Giant Bass

[Wurming67]

Last night I was reading Bill Murphy's book in pursuit of giant Bass and every time I read it gets me thinking outside the box I guess you could say, bass fisherman years ago alot of them kept their catches, I know my father did and my grandfather did, nowadays bass fisherman like ourselves for the most part don't keep them, so trophy bass of today might have been caught a few times and then released and as they got bigger they became weary of certain types of lures and baits, and holding in certain areas of a body of water where they were caught, so they relocated to different areas and staying away from those  lures and baits, so the guys that are catching Big Bass are probably using baits and lures we never seen or thought about using,and fishing areas of a body of water that we probably wouldn't even think of fishing? Am I close??? 

[A-Jay]

Are you close ?

 Can't say with any certainty.

What I will say is, that if there are 'big bass' in a body of water, and bassheads are fishing it - someone will catch some.

And while a "Trophy Hunter" may be increasing his or her odds by employing experienced based tactics and presentations, there's always a few Hawgs caught by less experience angles using very basic or even conventional gear.

In other words. if they are there, they'll be caught; if they are not . . . . . . .

Put an average angler on above average water, good things can happen.

Rarely is the reverse true.

YMMV

A-Jay

 

[Black Hawk Basser]

55 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Put an average angler on above average water, good things can happen.

Rarely is the reverse true.

No doubt, man.  Whether it's dumb luck or not - right place, right time, has a lot to do with it!

[CroakHunter]

I've caught some of my biggest bass on techniques that I know nobody else is throwing on the body of water I caught them in (magnum rage bug, big straight tail, 7" senko, weighted senko). But o the flip side, the other big ones I've caught on that lake have been on baits that everybody throws there (jig, craw, spinnerbait, big ribbon tail). The only reason I know nobody else is throwing the first few baits I mentioned is because it is a private 65 acre lake owned by my fishing partner and we know everyone that fishes there, what they like to use, and where they like to fish and anytime they see any of those baits I have tied on they just laugh and ask if I really think they are gonna work. I just grin and say nope just trying them out. 

[davecon]

Read, saw a lot of videos, and talked with the late Doug Hanson aka the Bass Professor.

 

He told me that he primarily stuck with the proven, tried and true lures. Admittedly, he marketed a bunch of “new” lures but the several times I spoke with him he told me repeatedly that there was no “secret weapon”, it was a matter of fishing the right places at the right time with a few select proven lures. 

 

I know now this is contrary to the “bait monkey” philosophy but several years ago I switched from a large boat down to a much smaller boat necessitating “culling” some tackle. Having bass fished for over 50 years I had quit the collection of lures. Once I “pared” down my tackle selection I was forced to fish more thoroughly with what I had left. 

 

I catch more more and larger fish now just concentrating on the basics. If a bass would hit a lure 50, 60, 75 years ago a bass will still hit it today.

 

Search all you want for the “magic lure” but I really don’t think it exists.

 

 

[CroakHunter]

To add even more confusion to this, I've caught the same 3.5lb bass on the same lure twice one spring and then again in the fall, and he had been caught 6 other times since 2011. But on the other end of the spectrum, my pb was caught in June of 2011 off an old road bed on black and blue jig and released after getting length and weight measurement. He wasn't caught again until May of 2017, only 125 yards away sitting in a brush pile where I caught him on a Texas rigged 10" worm.  So was it the lure, fisherman, presentation, season, or just dumb luck?

[Mobasser]

2 hours ago, davecon said:

Read, saw a lot of videos, and talked with the late Doug Hanson aka the Bass Professor.

 

He told me that he primarily stuck with the proven, tried and true lures. Admittedly, he marketed a bunch of “new” lures but the several times I spoke with him he told me repeatedly that there was no “secret weapon”, it was a matter of fishing the right places at the right time with a few select proven lures. 

 

I know now this is contrary to the “bait monkey” philosophy but several years ago I switched from a large boat down to a much smaller boat necessitating “culling” some tackle. Having bass fished for over 50 years I had quit the collection of lures. Once I “pared” down my tackle selection I was forced to fish more thoroughly with what I had left. 

 

I catch more more and larger fish now just concentrating on the basics. If a bass would hit a lure 50, 60, 75 years ago a bass will still hit it today.

 

Search all you want for the “magic lure” but I really don’t think it exists.

 

 

I agree. Pair down your tackle, and fish slower. My favorite is a plastic worm. Doug Hannon also said that a plastic worm was the one lure that a bass can not be conditioned to refuse. But it is not a magic bait either.Some of the best trophy fisherman stick with 2 or 3 baits- and perfect them

[Wurming67]

7 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I agree. Pair down your tackle, and fish slower. My favorite is a plastic worm. Doug Hannon also said that a plastic worm was the one lure that a bass can not be conditioned to refuse. But it is not a magic bait either.Some of the best trophy fisherman stick with 2 or 3 baits- and perfect them

I went from 10 rods and two tackle bags to 3 rods and one tackle bag, for me it makes me focus on those baits more thoroughly give them  a chance to work instead of jumping from rod to rod  and plus more room in boat ?,but it is fun buying equipment ?

[Gundog]

Notice in the diagram below that the brain is much smaller than the stomach. There is a reason for that. That bass learn not to hit certain lures or relocate to areas to avoid being caught hasn't been proven. Bass migrate. The fact that they may not return to the exact spot just tells me that the bass found a comfortable water temp, a place they feel safe from predators and has some food there or nearby. They don't build homes and come back to those homes every evening after a hard day at work. The entire lake is their home. Just my opinion with a few facts thrown in for good measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wurming67]

Somebody needs to come up with a video of a group of bass under a dock analalyzing us like we do with them and  making fun us I think it be would hilarious.

 

 

For example:Hey bob did you see what that guy in that ranger threw at us what does he think we are stupid we don't eat green pumpkin Daisy swirl black flake melon senkos,when are these guys gonna learn we only like junebug ?

[jeffo21]

I do believe in the science of bass fishing but I also think a lot of it is some dumb luck. I went out  at the end of May to just go fishing waste some time and maybe catch a few and ended up catching my PB a 10.52 bass on a black and blue chatter bait with a small pumpkin seed crawdad trailer. 

[LxVE Bassin]

Luck is big part of bass fishing. My 2 biggest fish were caught on the Chatterbait and dropshot. But I caught so many small bass on those lures.

[gobig]

I'll throw in my two cents. A big fish is relative to the body of water. Trophy hunting is different than tournament fishing. When the two worlds collide it can be magical. Big fish relate to key structure and the cover elements related to that structure. Dumb luck happens, people win the lottery. More often than not luck is not the determining factor. Magic baits exist, however the magic never lasts long. Thinking outside the box is good. Just don't try to reinvent the wheel. Spend more time dissecting key structure than color of your lures. Many times you are inches away from the catch of your life. Angles and direction are key. Big fish do use and return to the same locations, believe it or not they are predictable.

[geo g]

Lets  not confuse bass behavior with being smart or learned.  Bass are not smart, and don't learn behaviors like bears or large cats.   They have brains the size of a pea, and host of programed instincts.  They have a variety of very acute instinctual senses. that control their behavior.  This is not a learned behavior, but rather a programed behavior triggered by things happening in their environment.

 

There are also far more juvenile bass in a lake, then the big ones.  Whatever your doing to catch juveniles, the big fish will react the same way if you can find them, and pass it within their strike zone.  There are just fewer big bass to trigger.  Finding where they are that day, that hour, is the fishermans task.  The great fisherman study those patterns, and eliminate unproductive waters, increasing their ability to succeed.  

[geo g]

On 8/11/2018 at 8:53 AM, Wurming67 said:

Somebody needs to come up with a video of a group of bass under a dock analalyzing us like we do with them and  making fun us I think it be would hilarious.

 

 

For example:Hey bob did you see what that guy in that ranger threw at us what does he think we are stupid we don't eat green pumpkin Daisy swirl black flake melon senkos,when are these guys gonna learn we only like junebug ?

There was once a video of Johnathan Winters (The comedian) doing a bit of two bass sitting at the bottom of the lake talking about the guy in the boat.  He was hilarious, but a little nuts!

 

[J Francho]

Some interesting thoughts on big bass here:

 

On 8/11/2018 at 7:08 AM, Gundog said:

That bass learn not to hit certain lures or relocate to areas to avoid being caught hasn't been proven.

Quite a bit of research documented in Kieth Jones' Knowing Bass says they do indeed start to ignore baits after having bitten them.

[Catt]

Here's an interesting read!

 

 

 

If I remember correctly Dotty out in California was caught several times mostly on a jig.

[kenmitch]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Here's an interesting read!

 

 

 

If I remember correctly Dotty out in California was caught several times mostly on a jig.

Thought it was befished every time....Not exactly sporty too ke at leasy.

 

Predictive typing for the fail. 

 

Should have been....Thought it was bed fished every time....Not exactly sporty too me at least...Instead of the drunken sentence above.

[sfpalatka]

It think their have been a lot of good points made here. Lures of the past should still work today. Basically most lures of today are lures of the past but with some type of cosmetic change. This is just my observation, it seems to me that fishing pressure has something to do with it concerning catching large trophy bass on lures. I have been fortunate to be able to fish golf courses where basically they hit on everything we threw catching 8 pound and above fish. I believe this is from the lack of fishing pressure. I believe I saw a video where a bass was caught on a piece of liquorish swimming it across a pond. I believe good fisherman are the ones that are able to adapt with changing conditions and learning from trial and error especially in high pressured fishing conditions.     

[davecon]

I think they are leary more so than smart. Let’s face it, the ones that aren’t leary get caught by either a fisherman or another predator.

 

I know a guy that caught a redfish on a shoestring. Yes a shoestring that had a hook in it. If bass wouldn’t eat almost anything there wouldn’t be so many different lures. 

 

Those that reach a large size, the leary ones, they are a little more selective in what they eat, at least that’s the way I see it.

[GReb]

Like every animal they are a creature of habit. They have certain feeding patterns. Matching that pattern as close as possible is the key to success. Presentation, color, size, etc. It can be very tough to do. That’s why reaction baits are so successful. You hedge all that by making them instinctively attack 

[Stephen B]

59 minutes ago, GReb said:

Like every animal they are a creature of habit. They have certain feeding patterns. Matching that pattern as close as possible is the key to success. Presentation, color, size, etc. It can be very tough to do. That’s why reaction baits are so successful. You hedge all that by making them instinctively attack 

I agree that color, presentation, size, etc regarding lure choice can definitely be a factor. However, bass are naturally curious animals as well as territorial and aggressive. How natural is a wacky rig bright pink zoom trick worm or senko haha? But I know a lot of people who catch a ton of fish on them. 

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, kenmitch said:

Predictive typing for the fail.

That was a doozy!

[Mobasser]

I've read a lot about Bill Murphy also, as well as a few others who have consistent success on giant bass. Maybe some luck here, but not much. Location is the key! The structure is the big picture. Then locate the key different spots within that structure. Example: that one boulder or log next to a creek channel - the one that's different from everything else.Look for something different in a huge maze of similar looking cover. The most consistent lures used are plastic worms and jigs. They can be fished SLOWLY through these areas and still have good action. Some concentrate on night fishing, with bigger baits, banking on bigger fish moving more. Either way, location is where it's at.This is the hard part. I'm still learning these things after 30 some years at bass fishing. It's a lifetime study, and takes some time and experience. It's not easy

[Raul]

Hmmm, I didn't know a black living rubber skirt jig with a Brush Hog as trailer was an "unseen" bait.