Best place to catch a monster

[Manly Studson]

20 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

No Bass in the Okeefenokee. ?

My father caught his pb there—a 10.5 lb LMB. That was 20 years ago. Perhaps the fishery has declined.

[Craigholland]

I'd say wait til it's cooler and go south. But a 5 pounder can be broken in a lot of states. What state are you in? Tennessee, Florida, Texas or California. If Florida stain bass there you got a chance at a 10 or bigger. 

Sorry just saw your Ohio post. If you just want bigger than 5 Ohio's got a bunch. The aep lakes are within an hour of you and 7s and 8s are caught every year, and that's northern strain.

[soflabasser]

On 5/19/2019 at 3:42 PM, Johnpenguin said:

I have decided I am going to go on vacation this summer and I don’t know where to go quite yet. The goal is to catch a new pb largemouth bass. My pb is only five pounds(not even 4.71). I can go anywhere within the United States, so does anyone know of any great places?

Your home state has plenty of 5 pound or better bass so you do not have to leave the state to break your personal best bass. If your goal to catch a 10 pound or better bass in the USA then it is worth traveling to Florida, Georgia, Texas, or California. Lake Biwa in Japan is easily in the top 5 best places to catch the next 20 pound or better bass, along with Mexico, Cuba, South Africa, and other places.

[HenryPF]

 

 

Original link here: Lunker Lore

 

I have no idea where or how they got these numbers, its something I ran across awhile ago and though it was a good  know im never going to catch a 10lb+ bass without winning the lottery first.

[J.Vincent]

The odds are lower for a FL double digit bass after March; but they can be caught. This 15lb 13oz Giant was caught in April or May from Orange Lake south of Gainesville .

 

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/244315d

[Fishing_FF]

2 hours ago, J.Vincent said:

The odds are lower for a FL double digit bass after March; but they can be caught. This 15lb 13oz Giant was caught in April or May from Orange Lake south of Gainesville .

 

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/244315d

 

Brian caught that fish back on March 26th. He posted the photo on a local Central Florida Bass Fishing group while he waited for the FWC Trophy Catch program to certify his catch. Needless to say, Orange Lake has seen a lot of fishing pressure since. 

 

The FWC Trophy Catch program is actually a good resource to see where the big fish are. The state fish biologist actually use it as a tracking tool. In the last week, there were 15 bass over 8lbs caught and an additional 7 bass over 10lbs caught that were submitted to the program.

 

We are in summer, so any fishing is a grind once the sun is up, but a lunker (8lbs or better according to FWC standard) is still catchable here. 

[J.Vincent]

1 hour ago, Fishing_FF said:

 

Brian caught that fish back on March 26th. He posted the photo on a local Central Florida Bass Fishing group while he waited for the FWC Trophy Catch program to certify his catch. Needless to say, Orange Lake has seen a lot of fishing pressure since. 

 

The FWC Trophy Catch program is actually a good resource to see where the big fish are. The state fish biologist actually use it as a tracking tool. In the last week, there were 15 bass over 8lbs caught and an additional 7 bass over 10lbs caught that were submitted to the program.

 

We are in summer, so any fishing is a grind once the sun is up, but a lunker (8lbs or better according to FWC standard) is still catchable here. 

Thank you for making the correction ; and Hopefully the OP gets a chance for a nice Largemouth !

[Dogface]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:22 AM, Craigholland said:

Sorry just saw your Ohio post. If you just want bigger than 5 Ohio's got a bunch. The aep lakes are within an hour of you and 7s and 8s are caught every year, and that's northern strain.

I'd bet there are a lot of monster bass in those Ohio farm ponds. And they are fishable from the shore.

[WRB]

The OP isn't looking to catch a DD bass, he wants a new PB over 5 lbs.

Just glanced at the chart listing odds of catching DD bass by state and without reading the basis for the numbers it appears to be bass population % by state with DD bass, angler success rates would lower IMO, some state records are under 10 lbs. Fishing and hoping a DD bass ends up on the end of your line without targeting big bass the odds drop dramatically. If you dedicated yourself to catching a DD bass your odd improved dramatically, very few bass are dedicated to catching DD bass and a high % of lakes do not have DD bass populations.

Tom

PS, looked at Lunker Lore, Josh Alwine, pg 24 chart is different with 29 states as 0%. Alwine is a BR member,my ugly mug is on pg 55.

[TnRiver46]

20 hours ago, HenryPF said:

 

 

Original link here: Lunker Lore

 

I have no idea where or how they got these numbers, its something I ran across awhile ago and though it was a good  know im never going to catch a 10lb+ bass without winning the lottery first.

Better odds in Massachusetts than Tennessee? Hmmm

[soflabasser]

19 hours ago, Fishing_FF said:

 

Brian caught that fish back on March 26th. He posted the photo on a local Central Florida Bass Fishing group while he waited for the FWC Trophy Catch program to certify his catch. Needless to say, Orange Lake has seen a lot of fishing pressure since. 

 

The FWC Trophy Catch program is actually a good resource to see where the big fish are. The state fish biologist actually use it as a tracking tool. In the last week, there were 15 bass over 8lbs caught and an additional 7 bass over 10lbs caught that were submitted to the program.

 

We are in summer, so any fishing is a grind once the sun is up, but a lunker (8lbs or better according to FWC standard) is still catchable here. 

I have caught several 8 pound or better bass in the Summer but it is much easier to catch them during October-April. The bass in the TrophyCatch program is a small percentage of the trophy bass that are caught every year in Florida. Many people do not submit catches and there have been many reliable reports in the past of people catching +18 pounders that they never submitted to the state for official state recognition. With that said 5 pounders are a dime a dozen even in South Florida and anyone can catch a bass of that size so it should be relatively easy for someone to catch 5-6 pounders in Florida on vacation.

[WRB]

As I recall Doug Hannon was a day light bass angler in Florida and managed to catch DD size bass. If you could catch a big female bass during summer the fish would be max weight and still growing with all the prey availble. Abundant food source and areas to live makes it more difficult to locate big bass outside of the spawn cycle.

Tom

[Fishing_FF]

Quite true, the best time for the OP to catch a big bass would be during spawn. However, considering he is looking for a summer location to break his PB that is kind of a limiter. Luckily, a 5lbs bass would break his PB, but I like the idea another member mentioned, set the PB bar high. 10lbs high, maybe not but 8lbs from someplace like California, Florida, or Texas should be achievable. I’m not super familiar with the big bass lakes in California or Texas, but Florida has small impoundments like the Stick Marsh (roughly 10 square miles) that would be a better choice than a big lake like Kissimmee (54 square miles) or Okeechobee (over 700 square miles) to help better the odds for finding a bass that would break his PB by a few pounds. 

[SC53]

Florida in summer is not the place you want to go to get a 10+.

Shiners will not survive our summer water temps for long. I fished the Marsh a week and half ago and the water was down another 8-9”. Lots of stumps starting to show ( and more laying just below the surface) so those not familiar with the lake beware. 

Summer in Florida typically means flipping heavy cover and that can be a grind. If I were you, I’d wait until early spring to come down here.

My bet would be California or maybe Texas.

[22RangerZ520R]

On 5/20/2019 at 9:07 AM, BassNJake said:

If you look north they catch catch some huge smallies in your backyard.

 

I've been to Chickamuaga about 15 times and my personal best is from an electric motor only lake in Ohio

No fish in Chick, go to Florida...  

 

My PB largemouth and one of my PB smallie's (I've caught 3 that were 6lb 4oz) came from Chick.  Good luck!

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Better odds in Massachusetts than Tennessee? Hmmm

Yeah, someone's got their numbers jacked up....  

[greentrout]

State Largemouth Bass Record Chart

State	Weight	Location	Angler	Year
Alaska	o.5 Lbs	Sand Lake	N/A	2018
Alabama	16 lbs, 8 oz	Mountain View Lake	Thomas Burgin	1987
Arizona	16 lbs, 7 oz	Canyon Lake	Randall White	1997
Arkansas	16 lbs, 5 oz	Lake Dunn	Paul Crowder	2012
California	21 lbs, 12 oz	Lake Castaic	Micheal Arujo	1991
Colorado	11 lbs, 6 oz	Echo Canyon Reservoir	Jarrett Edwards	1997
Connecticut	12 lbs, 14 oz	Mashapaug Pond	Frank Domurat	1961
Delaware	11 lbs, 10 oz	Wagamons Pond	AJ Klein	2016
Florida	17 lbs, 4 oz	Unnamed Lake	Billy O’Berry	1986
Georgia	22 lbs, 4 oz	Montgomery Lake	George Perry	1932
Hawaii	9 lbs, 9.4 oz	Waita Reservoir	Dickie Broyles	1992
Idaho	10 lbs, 15 oz	Anderson Lake	Mrs. M.W. Taylor	N/A
Illinois	13 lbs, 1 oz	Stone Quarry	Edward Walbel	1976
Indiana	14 lbs, 12 oz	Unnamed Lake	Jenifer Schultz	1991
Iowa	10 lbs, 14 oz	Lake Fisher	Patricia Zaerr	1984
Kansas	11 lbs, 12.8 oz	Private Pit Lake	Tyson Hallam	2008
Kentucky	13 lbs, 10.4 oz	Wood Creek Lake	Dale Wilson	1984
Louisiana	15.97 lbs	Caney Lake	Greg Wiggins	1994
Maine	11 lbs, 10 oz	Moose Pond	Rodney Cockrell	1968
Maryland	11 lbs, 2 oz	Private Pond	Rodney Cockrell	1983
Massachusetts	15 lbs, 8 oz	Sampson Pond	Walter Bolonis	1975
Michigan	11 lbs, 15.04 oz	Big Pine Island Lake	William Maloney	1934
Minnesota	8 lbs, 12.75 oz	Tetonka Lake	Joseph Johanns	1959
Mississippi	18 lbs, 2.4 oz	Natchez State Park Lake	Anthony Denny	1992
Missouri	13 lbs, 14 oz	Bull Shoals Lake	Marvin Bushong	1961
Montana	8 lbs, 12.8 oz	Noxon Rapids Reservoir	Darin Williams	2009
Nebraska	10 lbs, 11 oz	Sandpit Near Columbus	Paul Abegglen Sr.	1965
Nevada	12 lbs even	Lake Mead	Micheal R. Geary	1999
New Hampshire	10 lbs, 8 oz	Lake Potanipo	G. Bullpit	1967
New Jersey	10 lbs, 14 oz	Menantico Sand Wash Pond	Robert Eisele	1980
New Mexico	15 lbs, 13 oz	Bill Evans Lake	Steve Estrada	1995
New York	11 lbs, 4 oz	Buckhorn Lake	John L. Higbie	1987
North Carolina	15 lbs, 14 oz	Private Pond	William H. Wofford	1991
North Dakota	8 lbs, 7.5 oz	Nelson Lake	Leon Rixen	1983
Ohio	13 lbs, 2 oz	Private Pond	Roy Landsberger	1976
Oklahoma	14 lbs, 12.3 oz	Cedar Lake	Benny Williams Jr.	2012
Oregon	11 lbs, 9.6 oz	Private Pond	Randy Spaur	1994
Pennsylvania	11 lbs, 3 oz	Birch Run Reservoir	Donal Shade	1983
Rhode Island	10 lbs, 6 oz	Johnson’s Pond	Brandon Migliore	2016
South Carolina	16 lbs, 2 oz	Lake Marion	P.H. Flanagan	1949
South Dakota	9 lbs, 3 oz	Hudson Gravel Pit	Richard Vierick	1999
Tennessee	15 lbs, 2 oz	Chickamauga Lake	Gabe Keen	2015
Texas	18 lbs, 2.8 oz	Lake Fork	Barry St.Clair	1992
Utah	10 lbs, 2 oz	Powell Lake	Sam Lamanna	1974
Vermont	10 lbs, 4 oz	Lake Dunmore	Tony Gale	1988
Virginia	16 lbs, 4 oz	Connor Lake	Richard Tate	1985
Washington	12 lbs, 8 oz	Lake Bosworth	Bill Evans	2016
West Virginia	9 lbs, 9.9 oz	Dog Run Lake	Eli Gain	2001
Wisconsin	11 lbs, 3 oz	Ripley Lake	N/A	1940
Wyoming	7 lbs, 14 oz	Private Pond	Dustin Shorma	1992

 

 

 

[Alec McMillan]

On 5/19/2019 at 6:32 PM, HeyCoach said:

What was the lake in North Carolina, I think, that the MLF was at a few weeks ago and everybody was pulling out 6 pounders and up?

Shearon Harris. 

 

My advice would be to go to south Georgia (I'm a little biased) or Florida. Lake Toho or Kissimmee. Good luck 

[22RangerZ520R]

KY was just recently broken with a 14lb 9oz beast from a 6 acre pond!

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Georgia for the win... Where you at Cali? 

[Johnpenguin]

4 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Georgia for the win... Where you at Cali? 

Ohio.

By the way everyone, I decided on going to Florida. I am spending one day in Islamorada to fish for tarpon. Then, I am headed north to fish lake ida for peacock and CKF. After that I am spending the rest of the trip fishing the big O with a guide.

By the way everyone, I decided on going to Florida. I am spending one day in Islamorada to fish for tarpon. Then, I am headed north to fish lake ida for peacock and CKF. After that I am spending the rest of the trip fishing the big O with a guide.

[greentrout]

 

[WRB]

12 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Georgia for the win... Where you at Cali? 

It's catch authentication and state fishing regulations in lieu of grandfathered 87 year old myth.

Tom

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

13 hours ago, Johnpenguin said:

Ohio.

By the way everyone, I decided on going to Florida. I am spending one day in Islamorada to fish for tarpon. Then, I am headed north to fish lake ida for peacock and CKF. After that I am spending the rest of the trip fishing the big O with a guide.

By the way everyone, I decided on going to Florida. I am spending one day in Islamorada to fish for tarpon. Then, I am headed north to fish lake ida for peacock and CKF. After that I am spending the rest of the trip fishing the big O with a guide.

Islamorada is awesome, you will love it. Be sure to swing by Robbie’s marina and watch the tarpon get fed. They are like 6 feet long 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

It's catch authentication and state fishing regulations in lieu of grandfathered 87 year old myth.

Tom

I know how much you don't like the myth. But my youthfulness, begs me to yank your chain a little ?

[Hower08]

On 5/24/2019 at 9:43 AM, Dogface said:

I'd bet there are a lot of monster bass in those Ohio farm ponds. And they are fishable from the shore.

There are. My pb bass which is from.my homestate of Ohio was 8.4# came from a small pond maybe 1 acre total in size just deep. Also caught multiple 7s from same pond. Just have to find where the big ones are. You can't catch what's not there. Hell at portage lakes in two tournaments their was bass over 7# weighed in and multiple 5 and 6# fish. I live 15 min from the lake and don't mind it at all