Lake size/bass movement/odds of catching

[BigAngus752]

Complicated thread title, sorry.  So I predominantly fish two bodies of water.  One is a cooling lake of 5000 acres.  The other is a man-made lake of only 175 acres.  The cooling lake has the "best" bass fishing for about 100 miles around and hosts many tournaments.  Nearly every tourney has a winning bag of at least 20lbs.  During "good" seasons the winner is usually 25lb+ and the top five are all 20lb+.  Big fish is usually 6-6.5lbs.  The small lake hosts a weekly evening tourney.  During "good" seasons the winner posts about 16lb or so.  Right now the winners are going less than 10lb bags.  However, on the little lake there are big, big bass.  Every year there are several 7lb+ fish caught and last year someone pulled an 8.6lb fish.  

 

Here are my questions:

I want to best by PB of 5.5lbs.  The bigger lake seems like better odds for a 6 or 6.5 but when I think about the tiny size of the smaller lake I start to think that even though there may only be 4 or 5 fish that are 7lb or above in there I have a much better shot at them because the lake is so small.  Thoughts?

 

Also a question for the experts:

I know bass don't move huge distances, but does the size of the water matter?  Are the fish using the ENTIRE 175 acre lake?  Or if the water is smaller do the fish move smaller?  Are the bass in larger lakes moving around more than bass in small lakes?

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Mikeltee]

Only 2 ways to find out. Throw a lure or use a fish finder. I'd hit the little lake. It sounds less pressured. With enough persistence I'm sure you can PB at either. I'm envious of your choices...

[BassNJake]

What is the main source of forage on the little lake?

Find the food then you'll find the fatties.

 

 

[NHBull]

I will let other comments to what lake is better. For me, I would go where I know big fish are..

 

The comment about bass not traveling far may be true for some,  but we have found tagged fish that have traveled over 20 miles.

 In fact, a couple years ago a lurker SM was caught and weigh in was 15 miles away. It was also tagged. The following year it was caught again at it original spot. 

[scaleface]

175 acre lakes are a good size to fish  . You could fish the entire shoreline in one day . I have fished  one that size since the late 70's   and have caught   quite a few lunkers out of it . Six's and sevens , maybe even and eight lber or two  .   The bass do move but they are usually quicker to pattern . If it has some good structure such as humps and points then   it  can be fished deep real  quickly  and then hit the shallows . 

 

I also have an 18,000 acre reservoir to fish but the small lake  is more consistent for me .

[BigAngus752]

6 hours ago, NHBull said:

I will let other comments to what lake is better. For me, I would go where I know big fish are..

 

The comment about bass not traveling far may be true for some,  but we have found tagged fish that have traveled over 20 miles.

 In fact, a couple years ago a lurker SM was caught and weigh in was 15 miles away. It was also tagged. The following year it was caught again at it original spot. 

That's good info.  Makes me feel like the big fish are probably using the entire little lake.  Thank you. 

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

175 acre lakes are a good size to fish  . You could fish the entire shoreline in one day . I have fished  one that size since the late 70's   and have caught   quite a few lunkers out of it . Six's and sevens , maybe even and eight lber or two  .   The bass do move but they are usually quicker to pattern . If it has some good structure such as humps and points then   it  can be fished deep real  quickly  and then hit the shallows . 

 

I also have an 18,000 acre reservoir to fish but the small lake  is more consistent for me .

I have shore fished the little one several times and caught a few but not a lunker.  Only half of the shore is accessible so Saturday evening we took the boat over there and went out on the water for the first time.  There is an amazing lack of structure.  Unbelievable how flat it is through the main body.  I think it's going to be relatively easy to find the pertinent structure because there is so little of it.  Looking forward to really learning the little lake.  

[scaleface]

4 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

I think it's going to be relatively easy to find the pertinent structure because there is so little of it.  Looking forward to really learning the little lake.  

The 200 acre lake I fish has only one major point and it gets hammered . Still I usually catch something there and sometimes catch them one after another . The channels are mostly silted in  .Theres an amazing   number of fish in the lake  and can be spotted all  over with a depth finder . Whenever I see some long spaghetti looking lines on the depth finder , those are probably moving/ feeding bass . I'll fire a  few cast   at them , usually a crankbait . I have gotten on  some huge schools that way .

[Catt]

On 8/11/2018 at 4:30 PM, BigAngus752 said:

Nearly every tourney has a winning bag of at least 20lbs.  During "good" seasons the winner is usually 25lb+ and the top five are all 20lb+.  Big fish is usually 6-6.5lbs.

 

What's your average top 5?

 

Your PB is 5.5# from which lake?

 

The 5,000 acre lake has 4-5+ average stringers with 6.5#+ kickers. That's a healthy population of bass that only gonna get bigger.

[BigAngus752]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

 

What's your average top 5?

 

Your PB is 5.5# from which lake?

 

The 5,000 acre lake has 4-5+ average stringers with 6.5#+ kickers. That's a healthy population of bass that only gonna get bigger.

My PB is from a lake in another state.  You are right, the cooling lake is an excellent lake and is improving.  I have to say I'm more comfortable on the smaller lake.  Easier to practice on smaller water, trolling motors only, learning to read the electronics, etc.  I'm blessed that I have two good lakes to choose from.  The cooling lake is an hour away, the small one only 30 minutes.  

[soflabasser]

Both sound like decent choices. I would fish the one I have most confidence in and use techniques that are well known for lunker sized bass.

[Mobasser]

On 8/13/2018 at 12:18 PM, scaleface said:

175 acre lakes are a good size to fish  . You could fish the entire shoreline in one day . I have fished  one that size since the late 70's   and have caught   quite a few lunkers out of it . Six's and sevens , maybe even and eight lber or two  .   The bass do move but they are usually quicker to pattern . If it has some good structure such as humps and points then   it  can be fished deep real  quickly  and then hit the shallows . 

 

I also have an 18,000 acre reservoir to fish but the small lake  is more consistent for me .

This is similar to what I do too. On the smaller lake, you can fish the whole lake- shoreline and deeper spots. With the bigger lake, pick two or three areas that offer the best cover and depth for the time of year,and cover those spots.Fall is coming up soon too.If you can time it right, bigger bass feeding good before winter

[papajoe222]

I would target the smaller lake during the summer period and the larger lake during pre-spawn and the fall migration. My reasoning being the ability to find forage at somewhat predictable locations and resulting locations where bass would feed.