Asking For A Response From Every Member

[00 mod]

1.  Have confidence in what you are doing.  And that means, where you are and the presentation you are using(not the color)

 

2.  Put in your time, learning everything you can about the fishery.  From the smallest of the food chain to the largest ( bait to bass, at least down South)

 

3.  Make sure everything is as close to perfect as possible.  I never want to see a trophy lost because of something that could have been prevented!

 

Jeff

[whitwolf]

Slow down(as others have said)....

 

Fish the pre-spawn......

 

Be perpared to catch big fish. It seems to me that many big fish folks are fishing for "one" bite. Everything else Is Inconsequintial, your mind set must be on that type of fish.

[CayMar]

I dont know alot but I'll give you what I've gotten out of my experience.

1. Fish any visible cover thoroughly.

2. Slow down your presentation, give your bait time to fall in thier face before you start your retrieve.

3. Have confidence in yourself, your ability, and your presentation.

[wisconsin heat]

1. Fish areas that have big fish. If there are little to no big fish in a particular body of water, you're not gonna catch one.

2. Be thorough. If you think there might be a fish in a particular area, whether it be a grass mat, point, laydown etc. make sure you dissect it thoroughly before moving on.

3. Be prepared. Have a gameplan, read all of these posts before you go big fish hunting

[Trailer]

I am not at all qualified but I am a member of BR so...

1. Location: fish waters that have potential for big bass

2. Adapt: be able to adapt to changing weather patterns

3. Big baits: I don't get excited about a Happy Meal, but offer me a Baconator and now we're talking!

[Sam]

1. Fish the proven waters that hold big bass.

2. Fish the places you think the big bass are holding.

3. Be patient. You are fishing for size, not numbers.

4. Be flexible. If one bait is not producing fish another. Same with your presentations.

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

[Smokinal]

1. You gotta be in water that holds big fish

 

2. Get off the bank and fish some deep structure

 

3. Throw jigs

[livetofish28]

1. Find a 4ft deep pond in the middle of the town park

2. Go fish (can't catch them without a line in the water)

3. Throw the completely wrong lure for the time of year

4. Don't go fishing on my boat

Tight lines

Andrew

[flyfisher]

1. fish where big bass are known to be

learn your lake

time...spend as much of it as possible at #1

[Hanover_Yakker]

1. Simplify your tackle and lures.

2. Slow down.

3. Stealth and quietness.

[iabass8]

slow down

fish areas other anglers are overlooking

make accurate casts

[Todd2]

Slow down

Brushhogs

Jigs with pork or Senko trailer

[VolFan]

1. Identify the spots that can hold big fish, from bank or from boat, you can access them. And at the right time.

2. Approach said spots with great stealth, and place your casts with the same stealth. Don't cannonball a swim bait right on top of a bass' head.

3. Fish the exact"spot within the spot", the prime area where a big girl would be if she's there.

Before all the others, have fun. Because if you're not having fun, what's the point?

[WRB]

Catt answered the 3 points in question.

I will add that you must fish for big bass to consistantly catch them.

Most bass anglers go fishing to catch bass and hope a big bass strikes the lure or live bait they are using...this is not fishing for big bass.

Understanding the bass in the lake, river, pond that you fish is important. Understanding the population density pyramid is important; the highest density is made up of first year bass population, fry, fingerlings and 1year old bass, about 1/3 rd of the total population. The middle third is made up young adult female and adult male bass. Keep in mind this is a pyramid where the middle third is smaller size than the base. It's this middle population that makes up the majority of the bass that are caught by bass anglers. Now lets go to te top third of the pyramide, at the very top represents the largest bass, a small population of big female bass.

You are fishing for a small population of mature adult female bass, that are wary by nature because experience has taught them survival skills.

The fact these big females come into shallower water to spawn ounce a year makes the more catchable during the pre spawn and spawning cycle. Low light periods or low traffic, rain or night are good times to fish for big bass.

How you fish depends on what you fish with.Where you fish depends on where the big bass are located. When you fish is up to each individual. The more time on the water will increase your odds to be there when the big bass are active and catchable. Location and timing is important, the right lure in the right place and time = success.

Tom

[Oregon Native]

1. Slow down

2. Be very stealthy

3. Bigger baits

Good Luck

[indianabasshunter]

1. Bigger fish seem to spawn first. They will be easy targets during their pre spawn rituals, which is earlier than a lot of people realize. Be on the water during this time.

2. Make multiple casts from different angles to your target.

3. Fish during the night for big bass in the heat of the summer.

[Nquince79]

1. Slow down let the fish tell you what they want

2. Casting accuracy

3. Do your research

[Fishing Rhino]

1.  If you know someone who catches bigger fish, pay attention to where they fish and how they fish.  Observation. Reading.  You can save a lot of trial and error by learning from others. 

 

2.  Electronics, and knowing how to use them..  It does not take the latest and the greatest.  Even the simplest sounder can show you the transitions be they structural contours, bottom composition changes, cobble to mud, to sand, and vegetation, or other cover, where it starts and stops, and at what depths you find it.  (the location, location, location thing) 

 

3.  More purposeful time on the water.  Do not just go out there and beat the water to a froth casting.  Each time out should be a learning experience.  If something is not working, change.  Change the bait.  Change the presentation.  Change the location, which may mean changing the fishing hole.

 

All the above require focus and concentration.  Your mind is a computer.  It can only use what you put into it.  If you are feeding it the same information every time you go on the water, that is all the info it has to process.  Doing different things provides additional data for it to process.  Many of our "hunches" or "gut feelings" are the result of our brain subconsciously processing info that we have fed into it in the past. 

[bighed]

1. Falcon

2. Baccarac

3. El Salto

[SENKOSAM]

I don't think one can target larger bass, just as one can't determine what bigger bass are feeding on.

So it comes down to this IMO:

1. hit high percentage locations - know they water

2. use presentations/lures depending on conditions such as water temperature, time of day, time of year, etc

3. assume nothing when nothing seems to work

4. expect more reflex strikes but strive for slower reaction strikes that irritate bass of all sizes into attacking.

 

If  I follow the above, I have a much greater chance of catching larger and more bass.

 

[KyakR]

Catt answered the 3 points in question.

I will add that you must fish for big bass to consistantly catch them.

Most bass anglers go fishing to catch bass and hope a big bass strikes the lure or live bait they are using...this is not fishing for big bass.

1. This is what I've done through most of my time on the water......learned not to here! So my first point is: learn from those more experienced than you are! Be humble at what you don't know. Be hungry for knowledge

2. Do your research!! Maps, Google Earth, reading about your fishery, asking local fishermen, book a good guide occasionally, etc. Learn from every trip and be on the water as constantly as you can.

 3.Practice cast all winter! 

        (4. Be on the water as constantly as you can and don't leave your Yak home.)

 

 

[roadwarrior]

1. Falcon

2. Baccarac

3. El Salto

 

No doubt, the easy way there!

 

 

 

 

[deaknh03]

1. fish with Big O

2. fish with FishChris

3. strictly target big bass, much different than bass fishing per se.

[Siebert Outdoors]

1. Fish a big fish fishery

 

 

2. Fish a big fish fishery

 

 

3. Fish a big fish fishery

 

 

Explaination it's like real estate; Location, Location, Location

 

 

Close to mine.

Its all about location.  You can fish big water or tiny puddles.  If you can not locate fish on the location they are staging you will severely decrease your chances.

[A-Jay]

1. Falcon

2. Baccarac

3. El Salto

 

 

No doubt, the easy way there!

 

 

 

 

 

 While I whole-heartily agree that in order to encounter big bass one must be fishing waters where they actually reside.

 

However to imply that angling for, and catching the largest fish at any of the above mentioned venues somehow requires less than average skills is in every way, shape, form and fashion  Wrong.

 

Let the back-peddling begin . . . . . . .

 

 

A-Jay