Misconceptions About Catching Big Bass!!

[Mattlures]

First let me say that location, location, location, is so over used and over rated especially on this site. That's right I said it and I'll own it. I have seen many post where a guy asks for lure suggestions and at least one person chimes in with location. He didn't ask you about that did he? No and that simple answer does not help him in any way. Big bass do not live in some magical mysterious secret hole where all you have to do is find them and they will instantly turn stupid and eat what ever you throw at them. Anybody who has ever bass fished know this is absurd. Right place at the right time only gives you an opportunity. Its only a fraction of the varialbles. The entire process is extremely important. This includes, your approach, your presentation and hugely important, your lure or bait. You have to do a bunch of other things right weather you realize it or not. Catching big bass consistently is different then catching one ocasionaly. Targeting big bass is different then catching a bunch of small ones with a good one ever once in a while. Catching big bass consistently is about percentages and odds. You want to do everything you can to stack the odds. First, yes location. obviously and I emphasize OBVIOUSLY if your looking to catch the biggest bass you can, then your odds go up when you choose to fish lakes that hold more big bass. Learn the habits of big bass in your lakes and they will be easy to find. Does this mean they will also be easy to catch? Of course not!

I live in possibly the most pressured fishing area in the US. I have no problem finding big bass. That's easy. Now catching them is adifferent story.

Learn to stack the odds in your favor. Learn to recognize the percentages.

  Example. Barney catches 100 bass on Senkos. 95 are under 2lbs. 4 are between 2 and 4 lbs and 1 is an 6lber his new personal best. Now somebody posts a question asking about big baits for big bass. Well guess what Barney says? "Big baits don't wprk any better because I caught my PB on a Senko so I recommend that for big bass"  WHAT?????? did he somehow forget about the 99 other bass that were not big? That senko produced 1 out of a 100.  1 percent and now he thinks that's a great big bass bait. That is absurd!!!. When I am targeting big bass I would estimate that 40% of my bites are big. You know why? because I am throwing baits with high percentages of catching big bass. Do big baits catch bigger bass?..... YES! period! They up your odds. Anybody who tells you differently does not have enough experience or they are unable to process all the info they have taken in. In other words they are "Barney" who caught the one big fish and forgot about the 99 small ones. It means nothing that a tiny percentage of big bass are caught on small fish baits. There are allways exceptions especially when they are millions of guys fishing for small bass. If you catch enough small bass, chances are you will luck into a bigger one. This is not targeting big bass. This is not upping your odds. Most guys who have caught big bass have caught them just like Barney. They look back over decades of fishing and remember the handful of big bass they have caught and then they recycle the same old bad advise on how to catch them. If you catch a small percentage of big bass then you are not doing it right. You also should not be telling others how to catch them. Its the blind leading the blind.

  Example. Think of the guys that consistently catch big bass. Butch Brown, Matt Allen, Oliver Ngy, Matt Peters. You can see these guys videos all over youtube. They aren't using small bass baits. They are using baits with a high percentage for catching big bass. Do you think they catch 1 big bass out of 100 dinks? You bet they don't!!! I am sure they catch a very high percentage of big bass. They do a whole lot more then just "location" and they use big baits. There small bass are Barneys good bass.

My whole point to this post is help guys sift through the bad info posted on forums about how to catch big bass. If the answer is coming from a Barney then pay no attention. If the answer is simply "location" then that is so obvious it isn't helpful either.

  Now let me say of course location is important. There has to be big bass there to catch them ( thanks captain obvious) Figure out where they like to live in your bodies of water. You want to find them? Throw a big swimbait all day and they will reveal themselves to you. You might catch some or you just might get some followers. Pay attention to where they came from and what type of structure, cover, depth etc and find similar conditions and there is a high percentage that similar spots will also hold big bass. Trust me. it is a whole lot easier to find a big bass then it is to catch them. This is why I made this post when guys start posting the location response it takes away from all the other important factors. Don't believe me? again pay attention to what consistant big bass guys are using and how they approach a spot. Remember if a guy has caught thousands of small bass with a handful of big ones. He is not consistently catching big bass He might be a great bass fisherman but he is not a great big bass fisherman.

[Mattlures]

I would also like to add that just because somebody only says location doesn't mean they don't know what they are talking about. If they have a high percentage of big bass and they expand on how to locate big bass then there post can be gold.

WRB is a good example.

[hatrix]

That will probably help a lot of people on here and I would imagine lots of the people who don't have crazy amounts of time spent on the water. I would just like to say though if your real goal is to target the biggest fish in the lake although BR is great there are other sites that are dedicated to only this. Big lures = Big fish. Period. It's is a different kind of mindset to throw the big stuff all day every day and anyone new should probably get ready for a lot of diss appointment and days of catching nothing. Your location will also have a huge impact upon your success but no matter where you live I guarantee there is bass somewhere that you fish big enough to eat that 10" lure you always said way to big where you live. You need to just grind it out like everyone else and put in the work and the rewards will eventually come.

[hatrix]

I also kind of assume that maybe you wrote this because of the thread talking about someone trying to catch a "big fish" and how any people say location. I do agree with you Matt about that. It is a silly answer and really does nothing to help someone. That should kind of be assumed in my eyes and I would like to think the person asking should also know you can't catch a big fish if there are no big fish around.

[Mattlures]

Big baits = big bass but a bait does not have to be big to be a consistant big bass producer. Small crayfish are a consistant big bass producer. They are one of the exceptons. I will also make a post later on about the misconseptins of throwing big baits. On of the biggest misconception is the "fishing for 1 bite a day" Or not catching anything for days. This is not the norm for guys who have some things figured out.

[Mattlures]

I also kind of assume that maybe you wrote this because of the thread talking about someone trying to catch a "big fish" and how any people say location. I do agree with you Matt about that. It is a silly answer and really does nothing to help someone. That should kind of be assumed in my eyes and I would like to think the person asking should also know you can't catch a big fish if there are no big fish around.

Yes. but its not just that post. It seems like its on every big bass topic on this site.

[mnbassman23]

Couldn't agree more Matt I'm glad you posted this. I have noticed the location location location answers on a lot of threads lately. I do agree it does play a huge factor but the baits your using are almost equally as important to be consistent in catching those big fish. You cannot catch what isn't there, but in most cases there are much bigger fish swimming around then most people think. 3 years ago when I converted from a spinnerbait, crankbait, senko guy to a jig fisherman it was night and day for size of fish caught. This year I'm about 50% jigs, 40% swimbaits and 10% punching/t-rigs. The average size of fish caught is better than ever.

 

I've fished with a lot of people this year who throw all conventional gear while I stick to swimbaits. The fish that show themselves or commit to a swimbait have made the other people in the boat about crap themselves. I've even experimented by throwing senkos and t-rigs in the front of my boat when the guy in the back is throwing jigs just to see. I probably will catch more, but 99times out of 100 the guy with the jig sticks the biggest fish. I've had more then enough eye opening experiences with swimbaits and even jigs to know that they make a difference when targeting big fish. Yes you can catch big fish on just about any lure but just because I accidently catch a 45" muskie on a 2" crappie jig doesn't mean I'm hitting up my prime locations targeting muskies with crappie jigs. Lure choice matters.

[papajoe222]

I think the location theme has really blossomed on this site because a lot of posts are aimed at finding a magic lure or presentation.  eg."I'm heading out to my cousins 40 acre pond tomorrow. What should I throw?"  In answering, somewhere in a reply it should be mentioned that it depends on a number of factors, prior to advising the OP that a Senko will always catch fish, or a crankbait is the ultimate pond bait right now. Many anglers don't approach lure selection with the idea that lures are tools and a hammer isn't a tool for stapling shingles any more than a Spook is a tool for winter time bassin.

Assuming the OP has enough experience to know how to find big fish or that many waters don't hold a large percentage of large fish is also a big injustice. I don't believe an angler that posses that experience would be offended by a response that states the obvious, provided the original question is addressed.

[Mattlures]

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I think the location theme has really blossomed on this site because a lot of posts are aimed at finding a magic lure or presentation.  eg."I'm heading out to my cousins 40 acre pond tomorrow. What should I throw?"  In answering, somewhere in a reply it should be mentioned that it depends on a number of factors, prior to advising the OP that a Senko will always catch fish, or a crankbait is the ultimate pond bait right now. Many anglers don't approach lure selection with the idea that lures are tools and a hammer isn't a tool for stapling shingles any more than a Spook is a tool for winter time bassin.

 

I'll agree with that but sometimes its condescending and other times when somebody is specifically asking about baits, its insulting by insinuating that the op shouldn't waist his time with selecting lures or techniques because they certainly have not considered location

[Mattlures]

 

Assuming the OP has enough experience to know how to find big fish or that many waters don't hold a large percentage of large fish is also a big injustice. I don't believe an angler that posses that experience would be offended by a response that states the obvious, provided the original question is addressed.

If the op does not change his location and only changes his bait selection to baits that are know to consistantly catch bigger bass then his odds still go up. If the Op is asking which baits produce bigger fish then answer that question with proven big fish baits. Its a huge part of the puzzle and it definitely can help him catch bigger bass.

Example: If I am fishing a 5 acre pond and I am throwing swimbaits, jigs, and cradads and 2 other guys with equal skills fish the same pond at the same time together with me but they are using small drop shots, jerk baits, and 5in senkos, who has the best chance of catching bigger fish? I would of course. That doesn't mean I would catch bigger fish every single time but I am positive that over time my average fish would be bigger.

[Loop_Dad]

Thanks Matt for starting this thread.

 

I am kinda guy who likes go fishing but don't get to go out as often as I would like to. So while I now live close to one of the great big bass lake,  I don't commit myself throwing swimbaits all day. (Well I only fish half day now, it just too hot in Texas!) 

 

While local population here in Austin 'LOVE' senkos, I don't particularly throw them much. I like buzz, frogs, jigs, brush hog (not the baby one), big ribbon tail and soft swimbaits (puddle tails)  I usually catch something with chance of big one. That's exactly what I want as a guy who only fish once a week.

 

 

Big baits = big bass but a bait does not have to be big to be a consistant big bass producer. Small crayfish are a consistant big bass producer. They are one of the exceptons. I will also make a post later on about the misconseptins of throwing big baits. On of the biggest misconception is the "fishing for 1 bite a day" Or not catching anything for days. This is not the norm for guys who have some things figured out.

 

But now, you are telling this. Yes, please make a post about this. I would love to read it. Thanks!

[WRB]

Very few bass anglers can make the claim they catch big bass consistently, those few who do understand the importance of location.

My other statement is "to catch big bass you most fish for them", that also ticks off folks and is even more true than the location statement. Any blind squirrel can find a acorn occasionally, especially if it's looking under an oak tree, ie; location.

On a few rare occasions I have caught 1 big bass, usually I catch several from the same area and that is the difference between a good big bass angler and a blind squirrel!

The giant bass are rare fish, however they tend to group up to feed effectively and that is the location every big bass anglers is looking for. Knowing where big bass feed and what they are feeding on is essential to catching these fish.

Tom

[Mattlures]

Tom I completely agree with your post. It was informative. More importantly it did not minimize the importance of other factors such as bait choice and technique. They are all pieces of the puzzle and each time you figure something out it helps solve the big puzzle. It doesn't always matter which part you figure out first. Each time you figure something out the other parts get a little easier. My point is, if you find big fish, that's one part and a good start but its not the only part or the only start. You still have to figure out how to get them to bite which is way easier said the done.You can also start with lure choice. You still have to find them but if you make good lure choices you will increase your odds and any time you increase your odds your solving the puzzle which will lead to catching more bigger bass.

You can also try night fishing, again there is a good chance that will increase your odds. So will being stealthy, and so will using good gear. It all adds up, some more then others. There are so many things you can do to stack the odds in your favor. If you do enough of them you will catch bigger bass, its that simple.

Your statement of "to catch big bass you most fish for them", is very similar to what I say a lot. "if you want to catch big bass, stop fishing for the small ones"  If guys would think of big bass as a separate species from small bass and learn their habits as a different animal which require different locations, baits, techniques, gear, and mind sets it would be a lot easier for them. Unfortunately for most guys (myself included) I had so much prior bass fishing experience it was difficult for me to relearn or commit to targeting big bass. I started by switching baits. I started throwing swimbaits. I also started fishing more at night. I also started to sight fish. Each time I did one of these things I started to catch more big bass and bigger bass. Then I started to fish the smaller lakes which were known to hold bigger bass and guess what happened? I caught even bigger bass. Location is very important but there are other factors that are also very important. The more you figure out, the easier it gets. The more you stack the odds the better chance you have at success.

[Catch and Grease]

Thank you so much for posting this...

It's an incredible help, the whole time people kept saying lure doesn't matter in my thread I bit my tongue and picked my words carefully because I didn't want to start a debate.

[Catt]

While I agree with what you wrote I feel you must add a few disclaimers!

Do big baits catch big bass...absolutely!

Do big baits catch small bass...absolutely!

Do small baits catch big bass...absolutely!

Do small baits catch small bass...absolutely!

Y'all got that, let's move on!

Your thecniques of locating and catching big bass fits your region along with the bodies of water you fish. These techniques can apply in part but not in whole to the Mid-West, Great Plains, Great Lakes, Nrw England, Alantic Coast, South, and Deep South regions or Mexico.

While I can not speak for those other regions I can talk about mine. Here in the deep south more big bass are caught on Texas Rigged Plastics or a Jig-N-Craws, not exactly big baits.

With heavily structured reservoirs running 50,000-190,000 aces of water; location becomes extremely critical. Other key differences include high air/water temperatures, diverse types of cover and forage.

[adam lancia]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread, there's lots of great pointers being made. Which leads me to several questions: I live in Nova Scotia and we only have SMB, no LMB. I would say the largest ones being caught regularly are in the 3-4 Lb range. I am only not starting to diversify and figure out what's working for me and what isn't. As much as the locals are helpful, most of it is the same as what you have said about the blind squirrel. Lots of senko's being thrown and the occasional big (for around here) bass being caught. Typically, I will use 4 spinning rods for various soft plastics: wacky and texas rigged senko's, texas rigged super flukes, and then either a tube jig or a shaky head. I also have smaller top water lures (poppers etc) but just recently picked up a Zara Spook. I also throw spinnerbaits. My questions is, where do I start with swimbaits? Should I try to match the kind of bait fish that are in the various lakes, or go with the coours and patterns of the senko's and flukes that usually catch fish? How big is too big a bait to throw when the bass aren't California/Texas huge? I want to maximize my time fishing these because I don't get out on a boat too often. I don't have my own boat, just a kayak. I usually tag along with a friend of mine when he goes out for a few hours after work. I realize that lure selection and tactics are going to be different based on my location, I'm really just looking for some general guidelines and principles to get started. If there are any good articles worth reading or videos worth watching, links would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for being so helpful guys!

[WRB]

What got me into trophy size bass fishing was fishing gin clear rock quarry ponds near where I lived and the introduction of Florida strain LMB in San Diego city lakes. I lived 150 miles north of San Diego, so fishing those lakes required long round trip drives.

The rock quarry lakes had northern LMB up to about 12 lbs and as a young teen spent a lot of time watching and learning the habits of the larger adults, caught and released most of them, largest was 12 1/4 lbs. The primary prey fish source was suckers, chubs, bluegill, along with frogs, crawdads, small birds and mice or rats.

The first SD lake I fished was Lower Otay as a young adult. I had learned a lot about big bass habits and caught 3 DD NLMB by the time I started to target FLMB. Knowing how to nose hook crawdads and fly line bait fish, it didn't take long to start catching the big FLMB on live bait, lures was another story and that took a few years to develop lures these big FLMB would strike. The hard baits had to be hand painted to be more realistic, soft plastic worms also needed to have mote night crawlers realistic colors like cinnamon brown with black or purple/ blue blood line. This is when I started using custom hair jigs with custom pork trailers that have become my go to giant bass lure. Swimbaits came later in the late 70's, early 80's.

Knowing that live bait is very effective and could have a major impact on big bass populations in our small SoCal lakes, I became a advocate to stop the use of live bait the first 1/3rd of the year; Jan-Apl. Never got very far with my anti live bait proposals and watched our big bass population crash, some recover and others haven't, the pressure of live bait fishing doesn't help the giant bass populations, but I have learned to live with it.

Catching big bass consistently takes a lot of dedication to learning about these fish and their habits. For me it's been a life time of experience.

Tom

Edited August 26, 2014 by WRB

[Catt]

Who defines "Trophy or Big" bass?

I say where (region/body of water) defines "trophy or big" bass.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

While I can not speak for those other regions I can talk about mine. Here in the deep south more big bass are caught on Texas Rigged Plastics or a Jig-N-Craws, not exactly big baits.

 

 

That again plays to the law of averages. If 99% of the guys are throwing jigs and worms, of course the majority of big bass are going to be caught on them. I really believe that as swimbaits continue to work their way into more guys' rotations, they will see exactly what Matt is talking about.

 

Are they perfect for every situation? Absolutely not. No bait is. Do they appeal to a larger class size of fish more times than not?  You betcha....

[roadwarrior]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread, there's lots of great pointers being made. Which leads me to several questions: I live in Nova Scotia and we only have SMB, no LMB. I would say the largest ones being caught regularly are in the 3-4 Lb range. I am only not starting to diversify and figure out what's working for me and what isn't. As much as the locals are helpful, most of it is the same as what you have said about the blind squirrel. Lots of senko's being thrown and the occasional big (for around here) bass being caught. Typically, I will use 4 spinning rods for various soft plastics: wacky and texas rigged senko's, texas rigged super flukes, and then either a tube jig or a shaky head. I also have smaller top water lures (poppers etc) but just recently picked up a Zara Spook. I also throw spinnerbaits. My questions is, where do I start with swimbaits? Should I try to match the kind of bait fish that are in the various lakes, or go with the coours and patterns of the senko's and flukes that usually catch fish? How big is too big a bait to throw when the bass aren't California/Texas huge? I want to maximize my time fishing these because I don't get out on a boat too often. I don't have my own boat, just a kayak. I usually tag along with a friend of mine when he goes out for a few hours after work. I realize that lure selection and tactics are going to be different based on my location, I'm really just looking for some general guidelines and principles to get started. If there are any good articles worth reading or videos worth watching, links would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for being so helpful guys!

 

You will get better response in our "Smallmouth" section.

[Choporoz]

Great reading.  I didn't fullly understand until recently that fishing for big bass was different than bass fishing and sometimes catching big bass.  Not sure what I'll do with the knowledge yet.  Nothing, probably.  I'm still happy with numbers and the occasional 5+.

 

Now, that I know about separating the big bass from the small bass......I'd like assistance in telling which BR advisers are blind.  Through experience, I'm starting to learn, but it would have been helpful when I started here to have a big scarlet carp or something for people like me with little valuable knowledge, but no hesitation to pretend we do.  

[Catt]

That again plays to the law of averages. If 99% of the guys are throwing jigs and worms, of course the majority of big bass are going to be caught on them. I really believe that as swimbaits continue to work their way into more guys' rotations, they will see exactly what Matt is talking about.

Are they perfect for every situation? Absolutely not. No bait is. Do they appeal to a larger class size of fish more times than not? You betcha....

Or it means the anglers down here gave the swim baits an honest try and they still don't out perform the proven techniques. During pre-spawn/ spawn swim baits work quite well, after that not so much.

[WRB]

Who defines "Trophy or Big" bass?

I say where (region/body of water) defines "trophy or big" bass.

Correct!

B.A.S.S. Lunker Club started with any LMB at 6 lbs in the 70's.

In-Fisherman master angler awards program was regional, divided the country into 5 regions and Canada the 6th region. California, Texas and Florida were in the same region, with LMB being 10 lbs to qualify, as I recall.

Tom

[EmersonFish]

I think a lot of people use bigger baits than they even realize, at times. If you look at the profile of some of the "creature" baits out there, they are not exactly finesse baits. What keeps people from using the truly LARGE baits to target trophy fish is time on the water. Guys like me who don't get to fish as often as we'd like tend to focus on techniques that are likely to produce action, and possibly a big fish; rather than techniques where you might not get bit much but you are searching for the big one. I liken it a bit to catfishing, which is my background. I'm more likely to chase channel cat and maybe some decent blues on a Friday evening when I have a few hours, than rig up a 1 lb. carp and hope to catch a giant flathead.

[MassBass]

timing, timing, timing.