Quitting on bass if other species can readily be caught

[Ratherbfishing]

How many of you would (for the moment or perhaps the day) stop fishing for largemouth if another species (crappie, white bass, pike/muskie, etc) could reliably be caught?  Although I am a huge largemouth fan, I am also thrilled with other species as well.  About the only species I do not care for (no offense intended) is carp and small panfish.  But I'll put down my bass rod if I can catch other species for at least awhile.  But eventually I would go back to largemouth.

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

Y-E-E-K!  Heresy!!!  (Seriously, I understand but I've gotten to the point where no matter how lousy I'm doing, I keep telling myself, "Maybe this next cast will be the one.") There are a lot of reasons to fish, regardless of the target species or the technique. I say, "Just fish!"

[Ratherbfishing]

1 minute ago, GrumpyOlPhartte said:

Y-E-E-K!  Heresy!!!  (Seriously, I understand but I've gotten to the point where no matter how lousy I'm doing, I keep telling myself, "Maybe this next cast will be the one.") There are a lot of reasons to fish, regardless of the target species or the technique. I say, "Just fish!"

Amen!

[Jigfishn10]

Here in the northeast, come cold water season, I don't mind tying on a spoon or inline spinner and let whatever species - Bass, Snot Rocket (Pickerel), You name the species of Trout - bang my lure. Just as long as the rod bends, I don't care.

[Ratherbfishing]

When the crappie are biting/locatable I'll drop about everything else to fish for them.  A black crappie glistening in the sun like an emerald is about as beautiful as any fish I know.

[MassBass]

Not a bad idea to be prepared for another specie besides LM. Especially if your water is known for pike, cats, etc. 

[Team9nine]

In a hearbeat - Don't fight the bite!!

 

-T9

[CroakHunter]

I'm about the bite not about the right. If I'm ain't biting then I'll fish for something else 

[Chris at Tech]

If I lived on the coast in Florida, I'd quickly forget what a largemouth bass even was.  Fishing the salt is ADDICTIVE!

[A-Jay]

The majority of water I'm fishing now are seriously multi-species.

So depending on the depth & water temps I'm fishing - "other species" can & does include a variety of by-catch 'dinner selections'.

A-Jay

 

[slonezp]

I spend plenty of time fishing for fish

[scaleface]

I'll fish for anything .

[BradGinKC]

The fun of fishing is not limited to a single species. We all have our favorites, but I won't pass up some big wipers or some schooling white bass. And walleye are a blast to catch. It's all about enjoying your time on the water.

[Bluebasser86]

If I could consistently catch wipers like I do bass, I'd spend a lot less time bass fishing. I love catching big catfish too. They get over 100 pounds in Kansas so knowing there's a chance to catch a 100lb fish in freshwater is a rush. Sight fishing for big gar is a blast too, although dealing with them once landed isn't much fun. If there was a place to fish for muskie and/or striper close by, I don't know if I'd bass fish much at all. 

[Turkey sandwich]

I like the surprise catches, though I rarely seek out fishing outside the target species.  Let's face it, walleye and stocked trout can be delicious and a big pike or musky smashing a bait is exhilarating.  Really, I just love fishing and find myself enjoying everything from throwing flies for trout to fishing salt for sharks, amberjacks, etc. Sometimes it's just good to stop worrying about figuring out a puzzle or being competitive and just be a kid again.   

[BASS302]

I like fishing for bass and I like fishing for trout.  But I'll fish for whatever is biting.

[JustJames]

I trend to think about other fish when bass bite get so slow. My buddy and I will do some drifting for catfish or trolling for stripers for a change. I don't mind fishing for crappies if I know how to find them.

[Jigfishn10]

15 hours ago, MassBass said:

Not a bad idea to be prepared for another specie besides LM. Especially if your water is known for pike, cats, etc. 

Never caught a catfish, sounds like fun though.

[frosty]

I started targeting bass and stopped using live bait because I wanted more of a challenge but I'll definitely pick up my ultra light and catch some bluegill on occasion. 

[WIGuide]

I absolutely love fishing for bass, but I guide for a few different species so regardless of if I want to or not, I have to put the bass rods down and fish for other species. One usual exception is early in the spring, it doesn't stay light enough, long enough for me to fish lakes any distance away for bass during the week after work, so I'll chase some pre-spawn/spawning crappies. It's a blast and they're delicious. 

[Ratherbfishing]

18 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

I absolutely love fishing for bass, but I guide for a few different species so regardless of if I want to or not, I have to put the bass rods down and fish for other species. One usual exception is early in the spring, it doesn't stay light enough, long enough for me to fish lakes any distance away for bass during the week after work, so I'll chase some pre-spawn/spawning crappies. It's a blast and they're delicious. 

 

On a different spin (no pun intended), up in Canada there is a guide who refuses to guide for anything except walleye.  He won't guide for bass.  I suspect it's because he'd rather drift in a boat and drink beer.  He isn't the hardest working fellow I've ever met-though beer does seem to motivate him.

 

Growing up on the limited ponds/rivers I had available, crappie were as rare as hens teeth so I especially like them now.  But I go north (when I can) primarily to catch species I can't or don't often catch here (pike, musky, walleye and larger smallmouth).  It's fun to mix it up a bit.

4 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Never caught a catfish, sounds like fun though.

They are fun.  I big one will REALLY pull.

[Looch]

On 7/12/2017 at 3:56 PM, Ratherbfishing said:

When the crappie are biting/locatable I'll drop about everything else to fish for them.  A black crappie glistening in the sun like an emerald is about as beautiful as any fish I know.

same here, I love fishing for crappie. When I know they are in the area I'm fishing(I catch one or lose one and see it) I immediately switch to smaller bait to catch as many as I can before they take off again. Some days when my jonboat motor is good, I go look for them.

 

 

15 hours ago, BradGinKC said:

The fun of fishing is not limited to a single species. We all have our favorites, but I won't pass up some big wipers or some schooling white bass. And walleye are a blast to catch. It's all about enjoying your time on the water.

 you live in Wiper heaven, there is a guy on YT that lives in Kansas, he catches the biggest fattest wipers I've ever seen

[Ratherbfishing]

17 minutes ago, Looch said:

same here, I love fishing for crappie. When I know they are in the area I'm fishing(I catch one or lose one and see it) I immediately switch to smaller bait to catch as many as I can before they take off again. Some days when my jonboat motor is good, I go look for them.

 

 

Sometime you should resist switching to a smaller bait.  I've caught some relatively "giant" crappie on big baits including Chigger craws and Keitech Fat swing impacts.  The larger crappie (especially) tend to think they are bass. 

[Looch]

I tend to lose most of them with the larger 4-5" plastic attached, but the ones I do land are usually pretty big. I use the same 1/8oz jig head, just attach a smaller soft plastic like a crappie magnet or 2.5 inch gulp. Sometimes I use a marabou or one of my lighter hair jigs but usually I just change plastics.

 

 

[RMax]

Ill catch anything that will hit the lure I have on.