Maybe Small But Big Payoffs?

[Catch and Grease]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/142511-do-bigger-bass-baits-mean-bigger-bass/?fromsearch=1

Uhhh you already asked this question squirmin...

 

EDIT: sorry I noticed in the OP you do mention the fact you have already asked this.

[Heron]

I typically use a 3 inch grub to catch Goliath Grouper

[RSM789]

I typically use a 3 inch grub to catch Goliath Grouper

 

I've found that Whale Sharks are fond of Zoom 4" Dead Ringers, best color is plankton pink.

[kikstand454]

My pb Lm. - around 10lbs- came on a 1/16oz beetle spin. Wading through a farm pond catching bream and small bass.

Surprise!

[J Francho]

Merged with previous topic started by OP.

[5fishlimit]

We have to understand the whole thing to bass fishing. And consider what worked today might not work tomorrow when there mood changes.

Small or Big lure frenzy. Now factor in the moon phases along with the weather fronts.

Temperature changes.

Confused now, just fish and give everything in your arsenal a swim.

So, how do you explain that I can go out any day, and at any time of the month with a junebug zoom finesse worm and catch fish?

I don't buy into the stealthy, moon phase, changing your lure every 5 minutes theory you've explained in the posts on this thread.

The fish are feeding, or they are not. If you are in an area and they are not feeling then move on to the next spot. Since taking this approach I very rarely meet up with the "skunk".

[J Francho]

Some may have moved past the "not skunking" phase, and into catching the bigger fish.  Consistently finding bigger fish that are biting is a little more tricky.  The trick is weeding through what you read, hear, and experience to build a "big bass instinct" that is hard to put on paper.  If it doesn't matter that I go out on the same days as you, and always catch bigger fish, then keep on keepin' on - we're both having fun.  You have to weed through the info, and decide if the question is about cathcing at all, or catching bigger and better.  Same goes for the advice offered.  The two are OFTEN mixed together in threads.

[Heron]

I've found that Whale Sharks are fond of Zoom 4" Dead Ringers, best color is plankton pink.

NICE!...Im gonna have to try that.  My neighbor has some of those in his pond

[Mainebass1984]

A speedbead said earlier, fish your comfort zone. Fish lures you have confidence in.

 

Big bass can be caught on just about any lure. Some lures when used effectively by skilled anglers tend to catch bigger bass.

 

I like to target bigger bass. That being said given time of year, weather condition available forage, etc, I have caught big bass over 7 lbs weighed on a verified scale  with an assortment of lures.

 

3/8 ounce white spinnerbait

1/2 ounce chompers brush jig in brown and orange with a crawdad pork trailer

1/2 ounce chompers brush jig with a bama craw rage crae

Kvd 2.5 chartreuse black back

Kvd 1.5 chartreuse black back

live target craw squarebill

5 inch black senko

5 inch # 297 senko

5/16 ounce black Stanley jig with a black pork trailer

 

The fish over 8 lbs I have caught :

8-1, 8-3 on crankbaits

8-9, 8-10 on senkos

8-5 on a jig

 

Biggest fish I have caught was a 9-1 on a jig

 

Jigs have accounted for more bass for me over 5 lbs then any other bait and catch them as long as the ice isn't too thick for my boat to break through.

 

I recently invested in some swimbaits. Working on getting confidence in them.

[primetime]

 tIf you are fishing a body of water or area that contains large forrage like bluegill, large shad and big shiners, Perch, Crappie etc...Then throwing a big bait or large swimbait will catch larger fish for the most part. If a Hatch takes place and the lake is full of small 1-2" fry and is a lake that does not have shad, shiners or any of the main baitfish sources, then you probably do not want to be throwing a large swimbait 8-10" long as it will look odd unless you are catching a ton of smaller bass in that size range then I will always go to a large bass pattern super spook, or Swimbait as bass colored swimbaits and topwaters are great post spawn to run through schools of Bass Fry.

 

If you are feeling rocks and hard bottom then you know that crawfish are present and I am a believer that catching big bass comes down to getting the size of the pattern they are on correct, and also mimic the action of how a crawfish flees, or how small baitfish dart, so throwing a tiny jerkbait like a 3" rip bait or smaller Rapala can be deadly if you work it exactly how the baitfish are moving that day and at the ramp I always look in the water to see if the schools of minnows etc. are swimming fast, suspending and darting, color of craws if under rocks, and I also spend some time at all new lakes catching panfish, shiners, anything that will hit a powerbait maggot on #12 hook, and that gives me color and many lakes have bluegill or shellcrackers that are stunted and all 3-4"...

 

I guess the point is, it pays to spend time on the water and watch how a baitfish dies, how it acts when it is wounded, and how cold and warm water effect movement so then you can choose a wide wobble or tight crank, and if you know the shad have a chartruese tint, then you will no doubt catch more fish with a bait in the same size and color and at right depth....Blindly casting without a strategy rarely works, and when in doubt, I would say slow down, all the big fish I have caught have come when I pick apart an area and fish it slowly and carefully, rarely will my first cast at a target result in a good fish, but if it looks like an area a good fish would use to ambush baitfish, then I will hit it form many angles, and  several presentations from a jig on bottom, fast and slow fall, swimbaits at various depths, and then a topwater.....After a while you learn a lake and can feel a big fish coming and almost know it before making your cast. If you think that you are in an area holding fish but can't catch anything, try throwing shiners one day and you will be amazed how many big fish you catch and how fast, and then you realize that the amount of fish we pass in a day is insane, where a few of those shiner fish could of been caught if you landed the lure close or on top of the fish as inactive bass will not chase anything if not feeding, only strike out of instinct.

[I.rar]

Excellent posts.

All of my personal bests were caught on my #1 confidence bait... A super fluke Jr.