How Often Do You Catch Lunkers?

[primetime]

The great thing about Florida is we have hundreds if not thousands of ponds/lakes that are never fished due to poor access, private, or people just don't realize that some retention ponds behind shopping centers with garbage on the shoreline often hold trophy sized fish. I consider any fish over 7lbs a Big Bass and a fish you should be proud of here in Florida, and they are actually quite common in the right places if you take the time to find these "ponds" which I call lakes as on Long Island a 20-30 acre lake was a place we would fish all day.

 

People catch fish in the 9-10 lb range often, and my goal is to get a teener as I consider that a true "Trophy" or fish of a lifetime. I will go on lunker hunting trips in areas I know hold double digit fish and are rarely fished, and I will throw nothing but large lures and my goal is for 1 strike, but getting a 10lb Bass on an artificeal in the lakes where everyone fishes is tough, and getting tougher each year.....On Long Island a true 21-22" 5lb bass was a trophy and I still get excited with any bass 19" or roughly 4lbs every time.

 

when I tell friends who visit that a pond we are going to fish is 2 acres and loaded with fish 2-5lbs and has more than a few in the 7-10lb range and larger they assume that they will catch a 10lber...we have fished for 2-3 hours and caught big fish approaching 7, but in order to get a fish larger to strike, even in a "puddle" all it takes is a live bluegill or live 12" shiner. Crazy part is how fast you can catch 2 giants over 24" easy on a giant wild shiner, yet those fish passed up every thing we throw all day. They get really big for a reason, so I never doubt that much larger fish live in any body of water that has a good forrage base and I lived in front of a pond less than 1.5 acres that I was convinced only had stunted bass, and for 2 years would simply use it to test out new lures, reels etc..Then one day I toss out a 1 ounce silver spoon on my new round baitcaster only to land a bass that weighed all of 8lbs and it was the heavy lure that allowed me to hit a spot on the far shoreline I had never attempted.....It must have been living on 6-9'' bass as I caught her a few more times on bass colored jerkbaits before she vanished.

[tholmes]

How many "lunkers" do I catch? Not as many as I'd like, but enough to keep me goin' back.

 

Tom

[einscodek]

I catch a 20"+ fish every week on good months and every other week on slower months

biggest this year was 22" which isnt as fat as a southern fish but it was big..its the length that gets me

Primetime,

I cant wait to retire and hit those Florida ponds full of fat 10 pounders.. do my Doug Hannon impersonation

I wanna see a 27" fish with a HUGE head

I saw some real lunkers on Disney property this year..

[iabass8]

I visit Raider's sister once a month so.....12 times a year /w colder months being a better shot at my PB.

[bmlum415]

For me I've pulled at least 4+ lb fish out every trip jig fishing. Although I'm fishing some pretty productive water with larger fish(Cali delta).

[Slade House]

Tom on here from California has probably the most experience catching lunkers than anyone i know.  He has caught at least 5 or 6 fish that are over 15lbs.    

For me though , 12lbs is my goal , then 15lbs.  only thing that needs to happen is the stupid biological assessment needs to happen to resume them stocking trout in my lake.  which if its over 1000 acres its a lake right? someone called it a pond.  

[deep]

One about every hundred hours spent fishing for them. The "fishing for them" part is important, because I'll occasionally fish for small bass, especially during summer- I call that fun fishing. Lunker = 7+ lbs NLMB for me.

 

P.S. Slade, if it was created by damming a creek or a river, I call it a reservoir. I don't care if it's 50 acres or 10,000. Everything I know about structure fishing still applies.

[primetime]

I catch a 20"+ fish every week on good months and every other week on slower months

biggest this year was 22" which isnt as fat as a southern fish but it was big..its the length that gets me

Primetime,

I cant wait to retire and hit those Florida ponds full of fat 10 pounders.. do my Doug Hannon impersonation

I wanna see a 27" fish with a HUGE head

I saw some real lunkers on Disney property this year..

You are doing something right and obviously know how to find big fish because I am all about length as well, and for NJ, a 20" Bass is t a Big Bass and 22" is a special fish and the lake that fish came out of is a lake I would be fishing most often. My biggest fish from up North was 23" and estimated to be 6.5 lbs using the Rapala formula of measuring girth and length and plugging into a formula. The nice thing about that fish is the fact it has grown over the years, and is always a solid 7, and depending on who I am talking with, it may get longer and even hit 7.5.

 

I was hooked on Smallmouth when I was in college and they were not as fat as they are now since Gobies were not part of the forrage base at that time (at least we were not aware if they were) and we would fish Tubes 90% of the time and my goal was always a 5-6lb Smallie but I could never get over the 4lb hump but the few that I did catch over 4lbs faught 3x harder than a largemouth of the same size. We would fish the Finger lakes where everyone would be fishing for Steelhead and Trout/Salmon and we would get laughed at targeting all the 2-3lb Smallies you could see and catch almost every catch with a small jig and grub...I am planning a trip to visit my Brother in the Spring and he lives near Candlewood so we are going to take the boat out for a weekend of Trophy hunting...I love that lake. Anyway, my point was to say a 21" Bass up North is tough to catch no matter how good you are, and to get one on an artificial is even more impressive. I would always hear stories of all the 5lb fish people were catching in lakes on Long Island and I am now certain that all the 5-7's we heard about were nothing more than the 19"-4's we were all catching, but anything larger than 19" was big and still is when I go visit...

[Surpriser]

The TVA lakes in my area kick out some big bass, sometimes in big quantities; it's a special place. 

 

Other than the dead of winter, and a few weeks in August, I'm able to catch 3 & 4 lb bass regularly mixed in with smaller ones. Anything 5 lb or greater, and I'll get the camera out. However, I fish exclusively from a kayak, so I'm sure guys with bass boats can be more efficient with their time on the water and dwarf the numbers I'm used to. 

 

My goal is to break the 10 lb mark. 

[einscodek]

You are doing something right and obviously know how to find big fish because I am all about length as well, and for NJ, a 20" Bass is t a Big Bass and 22" is a special fish and the lake that fish came out of is a lake I would be fishing most often. My biggest fish from up North was 23" and estimated to be 6.5 lbs using the Rapala formula of measuring girth and length and plugging into a formula. The nice thing about that fish is the fact it has grown over the years, and is always a solid 7, and depending on who I am talking with, it may get longer and even hit 7.5.

 

I was hooked on Smallmouth when I was in college and they were not as fat as they are now since Gobies were not part of the forrage base at that time (at least we were not aware if they were) and we would fish Tubes 90% of the time and my goal was always a 5-6lb Smallie but I could never get over the 4lb hump but the few that I did catch over 4lbs faught 3x harder than a largemouth of the same size. We would fish the Finger lakes where everyone would be fishing for Steelhead and Trout/Salmon and we would get laughed at targeting all the 2-3lb Smallies you could see and catch almost every catch with a small jig and grub...I am planning a trip to visit my Brother in the Spring and he lives near Candlewood so we are going to take the boat out for a weekend of Trophy hunting...I love that lake. Anyway, my point was to say a 21" Bass up North is tough to catch no matter how good you are, and to get one on an artificial is even more impressive. I would always hear stories of all the 5lb fish people were catching in lakes on Long Island and I am now certain that all the 5-7's we heard about were nothing more than the 19"-4's we were all catching, but anything larger than 19" was big and still is when I go visit...

Primetime, I know somethin' about how to fish for sure but the waterway is also good where I am here.  People dont quite respect a good waterway.. they dont understand a good fisherman can fish their hearts out in an empty bucket and catch no fish.  So everytime I go out I feel blessed..cleanup trash around the lakes when I see it.. keep lady lake happy.  I grew up fishing eastern PA lakes and the big fish were harder to find cause of all the catch-and-keep fisherman.. first day of fishin season and the lakes were packed full of fisherman..no spots on shore at all!  Stocked fish all gone within a few months..

I wish we had more smallmouths here.. I'm only seeing mostly largemouths..

My biggest was a 23-7 pounder as well and I'm still trying to beat it.. some waterways nearby are producing supposedly 26-27" lmb.. I dunno about that but I know only a handful of us locals are pulling big fish out of our holes in our area and the one guy is usin' shiners and beat my best by 2 pounds.. and these are real  numbers..

Well you get to see bigger down south..enjoy yerself down there.. which is where this snowbird is eventually gonna end up too!

[SirSnookalot]

I keep a 25" mark on my rods, I've surpassed it a number of times, don't carry a scale.