How They Got So Big?

[fatso]

 I’ve been fishing the same location from shore all summer long and I catch a lot of small bass throughout the day. I see the BIG ones amble by on occasion and they seem to swim over to check me out every once in a while. I fish mostly live bait, mostly worms and minnows, and I do accidently chum the water with dead baits from freshly caught bass.

 

 I notice a couple of big bass that wait for me to catch the smaller ones and then, as I reel them in, they steal the unswallowed baits hanging from their lips.  I get some strange vibrations through my braided lines, as I reel in a small bass, and many times find a trophy bass beating the sides of my yet landed hooked fish, just as a heavy weight boxer finishes off an opponent, trying to shake loose the dangling minnow from my bass.

 

Anyone else ever experience this sort of behavior with the BIG ones? How do you catch them?

[WRB]

It's a myth that bass eat dead bait, they eat live bait the livelier the better.

If you are using live bait use larger size between 4" to 6" baitfish, use live crawdads 3" to 4" long, use lively big night crawlers 6" to 8" long and use light weight hooks and line between 4 to 8 lb test with your bait.

Take some time and learn about the bass you are trying to catch.

Good book on this subject is Bill Murphy's "In Pursuit of Giant Bass".

Tom

[the reel ess]

 I’ve been fishing the same location from shore all summer long and I catch a lot of small bass throughout the day. I see the BIG ones amble by on occasion and they seem to swim over to check me out every once in a while. I fish mostly live bait, mostly worms and minnows, and I do accidently chum the water with dead baits from freshly caught bass.

 

 I notice a couple of big bass that wait for me to catch the smaller ones and then, as I reel them in, they steal the unswallowed baits hanging from their lips.  I get some strange vibrations through my braided lines, as I reel in a small bass, and many times find a trophy bass beating the sides of my yet landed hooked fish, just as a heavy weight boxer finishes off an opponent, trying to shake loose the dangling minnow from my bass.

 

Anyone else ever experience this sort of behavior with the BIG ones? How do you catch them?

I catch bigger ones with bigger artificials. Live worms seem to attract smaller ones and panfish and catfish. If I was trying to get larger fish with live bait I'd try bigger bait like a small bluegill or larger shiner. I've been thinking of doing just that to try to get that ol' monster personal best. But I do like to catch some in between the big boys.

[bigbill]

The bigger bass is hitting the smaller bass so it can stun it to eat it. I watched this topwater as one slapped my topwater popper on the side then turned and inhaled it. I paused at the side slap. There was no way the bass could of missed it.

When your catching small bass upside your bait the bigger bass are lurking nearby.

[scaleface]

It's a myth that bass eat dead bait, they eat live bait the livelier the better.

 

I have caught both largemouth and small mouth with shad sides while fishing for channel cat. It happens occasionally . 

[clh121787]

It's a myth that bass eat dead bait, they eat live bait the livelier the better.

Rare yes. Myth no way. Personally on 2 occasions I've caught bass on dead bait. A large mouth off fresh rabbit liver in west Texas. And again a small mouth this time off chicken liver in the all American canal. Near El Centro, Ca

[davecon]

Here in Florida it is common to use 12 inch shiners for bait. You don't catch many bass but they are pretty big.

Some snook fishermen use live mullet for bait that are 12 or 14 inches long. They use tackle suitable for tarpon and they catch some monsters. Do a google search on The Mad Snooker and you can see some videos. Unbelieveable !

[bigbill]

The bass want something moving to eat.

My first experience with bass was reeling in a night crawler and had a topwater strike. My mind thought they want something moving. I used a mepps inline spinner and it's been bass fishing ever since.

It's like bird hunting we shoot it in the air not on the ground.

[F14A-B]

It's a myth that bass eat dead bait, they eat live bait the livelier the better.

If you are using live bait use larger size between 4" to 6" baitfish, use live crawdads 3" to 4" long, use lively big night crawlers 6" to 8" long and use light weight hooks and line between 4 to 8 lb test with your bait.

Take some time and learn about the bass you are trying to catch.

Good book on this subject is Bill Murphy's "In Pursuit of Giant Bass".

Tom

Wrong! No myth, LMB will eat dead bait, I've caught them on chicken livers & dead night crawlers plenty of times catfishing..

[davecon]

Used to catch a lot of bass when I was a kid slow trolling dead shiners.

Deadsticking is a common practice in these parts. Throw a plastic worm out and let it sit for as long as five minutes. An honest five minutes, I mean cast it out, smoke a cigarette, then see if ones there. It works.

[Bluebasser86]

I've caught bass on fresh and frozen cutbait fishing for catfish. The biggest bass I caught from one of the local lakes was on a bottom fished chunk of cut bluegill. It wasn't being moved or manipulated in any way, she just flat ate a chunk of cutbait off the bottom like a catfish. It may not be common, but it certainly happens.

 

OP, maybe try a bigger livebait and see if those bigger bass will eat that instead or keep another rod rigged and ready so when you hook the smaller bass you can toss another bait at that fish. We catch lots of nice smallmouth every year throwing baits at hooked fished when other fish are following them in. 

[Basswhippa]

They used to use dead shiners at Stick Marsh all the  time.    Don't know if they still do or not.   There were a lot of bass there back in the day.  Guessing there still are.   

[WRB]

Bass are sight feeders, catfish, suckers, carp are bottom feeders that eat dead things and if the opportunity arises will eat live things.

A good example of bass eating something dead is a pork rind trailer or the Pork O, it's cured meat....that moves like something alive. Pike, lake trout, stripe bass will eat fresh dead fish on the bottom still fished. If a dead bait is made to look alive, move slightly like a Senko's a bass will strike, it's rare a bass will eat something dead.

If you all believe bass eat fresh dead baitfish, use it!

Tom