Bigger baits....

[Catt]

The example of Barry St. Clair was not to say Crappie Jigs are a big bass lure!

 

Barry was in the right place at the right time & put a crappie jig in big Momma's face & she ate it.

 

Would she have eaten a big swim bait... probably!

 

But that aint what Barry had in his hand!

 

Location & Timing  ?

[The Bassman]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

 Bass need a constant source of food from the time they are fingerlings to adults to grow big, few ponds have a sufficient food supply to support bass over 5 lbs. There are exceptions but they usually are deeper small lakes like a quarry lake with a stream replenishing the food supply.

Tom

I'm fortunate to have access to a few HOA lakes (I bank fish) that have a shad forage base. I've caught bass close to six lbs. from them. Have to believe there's a real big one waiting for me to post here some time. I agree that most ponds I fish with a bluegill forage base are limited in their potential to produce bass much over four lbs.  

Edit:  Hope OP will excuse me for deviating from topic.  @WRB's quote brought the thought to mind. Most of my better fish come on smaller baits because that's what I primarily use. Go figure.

 

 

 

[fishwizzard]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

I use Owner Hyper Weld snap and attach 1" long finished wire leader, size 2 treble hook on one end a small loop on the snap end with crimp sleeves. The treble hook can be added or taken off as needed. Mustad 3551W weedless treble hook and cut the wire gaurd off the point inserted into the swimbait in front of the dorsal fin, leave the original hook on the Hudd Gill.

Tom

 

I had had never seen those weedless trebels before, thanks for the info.  

[Deleted account]

On 12/11/2018 at 1:37 PM, SnailsYeast said:

Same here. I’m lucky to have caught a 5 1/2.

Don't know about the other areas, but I've fished south Jersey in a limited way and caught probably a dozen over 6 and one over 9. They are there.

[I/MBasser]

On 12/10/2018 at 11:56 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Are these ponds or lakes? I've had very limited success with big baits in ponds. Big pond bass are just so in tune with everything that they seem to be able to tell a fake from the reel thing easier. The exception being large topwaters like big walkers or wake baits like a Slammer or rat. Big pond bass eat lots of terrestrial animals so topwaters are a great way temp them. Tubes, brush hogs, 10" worms, senkos, and big straight tail worms like a YUM mighty worm or Strike King Bull worm are good baits for big pond fish. A spinnerbait or bladed jig probably catches me more big ones from ponds than anything else though.

What hook do you use with the SK Bull Worm?

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, I/MBasser said:

What hook do you use with the SK Bull Worm?

I fish them on my magnum swinging football heads with a 7/0 monster worm hook.

[soflabasser]

On 12/15/2018 at 11:13 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

It's a different mindset, kind of like muskie fishing, it's not for everyone for sure but it's addicting for some. I've caught so many fish in my life that I've got to the point I'd rather try to catch a big one instead of a bunch of little ones a lit of the time.

A good trophy bass fisherman will find it easy to adapt to muskie fishing just like a good muskie fisherman will find it easy to adapt to trophy bass fishing, at least this is what I learned from my personal experience. You are fishing for the top 5% of fish not the 95% that anyone can catch. At this point I do not care much for bass under 5 pounds and I specifically target bass 5 pounds and up. The exception I make for small bass is when I just want to play around with small bass, going for a new species of bass to add to my list, or days I want to catch over 50 bass in a couple hours.

[scaleface]

I    dont select lures for the purpose of catching large bass . I select lures that will allow me to effectively fish   the cover and structure I  encounter . The larger bass will come .That said  I have never caught a 9 lb bass either , so I might be doing it wrong.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Swimbait fishing is exponentially easier if you have a basic understanding of fish behavior and can generally read productive cover/structure.

 

The problem is people see big fish caught on swimbaits and think "I should start bass fishing so I can do that too." That's not how it works.

[A-Jay]

31 minutes ago, SPEEDBEAD. said:

Swimbait fishing is exponentially easier if you have a basic understanding of fish behavior and can generally read productive cover/structure.

 

The problem is people see big fish caught on swimbaits and think "I should start bass fishing so I can do that too." That's not how it works.

Yup ~ 

And one could replace the term "Swimbait fishing" with "Most all Bass fishing" and be right on point as well.

A-Jay

 

[Crestliner2008]

Interesting subject for sure. My .02 = I'd target known good structures (that seem to always have bait on them) and plan on spending several hours each NIGHT, 2 days before and 2 days after a new, or full moon period. I'd be tossing a musky sized black Jitterbug (on substantial equipment). Eventually, if there are any 9 pounders in the water you are targeting, you will get bit. But, you're also going to get bit by a lot of smaller bass as well. JMO.

[WRB]

Understanding the difference between adult size and juevnile bass would be basic bass behavior, start there. Understand the big bass behavior is as different as juevnile bass to adult size bass population. I believe Bill Murphy's book "In Pursuit of Gaint Bass" is essential read for anglers that have a desire to understand big bass behavior.

Big lure presented properly in the wrong place at the wrong time are less effective then standard bass lures presented at the right location.

Tom

[Arlo Smithereen]

I am not anywhere near as knowledgeable as many here, but this is my personal experience. I live in central Iowa, our state record is 10#12 oz I believe, so 5+ pound bass are fairly rare. That being said, this year I've caught a dozen or so 5 pounders, a handful of 6 pounders, and the biggest going 7 and a half (yes, they were weighed on a scale that I've tested for accuracy lol). My experience was I never threw a bait for bigger fish. I caught them all fishing what worked for the body of water I was on. Jigs, spinnerbaits, frogs and worms accounted for most if not all of them. What made the difference was being in the right place at the right time.