Chances of catching a 10 pounder

[blckshirt98]

I know Mission Viejo Lake was a gold mine for DD bass and there was supposed to be a possible state record in that lake.  Then the golden algae bloom came around last year and completely wiped that lake out.  That was heartbreaking to read, hopefully that lake will recover in time.

[BassObsessed]

15 hours ago, Slade House said:

Here is the thing, southern california  has the best chance of producing DD bass hands down period.  Here is why, take the lake closest to me .   

1.  The water temperature never gets below 54 degrees and it never ever gets above 76 degrees period .  Unlike Florida and Texas where that summer humidity gets the temps up to where the bass slow down.  they are in "getting bigger mode" all year long.  seriously.  

2.  Food Food Food.   They eat fatty rich ranibow trout, crawfish, redear sunfish, and some of the biggest fricking threadfin shad on the planet.  good good diet.  plus they are no striped bass in this lake.   

the average winning weight in tournaments is around 22lbs.  if you get 21.8 lbs you should be good.   it used to be 30-45 lb tournament sacks .    

besides that lake, they're are 2 or 3 in SO Cal that produce 9-10lb catches on a weekly basis.  Here is the thing many DD catches in SoCal they don't report them or let the world know about them.  I know of some 12 and 13lbers caught but mums the word.  

one more thing, i fished my entire life in Viriginia on the potomac and all the lakes and ponds,and the biggest i could ever catch was 6lbs in 15 years fishing.  i catch a 6lb bass a week where i live now (when i was fishing every day in 2014). 

You're definitely not talking about Castaic.As you know better than me its loaded with stripers and far from a top lake in that area.

[Catt]

18 hours ago, Slade House said:

Here is the thing, southern california  has the best chance of producing DD bass hands down period.  Here is why, take the lake closest to me .   

1.  The water temperature never gets below 54 degrees and it never ever gets above 76 degrees period .  Unlike Florida and Texas where that summer humidity gets the temps up to where the bass slow down.  they are in "getting bigger mode" all year long.  seriously.  

2.  Food Food Food.   They eat fatty rich ranibow trout, crawfish, redear sunfish, and some of the biggest fricking threadfin shad on the planet.  good good diet.  plus they are no striped bass in this lake.   

the average winning weight in tournaments is around 22lbs.  if you get 21.8 lbs you should be good.   it used to be 30-45 lb tournament sacks .    

besides that lake, they're are 2 or 3 in SO Cal that produce 9-10lb catches on a weekly basis.  Here is the thing many DD catches in SoCal they don't report them or let the world know about them.  I know of some 12 and 13lbers caught but mums the word.  

one more thing, i fished my entire life in Viriginia on the potomac and all the lakes and ponds,and the biggest i could ever catch was 6lbs in 15 years fishing.  i catch a 6lb bass a week where i live now (when i was fishing every day in 2014). 

Totally disagree

1. This year alone Toledo Bend has produced 139 DD bass!

2. Toledo Bend has 450-500 lbs of game fish per acre

3. Tournament weights of 22 lbs might not be in the money!

Care to look at the rest of the state?

[Slade House]

Fshing live threadfin produced the biggest donkey bass in some time at the Ventura County fishery early this past week, a 12-pound trophy for Gordan Keller of Ojai.   

12 pounder caught post spawn , not bad

 

On 5/14/2016 at 5:38 PM, BassObsessed said:

You're definitely not talking about Castaic.As you know better than me its loaded with stripers and far from a top lake in that area.

Correct Castaic has fallen off the map cause of the stripers.  I caught a 7lber in castaic lagoon and that was a big fish for there.  Im talking about the other lake that starts with a C. and who only recently started stocking rainbow trout again last fall.   The one to watch is San Vicente Reservoir in San Diego .  It has been closed for the last 8 years , no fishing for 8 years, and 8 years worth of spawning .  that place may produce buckets of bucketmouths later this summer when it reopens

 

[WRB]

SoCal lakes are tiny in comparison to most trophy bass lakes in Texas that have big bass populations that dwarf our trophy bass lakes.

My best day on Castaic was 18 DD bass, best 5 bass limit is 62 lbs, top 5 LMB at Castiac and Casitas lifetime; 19.3lbs, 18.6 lbs ( both exceed Texas state record) 17.6 lbs, 2 @ 17.4 lbs...all those bass were caught over 20 years ago....those days are long gone!

I agree with Catt, only the Delta and Clear Lake compare with today's Toledo Bend...it's on!

Tom

 

["hamma"]

Its amazing to see in font how change is constant. I remember hearing the reports of those huge fish in Cali 20 years ago and wished I could go there and fish them. My bucket list of lakes back then were. Big O in fla, Conroe, Lake Fork, Castaic, Casitas, Lake of the Ozarks, Pickwick, (I love smallie fishing) and finally Toledo bend.

 Toledo must be one heck of a lake to still be producing the big bass that it does.

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

Toledo must be one heck of a lake to still be producing the big bass that it does.

Most anglers do not understand the sheer size of Toledo Bend!

65 miles long

10 miles wide

1,264 miles of shoreline

190,000 acres or 289.1 square miles

Fisheries Biologist studies show most large bass found out on the main lake have never been hooked which leads them to believe these bass have never seen a lure!

[BassB8Caster]

6 minutes ago, Catt said:

Most anglers do not understand the sheer size of Toledo Bend!

65 miles long

10 miles wide

1,264 miles of shoreline

190,000 acres or 289.1 square miles

Fisheries Biologist studies show most large bass found out on the main lake have never been hooked which leads them to believe these bass have never seen a lure!

thats amazing. So given good genetics, good environment, resources (food etc), how big can the bass get in there? Is it fair to say that the biggest fish has yet to be caught or with increased fishing, has the sizes kind of plateaued? 

[Catt]

3 hours ago, BassB8Caster said:

thats amazing. So given good genetics, good environment, resources (food etc), how big can the bass get in there? Is it fair to say that the biggest fish has yet to be caught or with increased fishing, has the sizes kind of plateaued? 

The lake record is only 15.33 but fisheries shock test revealed at least a dozen larger. When asked how much larger one biologist stated "substantially" larger.

[riverbasser]

Well Catt it seems you need to get on the ball friend. 

 

How would I find some of this information out about my home lake?

[Catt]

2 hours ago, riverbasser said:

Well Catt it seems you need to get on the ball friend. 

 

How would I find some of this information out about my home lake?

I'm working on but can't seem to break 9#!

Try Google

[riverbasser]

I googled but not much new information. Lot of history and things from the 80's & 90's. 

I know of a few 10's being caught but none bigger. Eufaula has went threw a lot of changes with drought and diseases. Has good numbers and most tourneys go in the 20's to some low 30's. Who knows.

[WRB]

I have stated this many times but is worth repeating; northern strain LMB are far more aggressive than Florida strain LMB that are more wary and grow 50% heavier than NLB.

If your lake has NLB population changes of catching DD bass are lower compared to lakes with FLMB populations.

Toledo Bend has a mix of NLB, FLMB and intergrades of the two species. The Florida strain appears to go through a prey preference change as it adapts to being relocated from warm shallow Florida ecosystems to cooler deep structured lakes. FLMB are genetically wired to eat Golden shiners there prime bait fish, if no big shiners are available in their new home they adapt to eat whatever larger slim body bait fish that is available. If no slender body bait fish are availble, then wider body bait like crappie and bluegill if under 4" wide, wider may prey can get stuck in their throat.

Not sure if TB has herring, believe it does have both Threadfin and gizzard Shad, young carp and bass. Crawdads makes up a high protein food source. Birds,worms, frogs, snakes, lizards, mice and rats make up the food source big bass target regularly.

Don't know if swim and wake baits are used on TB, they should be.

My preferences are hair jigs with 4" pork trailer, 9" to 13" T-rigged worms, 5" slow sink crappie and bluegill swimbait, trout, carp colored and baby bass swimbaits, 8" to 11" and 4" to 5" body rat wake baits with 7" to 9" tail for targeting DD.

Tom

["hamma"]

  Thats an impressive list of baits to pick from, using big baits will get strikes from bigger fish im sure of. But have you ever considered trying live bait when big bass hunting, like they do on The Big O? 

 Now I know most of you fish tourneys and they dont allow live bait,... but if you are just out fun fishing for big bass on "such a lake", doesnt it ever cross your mind? I fished wilson and pickwick about 10 years ago with a aol chatroom outing, (was a blast) But most of the southern anglers used 55 gallon drums with a 750 gph bilge pump or bigger as a baitwell and a large throw net to catch live shad near the dams, then use the shad for stripers and smallies.  I thought it sacreledge being a older t angler,....By the end of the week i bought a net and they taught me to use it, i put a few in my livewell and tried their livebait technique,..it worked well,.but i felt kinda funny fishing live baits for stripers in freshwater the same i do up here in salt, due to the size difference, using bass gear. for schoolie sized fish

Is it that you prefer to use lures instead to fool them?

 Those stats on toledo bend are astonishing, I still want to fish it, maybe even more now. But,... It must be a bit  more than overwhelming,... My hats off to you for attempting such a body of water as your "home" lake. Id love to try and figure out patterns out there. I imagine that would be a daunting task and a challenge I admire, and aspire to attempt. I also imagine that my small 16 ft deep v with a 40 hp would be at a disadvantage on such a lake.,. thinking more like a big fast multi species rig like the new ranger,  new nitros, or champions version, would be ideal.,... waters that big must be a tough fish in the wind. limiting most to stick by the ramps on days when the wind kicks in the afternoon. Much like the great lakes and Champlain.

 Kudos to you that fish it, Im even more intrigued now that i read them stats,... thanks Catt, I now feel like the little kid banned from the candy store,....lmao,....just kiddin around.,.... I am impressed though

[WRB]

Using live bait is a personal decision and not for me.

I learned to fish live bait during the 60's for big bass and caught a lot of them. Having always been a catch and release angler, long before it became wide spread, my experience with live bait fishing was tainted by meat anglers who harvested every fish they caught. During the spawn these meat anglers decimated the big bass populations in our small lakes. I stopped using live bait in 1971, considering the use of water dogs, golden shiners, mud suckers, crawdads ( illegal trout) during the spawn cycle as being unsportsmanlike like tactic.

Live Shad bait fishing is very popular and every guide goes to this presentation during post spawn when Shad spawn and stay with it as long as the Shad can be dip netted, throw nets are illegal in California fresh water.

Tom

[Catt]

@WRB no northern strain in Toledo Bend!

There were a native strain of largemouth but their genetics is long gone.

What is stocked is from California, Cuba, & Florida genetics. The is Stripped Bass, White Bass, & Spotted Bass

No Herring!

Threadfin, Gizzard, Blue Gill, Warmouth, Redear Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Spotted Sunfish, Redbreast Sunfish, Dollar Sunfish, Bantam Sunfish, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Carp, Gar, Catfish, & Pickeral 

[riverbasser]

And huge gators.

[Catt]

@Keith "Hamma" Hatch my current ride

Fished Toledo for years out of a 15' Jon converted to bass boat with a 25 HP Suzuki!

["hamma"]

7 hours ago, Catt said:

@Keith "Hamma" Hatch my current ride

Fished Toledo for years out of a 15' Jon converted to bass boat with a 25 HP Suzuki!

Dang! Your rig is much like the boat one of my former club members had. And I thought he was brave for fishing Lake Winnepeasaukee with it? Which is much smaller than Toledo Bend

[Basswhippa]

8 hours ago, Catt said:

@WRB no northern strain in Toledo Bend!

There were a native strain of largemouth but their genetics is long gone.

What is stocked is from California, Cuba, & Florida genetics. The is Stripped Bass, White Bass, & Spotted Bass

No Herring!

Threadfin, Gizzard, Blue Gill, Warmouth, Redear Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Spotted Sunfish, Redbreast Sunfish, Dollar Sunfish, Bantam Sunfish, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Carp, Gar, Catfish, & Pickeral 

 

 

While I believe it's a blend, dominated by Florida strain, I would bet there are far more native strain genetics than you believe.  If it is 100% Florida strain, I would like to see that documented.  I do know at Chickamuaga there are much higher Florida Strain blends than they were shooting for. 

[Catt]

56 minutes ago, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

Dang! Your rig is much like the boat one of my former club members had. And I thought he was brave for fishing Lake Winnepeasaukee with it? Which is much smaller than Toledo Bend

The only issue I have is inclement weather & the main lake!

There are some areas on Toledo you can not access in a big boat.

I fish a local marsh known for DD bass that has a 40hp restriction.

5 minutes ago, Basswhippa said:

 

 

While I believe it's a blend, dominated by Florida strain, I would bet there are far more native strain genetics than you believe.  If it is 100% Florida strain, I would like to see that documented.  I do know at Chickamuaga there are much higher Florida Strain blends than they were shooting for. 

I've spend years working with, talking to, reviewing the biologist research while the bass may not be 100% Florida strain they are pretty high.

Here's one link

http://tpwd.texas.gov/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/sharelunker/background/

[Basswhippa]

Catt, I have been reading more and more of your posts.  While there are many great posters here, you and WRB are among my favorites.   Thanks for the link.

Guntersville used to be stocked regularly with Floridas.   It is my view that the genetics are heading back to northern strain, albeit slowly.   There is a push right not to get back to stocking, like Tennessee is doing with Chick, KY Lake, etc.   I've heard a solid source that a gill netter netted three in the 20 pound class back in the 90's, when the stocking was going strong.  This was before everyone had cameras on their side.   It could be a fish story, I realize, but the TN River is fertile and the bait biomass is amazing.   I am hearing of sightings of 16 to 18's in Chattanooga, by guys who have caught 12's.  They could be slightly off, so maybe they are 15's to 17's.  No telling what is swimming around the Bend.

[Catt]

8 minutes ago, Basswhippa said:

Catt, I have been reading more and more of your posts.  While there are many great posters here, you and WRB are among my favorites.   Thanks for the link.

I'm just a simple Cajun sharing his love of this sport!

There's a couple dozen members here who are just a knowledgeable as Tom & me.

["hamma"]

Great link! To bad all states dont take the same approach to management as Texas does. I surfed that site for a while, what i found interesting was that it stated that the bass they reproduce in captivity and release into the wild grow bigger, faster. And that it takes "normally" produced bass 8-10 years to reach 13 lbs. Thats some interesting facts right there, I understand that they are talking Texas bass. I wonder what the munbers are for Floridain, cuban, and mexican bass.,.. And if those Texas share lunker program fry could help states that have  smaller record fish. Even if those states have biodiversity issues, maybe the strain from share lunker could still bring the record numbers up, seeing that the strains themselves are of higher quality.

just a thought

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

On 5/21/2016 at 8:31 PM, WRB said:

SoCal lakes are tiny in comparison to most trophy bass lakes in Texas that have big bass populations that dwarf our trophy bass lakes.

My best day on Castaic was 18 DD bass, best 5 bass limit is 62 lbs, top 5 LMB at Castiac and Casitas lifetime; 19.3lbs, 18.6 lbs ( both exceed Texas state record) 17.6 lbs, 2 @ 17.4 lbs...all those bass were caught over 20 years ago....those days are long gone!

I agree with Catt, only the Delta and Clear Lake compare with today's Toledo Bend...it's on!

Tom

 

It's always sad to hear that the golden days are gone. Is it because of fishing pressure? What caused a lake or waters that were that great at producing to die off? Do you ever think those days will come back? Seems doubtful due to the # of people fishing and the damages done

I have always wondered why other states do not adopt a share lunker style program. Now the weight qualifications would obviously be different for the states but in NC its not uncommon to hook bass 8lbs and up. We have a couple lakes in the top 100 (as of my last check) and there are a ton of bass clubs in the state and ton's of bass fisherman as well. I'm sure it would be a hit and would bring $$ in as the Texas program does for conservation and wildlife programs.Guess its just wishful thinking