How to target bigger bass?

[GatorDr]

Hey guys, I'm a new bass angler and started a few months ago. There's a lake on campus that is filled with all kinds of freshwater wildlife and for centuries it hasn't been fished by anyone but it was recently allowed for students to fish there. This might've been a good and bad thing because I don't know if I'll ever get bank fishing like this ever again in my life but every time I'm there, I catch at least one 5-6 lber and tons around *** lb. Once every few days or so I'll catch something over 8.

 

The only bait I've used so far is BPS stick bait, mostly wacky rigged and that's what I've caught most of my fishes on. The water is brown and ranges around 3-4 ft in most areas I fish. There is a deeper channel that I cast out to and if the water is calm enough and my wacky rig can fall, there's a good chance to hook on to a lunker. The Stick-O worm is great but I tend to lose a lot because of the constant bite. Today I went through a whole bag fishing for 3 hours, so I think I need to give in and buy the o ring tool and use those. If they're biting, the wacky rig is great but I get a mixed bag that ranges from half a pound to 10+ pounds. I know that the big ones are out there and I was wondering if there's any lures or baits that can keep me from only catching >5 lb bass. It sounds crazy to have an issue with catching too many fishes but it'd save me some money. I would appreciate any advice and tips that you guys have!

 

edit: just wanted to add that the colors I've had good luck on is watermelon candy (green w/ red flakes) and june bug (dark blue with blue flakes). I mentioned the water depth and color but also the bottom is sandy for the most part with little vegetation, just algae-like stuff growing on the bottom. I have a lot of luck casting near these little islands of trees. 

 

 

[Glaucus]

Bigger spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and swim jigs. Bigger jig n craw. Bigger worms. Maybe swimbaits. 

[GatorDr]

4 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

Bigger spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and swim jigs. Bigger jig n craw. Bigger worms. Maybe swimbaits. 

Do you have any recommendations on jigs or craws? I've never used them before but I'd like to start! Also I'm using a 6" stick bait, should I try the 7" ones? Will those still work wacky rigged or should I fish them weightless? Thank you!

[Glaucus]

4 minutes ago, Gatordr said:

Do you have any recommendations on jigs or craws? I've never used them before but I'd like to start! Also I'm using a 6" stick bait, should I try the 7" ones? Will those still work wacky rigged or should I fish them weightless? Thank you!

Just go to Walmart or a chain store like BPS or DSG and get a Strike King 1/2oz jig in a natural brown/green color and another in black and blue. Pretty cheap and will make the selection easy for you. Get a pack of Strike King Rage Craw Lobsters in the corresponding colors to your jigs and put them on as trailers. 

 

I'd get a pack of worms around 10 inches long. Maybe a pack of Zoom Ol Monster worms with the lightest bullet weight you can get away with.

[Angry John]

Get a large wake bait or buzz bait.  Even the smaller strikes will be more exciting.  A slammer or a 316 or mattlures wake are all good choices.

[Glaucus]

130 size Whopper Plopper would put on a topwater show too. That may have never seen one by the sounds of it. 

[GatorDr]

7 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

130 size Whopper Plopper would put on a topwater show too. That may have never seen one by the sounds of it. 

 

14 minutes ago, Angry John said:

Get a large wake bait or buzz bait.  Even the smaller strikes will be more exciting.  A slammer or a 316 or mattlures wake are all good choices.

 

I forgot to mention this but alligators are a huge concern so I try to avoid topwater and even spinner baits sometimes brings a lot of attention. Today I had a 5' gator try to sneak up on me while I was reeling in my worm 

 

[Glaucus]

6 minutes ago, GatorDr said:

 

 

I forgot to mention this but alligators are a huge concern so I try to avoid topwater and even spinner baits sometimes brings a lot of attention. Today I had a 5' gator try to sneak up on me while I was reeling in my worm 

 

Eh seems to be a common problem. I watch gators try to get Roland Martin's lures on YouTube all the time.

[Hower08]

Fish a 12" worm. Not saying you won't still catch dinks but your bites will be slightly bigger on average. Going up to a 7" bait isn't going to make a difference  in small fish biting

[scaleface]

   I   say dont eat and use that money to buy more sticko's . 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Ok, timeout. Bigger baits do not mean bigger bass. Let's clear up that misconception

[Drew03cmc]

Do you have pics? I'm asking because I find the numbers of big fish you're claiming to be a little unreasonable from a campus pond that is undoubtedly no larger than 5 acres. 

 

With that said, I've caught my biggest on a chatterbait, 7" Triple Trout and several when younger on a 1/4oz Terminator T1 spinnerbait. 

[GatorDr]

49 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

Do you have pics? I'm asking because I find the numbers of big fish you're claiming to be a little unreasonable from a campus pond that is undoubtedly no larger than 5 acres. 

 

With that said, I've caught my biggest on a chatterbait, 7" Triple Trout and several when younger on a 1/4oz Terminator T1 spinnerbait. 

It’s a 120+ acre lake so a bit bigger than a usual pond. The school also does a lot of research on the fishes in the lake, a lot are tagged. I can’t upload pics on my phone for some reason though, it says the files are too big. Here's a link to photos https://imgur.com/a/S1GSlWQ

1 hour ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Ok, timeout. Bigger baits do not mean bigger bass. Let's clear up that misconception

Well thank you for clearing that up, I didn’t know that. It seems like it would make sense lol

[NittyGrittyBoy]

 

[Drew03cmc]

6 hours ago, GatorDr said:

It’s a 120+ acre lake so a bit bigger than a usual pond. The school also does a lot of research on the fishes in the lake, a lot are tagged. I can’t upload pics on my phone for some reason though, it says the files are too big. Here's a link to photos https://imgur.com/a/S1GSlWQ

Well thank you for clearing that up, I didn’t know that. It seems like it would make sense lol

Looks like a fun spot man! Place has some pigs. If finesse is working, keep at it.

[Glaucus]

5 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Ok, timeout. Bigger baits do not mean bigger bass. Let's clear up that misconception

Small bass will hit big lures and big bass will hit small lures, sure. We're talking about specifically targeting big bass; doing that, increase your lure size. You're looking for those couple of bites rather than numbers. Try telling big swimbait fishermen who fish all day looking for that one bite that big lures don't mean big bass. 

[Drew03cmc]

7 hours ago, scaleface said:

   I   say dont eat and use that money to buy more sticko's . 

Stik-os are on sale for $2.97 now.

[ratherbfishin1]

10 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

Stik-os are on sale for $2.97 now.

Or you can buy the 200-something piece kit from Bass Pro for like $25

[thinkingredneck]

There are some good articles on fishing for bigger bass on this site.

[Fishingmickey]

Do you wonder about how many sticko-s that you've lost have gotten eaten by other bass?

[GatorDr]

1 minute ago, Fishingmickey said:

Do you wonder about how many sticko-s that you've lost have gotten eaten by other bass?

Yesterday I saw that happened quite a few times. Worm flew off on a cast and a bass hit it as it sunk 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

3 hours ago, Glaucus said:

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by NittyGrittyBoy
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[J Francho]

I can assure you from experience, not too many sub 3 lb. bass will attack large profile, 9" swimbait.  That might not sound like "big" considering the OP's claims, but they do help you locate and catch the largest fish around.  It does actually select for bigger fish.  I find that jig fish are often bigger, but those of us that have success with a jig are usually structure driven anglers.  I've said this before, my PB NY state bass is 7-2 caught on a 10# Powerworm.  My second largest, a 7-1, came on a 3/32 oz. wacky jig and 3.5" worm.  Go figure.

[EGbassing]

Fish right now. In Alabama right now the big ones are all in shallow cover and they'll smack whatever you throw in them.

[WRB]

As long as you estimate the weight of the bass is as big as your imagination, accurate scale tends to shrink bass.

Tom