Do you get frustrated with catching dinks?

[Bluebasser86]

Depends on the degree of dinkiness. If I'm catching a bunch of 12-14 inchers, I'd rather catch quality fish but numbers are fun too. Now my last few just for fun trips I've been really working to get bites and they've been mostly 8-12 inch fish, it's been frustrating.

[Koz]

Frustrated? No. Do I find it enjoyable to catch dinks all day? Not really, although some days my son wants quantity over quality so we'll do that for a day.

 

But me, I like big bass, In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to break out in song:

 

I like big bass and I cannot lie
You other anglers can't deny
That when you get the bite and land an itty bitty dink
All you can do is sit back and think
I've spent all day sitting on my @$$
And all I want is a great big bass

Baby got bass

 

Lyrics by Sir Fish-a-Lot

[JustJames]

You mean this size? Nope no complaint here either especially when you catch them on UL set up.

[Black Hawk Basser]

10 hours ago, gimruis said:

Dinks do sometimes get old but it’s certainly a lot better than catching nothing. If I wanted to catch nothing (other than a cold or a buzz), I’d go ice fishing instead.

Jump in my ice shack.  I catch more numbers through ice than I do any other season .  And a 9" bluegill on a noodle rod is a way better fight than a 16" bass on a MH!

[Dens228]

A few years ago I wanted to catch bass, that was my criteria.  After awhile I wanted bigger bass, that was my criteria. As I got into tournaments I found myself getting upset when I'd catch 20 bass and they were all 12-14 inches and realized that before tournaments I would have been doing back flips. 

 

I still target big bass.  The other day I was catching bass like crazy on a T-rig but they were all around 14 inches. After a bunch I switched to jigs and only caught two bass in the next three hours but they were a 19.5 and a 21 which are nice catches here in northern Illinois. 

 

It's slowed down a lot here the last couple weeks so Monday I'm putting my kayak in a quarry where I know the bass won't be big but I'll catch a ton and have a blast. 

[roadwarrior]

8 hours ago, pondhopperNJ said:

This is 1000.000% truth, i'd rather catch 15 smaller bass within 4 hours than 2 bigger ones. Catching bass in numbers means you're doing something right. 

Not me...I would rather catch one quality bass than a hundred squeakers.

 

[frogflogger]

I agree with Larry Dahlberg in that at first I just wanted to catch a bass, then I wanted to catch a bunch, that morphed to big bass fishing - now I want to catch them my way - which is usually some new lure or technique I've cooked up.

[Todd2]

I only get frustrated if I don't catch anything, but yeah, who doesn't like catching big Bass. There's nothing like setting that hook hard and the fish doesn't move.

[scaleface]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Depends on the degree of dinkiness. If I'm catching a bunch of 12-14 inchers, I'd rather catch quality fish but numbers are fun too. Now my last few just for fun trips I've been really working to get bites and they've been mostly 8-12 inch fish, it's been frustrating.

Exactly . 12 to 15 inch fish ,  stay on them all day ,less than 12 inches  try for something bigger . If   I catch enough the chances are decent that one or more will be big  .  Id rather catch fifty bass with a six lber thrown in than just 1 six lb fish .

[senile1]

8 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Exactly . 12 to 15 inch fish ,  stay on them all day ,less than 12 inches  try for something bigger . If   I catch enough the chances are decent that one or more will be big  .  Id rather catch fifty bass with a six lber thrown in than just 1 six lb fish .

 

A 15 inch largemouth is running about 2 lbs, or a little higher if it is a fat one.  I enjoy those and they usually fight pretty hard.  I will enjoy 14 or 15 inchers for a couple of hours, more or less, but at some point I seek out larger fish.  ?  There is a big difference between a 12 inch bass and a 15 for me.

[ohboyitsrobby]

Just fun fishing I just wanna catch fish. Preferably in the manner I wanna catch them. Generally if I catch a bunch of fish at least a couple decent ones will be mixed in. Especially if my 5 year old is with me. Anything over a lb is big to him. 

[OCdockskipper]

I don't mind catching dinks because they typically are giving me information leading you to where the keepers are (at least on my lake).  Rarely do I find keeper bass & dinks occupying the same places.

 

For example, if I catch three or four 8 inch bass on a Ned rig thrown up tight to the cray walls, I know most likely that the keeper bass are somewhere else.  They may be deeper, they may be near docks, but that day (at that time), the keepers aren't there.  I have had days where the dinks will be in a location and hours later, the keepers move into the same location, but more often than not, they tend to stay segregated. 

 

So no, I don't get frustrated with catching dinks.  They keep me busy while giving me information.  Plus I always enjoy checking out each fish to make sure they are healthy.

[WRB]

I used the term juvenile bass to define a dink bass knowing it's nearly impossible today for anyone to agree on common bass fishing terms. Not long ago a dink met a bass under the legal size length to keep, a keeper was a bass long enough to keep legally or if tournament fishing a bass longer the minimum length for the event.

In California a "dink" bass would be under 12" long, the legal minimum length is 12" unless the lake has a slot length. 

The term big bass may not be possible to define to everyone's satisfaction, usually used to define a bass much larger then the average keeper.

If you enjoy catching dinks that is a choice and reading this thread surprises me the majority replies enjoy catching them.

Tom

[JustJames]

2 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

Rarely do I find keeper bass & dinks occupying the same places.

A little bit differ than you. Two days ago I thrown a dink into a group of dinks and got a 4lber. Lol

But seriously after that fish (bottom picture) I put down Gantarel Jr. and went back to UL for my dinks crappies.

 

 

@WRBI wouldn’t call it enjoy but a circumstance. I still remembered 10-15 years ago when I lived in OC where I only go to city park lake around.

What do you think I caught? Of course skunked most of the time and if I caught a tiny bass that would made me so happy. That kept me going until these day.

[reelfast]

Upsize for your baits and you will catch less of them. I throw 10 inch ribbon tail worms, 7 inch senkos, 2.5 crankbait and so on. 

 

You will still catch some small one’s, but less so when you are using smaller bait. At least that has been my experience.

[WRB]

48 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

A little bit differ than you. Two days ago I thrown a dink into a group of dinks and got a 4lber. Lol

But seriously after that fish (bottom picture) I put down Gantarel Jr. and went back to UL for my dinks crappies.

 

 

@WRBI wouldn’t call it enjoy but a circumstance. I still remembered 10-15 years ago when I lived in OC where I only go to city park lake around.

What do you think I caught? Of course skunked most of the time and if I caught a tiny bass that would made me so happy. That kept me going until these day.

I thought we had a new member from Canyon lake!

Tom

[cyclops2]

I now carry 3 made up rods.    !.5" rapala.    A double spinner.   And a 8" saltwater floater with a 4 oz weight.

 

First 2 are Dinky rods ( desperate )

 

I enjoy all perch & large bait fish .

 

The 8" lure means I am satisfied with a boat ride.

[flyfisher]

I'll pass on catching small ones all day over a few big ones.  If i start catching smaller ones I move and rethink my strategy because generally I haven't seen large and smaller fish hang out in the same locations. 

[Bankbeater]

It's nice to catch a 5+ pound bass every once in a while, but fishing once or twice a week I'm good with catching 1 to 2 pounders all day. 

[cyclops2]

What REALLY reduces the fish supply in 5 to 10 years ?   Those invasive CORMORRANTS FULLY PROTECTED by F & G of most states I fish in.

 

BLESS   CANADA  !!  They kill them.

 

The Cormorrants sneak into fish farms constantly. Why not ? 

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

If you enjoy catching dinks that is a choice and reading this thread surprises me the majority replies enjoy catching them.

If I could catch 15 lbers like you  I definitely would not be wasting my time catching smaller bass .Being a six lber is a big bass where I fish , I can catch bass less than 15 inches and still catch the larger bass frequently .

[Hillbilly Bennett]

For me, if I didn’t want to catch dinks then  I wouldn’t go fishing around here. On the lakes I fish in Eastern KY if you catch 5-6lbs in a Thursday night tournament you will win 95% of the time. 2-3 15 inch bass almost always Gets you the win. This year I think I have 7-8 bass 3 pounds and up out of the 3 lakes I fish most and that’s pretty good for here. What our bass lack in size, they make up for in sheer numbers of dinks. I can go to my home lake and pound the grass for 2-3 hours and come out with 20-30 10-13 inchers or I can fish the ledges and deep points in that same lake every day for a week and maybe catch 3 bass over 15 inches. It is what it is but that’s also why we take road trips to Chickamagua, Dale Hollow, Cherokee and Guntersville several times a year. It’s like a man dying of thirst finding an oasis when we get to get on a lake that has some quality fish in it. Fishing good lakes will spoil you rotten and if you are lucky enough to have a good lake to fish, enjoy it. 

[Armtx77]

An oldie but goodie: 

A day of catching dinks, is better than a day at work.

 

Like others, it is therapy for me. Sometimes Im so involved in fishing, that I dont appreciate, sometimes not even notice, the spectacle that Nature affords us.

 

If I caught 50 of them that were 14" long, I would be just fine with that. 

[geo g]

Have you ever watched MLF?  Do they ever get frustrated catching fish, whether 14 inches or 20 inches.  They get frustrated when their not catching.  When your catching your doing things right.  There are a lot more smaller fish then bigger ones.  The smaller are often quicker to the bait then bigger ones.  Keep catching and a bigger one will come along.  The tug on the line and placement of the bait is what makes me happy.  If I am casting and pitching well, I'm having fun.  I don't worry about how big they are, I'm having fun and that's the most important thing!

[Catt]

Depends on the body of water I'm on.

 

A friend of mine has a large pond stocked with "true F-1 Tiger Bass®" up to 8 lbs. So when I spend hours beating the water to a froth & only come up with tighteyes it's a little disheartening!