close by me suck, plan and simple. The one I fish Wednesday night tournaments on anything over 2.5 pounds is a kicker fish and if you get one over 3 it's a lock for big bass.

[K_Mac]

I always target bigger fish unless I'm fishing with someone who just wants to catch fish. I get as much from putting someone on fish as catching them myself most of the time. I do not consider a 3# fish small though; If after catching a few fish in that range nothing bigger shows up, I will try something or somewhere else just to see if the bigger girls can be persuaded to bite.

I am OK with being skunked as a result of focusing on bigger fish, and I don't mind fishing all day for one bite, but if in the process a smaller fish or two shows up it is a bonus for me. I like catching fish...

[BASSHUNTER1961]

I'm going to try and be tactful. Firstly all of my fishing is for fun, not that I'm not serious about it. My prime targets are way bigger and stronger than bass, I get plenty of that kind of action almost everyday.

When I do go bass fishing, which is most afternoons, I'm happy to catch any size. This is my relaxing time to fish, it can be as much fun as a 15# snook which is as common as a 3# bass, I really enjoy bass fishing. When I see PB of 4-5-6 or even 10# that means 1 fish and most are way smaller, hard for me to understand scoffing at a 3 pounder. If I'm looking to have fun, 3 pounds is great I'd just be downsizing my gear, which is how I fish for them. If 3 pounds is a dink, maybe some should forget bass fishing and only target larger more powerful species, I'll stick with my dinks and have a ton of fun.

Much more tactful than I would have said.

I think it's pretty sad that most of you rather catch nothing. I've been doing it for 40+ years and I still enjoy catching any size fish. If I was fishing for money and food it would be a different story, but for fun no.

[scaleface]

Id rather catch small fish then nothing at all. I love those 100 fish days and there are usually few big fish being reeled in when Im having a busy day of catching dinks.

[thehooligan]

Catching dinks gives me hope that there is something bigger around vs fishing for hours at at a time with no signs of life. When top water fishing those 2lbs still get my juices flowing because sometimes you would have sworn that something bigger hit.

I agree with this, topwater fishing is my favorite. The blood starts pumping when i see that explosion, even if its a dink. I also love panfishing on ultralight gear, nothing puts up a fight up like a feisty yellow perch.

[J Francho]

My partner targeted anything that'll bite. I swung for the fences.

[SAC2]

dang you guys that could "do without 3 pounders" must be blessed. a limit of 3 pounders in jersey is almost unheard of

[1234567]

Depends if I'm fun-fishing or not. Sometimes a "follow" will make my day when I'm not fun-fishing. When I am, I start getting bored if I don't get a bite every fifteen minutes.

fun-fishing = when I'm not targeting the biggest bass in the reservoir.

Spot on brother, when trophy hunting even a follow can give you that next clue to get that big one and it is exciting just to see that DD just eyeballing your bait as eventually she nonchalantly turns and swims away. Fun fishing is completely different and I'd take small bass over skunk any day doing that!

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I'd rather catch a baby bass than nothing at all. At least having something tugging on the line is a plus.

[paul.]

all this talk about not caring whether you ever catch another fish under "x" pounds sounds incredibly arrogant to me. it's easy to talk tough on a message board, but i bet after a few days worth of getting your butt handed to ya by the lunkers, most of us would welcome a dink or two, especially if you got a buddy who is swinging "average" fish aboard left and right. it don't even take days for me - just a few minutes. humble pie tastes a heckuva lot better than goose egg.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

humble pie tastes a heckuva lot better than goose egg.

Haha that's great!

[CoBass]

Id rather catch small fish then nothing at all. I love those 100 fish days and there are usually few big fish being reeled in when Im having a busy day of catching dinks.

My feelings exactly. I fish to relax. Around here anything over 3 lbs is pretty respectable and DD fish are almost unheard of. I'll take dozens of 1-2 pounders with a 3 lb kicker any day over getting skunked. I have a few friends that throw big swimbaits exclusively. They catch 20 or so fish per season in the 4-8 lb range with lots of skunks in between big fish. In the same time period I catch closer to 1,000 fish in the 1-3 lb range with a few 4's thrown in the mix. I like my numbers better.

[SirSnookalot]

I agree about the arrogance towards smaller fish, much of it has to do with the waters you are fishing. As many are aware I fish saltwater 7 days a week in the mornings, and do my bass fishing in the afternoons. Wintertime is not the best time to be fishing inshore, I can go many days without even getting a strike, or may catch but 1 fish, usually pleased with size. So when I do go bass fishing I'm real happy just to be getting a tug on my line, I'm there for the enjoyment. My average bass is probably no more than 15" at best, sure I get some bigger ones but a lot of smaller ones too. If 3# or less was too much of dink for me, I'd probably forgo bass altogether and fish for a larger species. Looking at some of the PB's that are but 4 or 5#, whether some realize it or not they have been catching dinks with the rest of us.

[ClackerBuzz]

one summer i was a waiter at an 'all you can eat' crab house in Maryland beach. claws would break off the blue crabs while steaming and the cooks would dump all the broken ones on a tray for the staff to eat. i thought it was the greatest 'perk' ever getting to chow down on free crabs for dinner. a cook looked at me on my 3rd day and said "by the end of the summer you'll be sick of eating crabs". I said "No way!" with my mouth stuffed full of buttered crabs and old bay seasoning. well he was right...i ate so many crabs by mid-summer that i didn't eat them again for 2 years. its not arrogance, after awhile you get tired of eating dink pie

[scaleface]

This is yesterdays haul. The lake has a slot limit ,12 to 15 inch fish must be released. The Conservation Dept encourages the harvest of small bass in a lot of our lakes. So I target 11 inchers to eat. Those pesky big fish interrupt the fun. Fish were caught on a Rogers shallow diving Big Jim.

[J Francho]

This time of year I just go bigger when I can't get a big bass bite. Those browns and steelies are fun on bass gear.

[HeavyDluxe]

i ate so many crabs by mid-summer that i didn't eat them again for 2 years. its not arrogance, after awhile you get tired of eating dink pie

FWIW, I don't think anyone's arguing that we go through seasons where you're "tired" of catching [insert species, size, or number] and would rather be catching [insert different species, size, or number].

Heck, I just went out the other night and specifically went after carp for a change. But, that said, I still agree with most folks on here that - generally speaking - I'd rather catch small somethings instead of nothing.

[roadwarrior]

WOW!

What's really surprising to me is that the guys living in Big Bass states are satisfied with little fish.

Size is relative to the water that is availlable near where we live. Here in the Mid South very few

double digits are caught. We dream of fishing in Florida, Georgia, Texas, California and Mexico.

Regarding "arrogance", when I was a kid all I wanted was anything alive! Since discovering the

Senko in 1997, I have become a fairly serious recreational fisherman. If I were a tournament fisherman

my mind set would be different, but since I'm just a "fun fisherman" I want to chase the Walmart Girls.

I don't remember if Big O wrote this or just said this to me on one of the Road Trips, but this sums up

my thoughts exactly, "I target the biggest fish in the lake or river I'm fishing". He seems to "get lucky"

quite a bit. Fish Chris, WRB, Dwight Hottie, South FLA, 00 mod and others seem to share this philosophy.

If you think they are just lucky, you're dead wrong.

[scaleface]

I must be lucky and have good water to fish in as I rarely get skunked and often catch big fish . My avatar photo was caught in July on a 2.5 inch worm. A Senko cut in half and tricked out. LOL. I usually fish in small Conservation department lakes on week day's and frequently have the lake to myself. Here's a photo of the tricked out Senko.

[BassinLou]

RW, I live in a big bass state and yes they are a lot of big bass in Florida. I live relatively close to everglades and I am only able to go out once or twice a month tops. Although there are big bass to be had if I catch one awesome and if I don't oh well. However when you catch over 50+ bass in a day using top water hollow frog and the fish are avg 2- 3.5lb. I just can't put down my rod and say I am only going to focus on catching a big bass. In situations like those the big bass is one cast away. Sometimes she comes sometimes she doesn't.

[BassinLou]

Scaleface what type of set is that with the swivel and the hook looped thru? Looks interesting.

[scaleface]

That just keeps the worm from balling up on the shank. I think it hooks more bass and snags less when working through brush.

[BassinLou]

Cool thanks!!

[J Francho]

Clever! Same principle as a Parasite Clip.

[Ratherbfishing]

If it were a choice between thick ribeye steak or puny little hotdogs (with both being available to a greater or lesser degree), I'd go with the steak. But unfortunately, I'd starve to death if I waited for the steak.

p.s., "Walmart girls"! That cracks me up!