What Is A "big" Bass In Northern Wisconsin

[Topwater98]

I was wondering what a you would consider a big bass for northern Wisconsin. My personal best for a largemouth is 2.31 for a smallmouth 4.8.

[Scott F]

I fish for bass Northern Wisconsin several times a year but I've never weighed a bass. The fishermen in my group don't fish tournaments and we're all catch and release so we only put a ruler on them and almost never a scale. We consider an 18 inch smallmouth a photo worthy fish and a 20 incher to be the definition of a trophy. While I'm sure there are guys who target largemouth a lot more than I do and catch bigger fish than me, and 18 to 20 inch largemouth up there is a pretty good fish. Weight wise, I'd guess that these are 4 pounds plus.

[Lewi]

I would say that "big" bass in sconny ville would be in the 4lb range and would be very satisfied with that. I'm not too far off from you in MN but would love to hook onto a 5 pounder!

-Lewi

[5dollarsplash]

You can win largest fish with a 4lb fish in quite a few tournaments up here.  Big fish are tough up here, your hooking into a fish thats been around awhile and seen a lot.  The good news is most nw Wisco folk are after walleye or pike/muskie, so more bass catching for us!

[Topwater98]

In length the largest bass I caught was 20.5 inches for smallmouth and 17 inches for largemouth.

[5dollarsplash]

^{Your Smallmouth is pretty darn nice.  If you keep at it, my big largemouth was 22" but skinny, so you can probably beat his weight at 5.3lbs.}

[Topwater98]

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully I can at least get over 3 lbs next year.

[Felix77]

My biggest largemouth I caught this year was about 5.5 lbs.  Last year I caught a Smallmouth which was 5.89.  

[MarkH024]

My PB was in central Wisconsin.  23.75" and 7lb  I've caught plenty of 20-22" largemouth since, but Wisconsin LMB just don't get the girth like they do in other places. MY biggest smallie was around 4lbs but that was in Canada. Biggest Wisconsin smallie was 3 to 3.5.

 

[mnbassman23]

Mark- that thing is a friggen TOAD! True giant for up in our neck of the woods. Scum frog?

[MarkH024]

Mark- that thing is a friggen TOAD! True giant for up in our neck of the woods. Scum frog?

Yea it was a tank. Scumfrog on a crap spinning rod and original 8lb fireline back in 2007. I could stick my fist in its mouth with room to spare. That fish was old, you could just tell by the looks of it.

[tipptruck1]

 lg mouth bass are not that big here in WI. That is why I chase muskie, pike, and small mouths. If I do catch a large mouth. Which is pretty rare. None of them have been over 3lbs. Small mouths on the other had. They range any thing from a few pounds. To over 5lbs. Yes I have caught two 5lb plus small mouth. Many over 4lbs. That is with out going to green bay. Green bay/ sturgeon bay on the other hand. Is a small mouth paradise. I have seen more then a few 5+ lbers fished out of them waters.

[29JMP29]

18+ in smallmouth is worth a picture. bass that are over 4 lbs are usually big for me in northern wi. just gotta find the right lakes

[mjseverson24]

here is kind of my general rule of thumb for northern states

 

nice fish: 3-4 lbs

big fish: 4-5 lbs

pig: 5-6 lbs

donkey: 6-7 lbs

giant: 7+ lbs

 

trophy smallmouth 21"+

trophy largemouth 23"+

 

Mitch

[Mainebass1984]

here is kind of my general rule of thumb for northern states

 

nice fish: 3-4 lbs

big fish: 4-5 lbs

pig: 5-6 lbs

donkey: 6-7 lbs

giant: 7+ lbs

 

trophy smallmouth 21"+

trophy largemouth 23"+

 

Mitch

 

That is a pretty good rule of thumb for New England as well. What about 8 and 9 lbers though ?

[mjseverson24]

That is a pretty good rule of thumb for New England as well. What about 8 and 9 lbers though ?

 

those were covered in the 7+ lb catagory, they are pretty rare here in MN and WI i would expect them to be a little more common in the New England states. 

 

Mitch

[Mainebass1984]

Anything in New England over 7 lbs is rare. I only know a couple guys that have caught legitimately weighed 8 lbers and only 1 9lber.

[shimmy]

Anything in New England over 7 lbs is rare. I only know a couple guys that have caught legitimately weighed 8 lbers and only 1 9lber.

 

Obviously not as rare as Minnesota, since the 9 would break the state record. I don't know anyone who has come close to the 8 pound mark and have only read articles of a few doing so in Minnesota. I would say though that catching a 6 pounder out of MN is easier than catching one over 6 in northern Virginia. Pretty weird.

[CDobber]

Biggest smallie I've landed myself around Madison was 14" (unweighed)....would guess in the 2 lb range.  Biggest largie was 21" and estimated around 5 lb, in my avatar.  My Dad has a 4 lb smallie mounted from the Green Lake area from roughly 30 yrs ago.

[Bankbeater]

Around here bass in the four pound range are in about every small lake and pond.  Five pounders and up are more of a rarity.

[jiggz125]

here is kind of my general rule of thumb for northern states

 

nice fish: 3-4 lbs

big fish: 4-5 lbs

pig: 5-6 lbs

donkey: 6-7 lbs

giant: 7+ lbs

 

trophy smallmouth 21"+

trophy largemouth 23"+

 

Mitch

This is a good scale. I just started bass fishing last summer and caught plently of 1-3lbs some 3-4lbs and my PB on a smaller lake in Baron County weighing over 5lbs, we didnt have a scale/tape at the time. There are big LMB in northern WI just have to find them, and as most of said most anglers target Muskie, Northern, and Walleye which gives bass fisherman more oppurtunity to land a big one.

[Crookedneck]

6 to 7 lbs fish are big here in Wisconsin. Your best bet for those are going to be on the Great Lakes or thier Tributaries.

[wisconsin heat]

This is a good scale. I just started bass fishing last summer and caught plently of 1-3lbs some 3-4lbs and my PB on a smaller lake in Baron County weighing over 5lbs, we didnt have a scale/tape at the time. There are big LMB in northern WI just have to find them, and as most of said most anglers target Muskie, Northern, and Walleye which gives bass fisherman more oppurtunity to land a big one.

Yeah, a lot of anglers do not target bass here, but I also find that a lot of anglers want to keep everything they catch. I swear some people don't even know what catch and release is.

[jiggz125]

Yeah, a lot of anglers do not target bass here, but I also find that a lot of anglers want to keep everything they catch. I swear some people don't even know what catch and release is.

I agree 100%. I am originally from Madison, WI area. So I grew up fishing Wisconsin River near the Sauk Prairie Dam and then more west towards Arena/Spring Green. I have personally seen people keep every fish caught (some probably not legal) at the dam, I didnt do anything as I feel they will get caught eventually.

[5dollarsplash]

I've mentioned it to people when I've personally seen people harvesting illegaly.  One lake died out a few years ago locally and one guy and his wife tried to repopulate it by harvesting fish from other lakes and moving them in their livewell.  Guy got a pretty good fine for his efforts.

 

People fishing for walleye fillets are the worst, every darn fish they find no matter the size.

 

The lake I've had the most success with big bass on had been stocked with trout about a decade ago.  I think its a big contributing factor to the size and quality of fish there, even without stocking for awhile, it probably gave the bass a nice base to grow from.  Plentiful forage can be tough when freezing out is a yearly battle.