Catching those trophy Bass (10 or more)

[Daniel Bass]

Hey y’all I’m new to here. I love largemouth bass fishing, kind of ironic because my last name is Bass. But I would love this convo string to be directed to, I guess analyzing the big trophy bass, the conditions you catch them in and what you catch them on. I live in a small town about 45 minutes out of Dallas and my pb Bass is 6 lbs. pretty small as far as big bass goes. Well....Look forward to hearing thought and comments  

[jbsoonerfan]

To me, a big bass is relative to your location and the size of water you fish. Take guys up North who are fishing large lakes and a 5 lb Largemouth is a big bass. Take a guy fishing a small pond in Florida and a 5 lber is just another catch. I use 5 lbs because for me a 5 lber is a good solid fish any day of the week. It's kind of like deer hunting. Not many 180" bucks walking around in the Florida woods, but there are plenty of DD bass in the waters. While there aren't many DD bass swimming in Iowa, there are a number of 180" bucks in the woods.

 

And the word trophy has a totally different meaning for me and I'm sure others as well.

[BassNJake]

56 minutes ago, Daniel Bass said:

Hey y’all I’m new to here. I love largemouth bass fishing, kind of ironic because my last name is Bass. But I would love this convo string to be directed to, I guess analyzing the big trophy bass, the conditions you catch them in and what you catch them on. I live in a small town about 45 minutes out of Dallas and my pb Bass is 6 lbs. pretty small as far as big bass goes. Well....Look forward to hearing thought and comments  

When @WRB posts on this thread pay attention to what the man is saying.

He has spent a lot of time chasing double digit bass with very good success.

[fishballer06]

Are you looking for what lures/conditions/etc are going to work best for you in your area? 

 

I may not be too familiar with fishing in Texas, but there is one thing that always remains true in bass fishing. It doesn't matter the bait, it doesn't matter the conditions, it all comes down to location, location, location. If you can't locate the fish, then nothing else matters. 

[TnRiver46]

Ive only been to texas once and i took a jon boat with nothing but a trolling motor. Camped on lake fork and gibbons creek reservoir, caught a 6 lb and an 8 lb in just over a week. I didnt know jack going into the trip, just dragged a plastic worm all over the place. Locals said i had to use bigger worms and the two large bass ate small finesse worms . Best tip for catching monsters: go fishing more than anyone else and stay longer than anyone else. Your odds go up the longer your hook is in the water and the rest will fall into place

[skekoam]

Can someone please tell me what DD stands for?

 

When I watch youtube videos of guys catching large bass they are always using huge swim baits in a large lake.  This is coming from a novice though and just something I've noticed.

[Tennessee Boy]

8 minutes ago, skekoam said:

Can someone please tell me what DD stands for?

Double Digit - over ten pounds 

[WRB]

Welcome to BR.

Texas has a phenomial bass management program to establish big bass populations throughout the state called Share a Lunker.

Trophy bass fishing starts with understanding big bass behavior and dedicating yourself to achieve your goals. My suggestion is start by studing the Share a Lunker catch history to learn when, where and what lures were used to catch those qualifying big bass 13 lbs. or heavier.

My favorite books on this subject is Bill Murphy In Pursiut of Giant Bass and Josh Aline Lunker Lore. Murphy goes into behavior detail that applies to big bass everywhere, his techniques or presentations cover all types of lures and live bait. Alwine is a BR member and recounts his pursuit of catching a giant bass in Texas.

I believe those 2 books will give you a good foundation regarding target big bass.

The bottom line is you must fish for big bass to consistantly catch them. Anyone can catch 1 big bass with a lucky cast at the right time and location. The key is knowing why it's the right time and location and using high percentage lures that bass will strike under the conditions you are fishing.

Good luck,

Tom

[BoatSquirrel]

6 lbs is a respectable bass.  No shame in that fish.  

What are your strengths?  What do you catch good fish on?  Take those presentations and expand with larger versions to target bigger fish.  

Also, umbrella rigs.  

Good luck Mr. Bass!

[GReb]

I'm certainly no expert or pro fisherman but have been lucky enough to catch a few 7+ pounders.  They all came on structure next to deeper water.  A few came in less than ideal conditions with really heavy wind or on cold days. Slow days where I didn't catch anything else. Another interesting thing I've noticed is none of them were hard bites.  They were all really subtle that could have easily not been detected.  The biggest bass I've ever hooked into I actually lost while trying to lip it at the boat.  My best guess is it was around 10 but when she bit my brush hog I didn't feel a thing.  My line just moved about an inch, maybe less and I set the hook.  So not losing concentration on slow days is very important.

[riverbasser]

Reluctant to respond since I believe to give advice on catching a DD should come from someone who actually has.

 

You are definately in a state that it's possible. I would work on percentages. In my opinion you have a higher chance of catching a DD during pre spawn and spawn. One because fish are somewhat predictable and two because this is when females are the heaviest. A 9 pound fish during spawn could easily be a DD.

 

That's all I will add to what's already been said.

[Basseditor]

The advice to check out the TPWD ShareLunker information will help. Fish lakes known for big bass and at the best times for highest percentages. 

 

However

 

My experience is that my best DDs have come on days when fishing was tough. Sometimes it was the only fish I caught all day. Big bass habitat and habits are different. Here in Texas you have a shot at 6-9 pounders regularly but 10+ is the benchmark that doesn’t happen often. Most of my biggest bass have come on 3 lures: Strike King 6XD, Berkley 10” powerworm and 6” Senkos.

[Dwight Hottle]

I have caught three DD's. My PB a 11-8 & a 10-3 both on a lipless SK red eye shad in 3/4 oz. My third DD was a 11-2 caught on a large wild shiner. Your home state of Texas offers you plenty of opportunity to catch a DD. You just need time on the water to get there & fish in lakes that hold DD's. Prespawn is the best opportunity to break the DD barrier. 

[Harold Scoggins]

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Prespawn is the best opportunity to break the DD barrier. 

 

11 hours ago, riverbasser said:

you have a higher chance of catching a DD during pre spawn

Agree, my PB and with few exceptions, DDs were landed during the month of March.

23 hours ago, WRB said:

Trophy bass fishing starts with understanding big bass behavior and dedicating yourself to achieve your goals. 

Yes

[Raul]

On 11/20/2019 at 9:12 AM, Daniel Bass said:

Hey y’all I’m new to here. I love largemouth bass fishing, kind of ironic because my last name is Bass. But I would love this convo string to be directed to, I guess analyzing the big trophy bass, the conditions you catch them in and what you catch them on. I live in a small town about 45 minutes out of Dallas and my pb Bass is 6 lbs. pretty small as far as big bass goes. Well....Look forward to hearing thought and comments  

 

 

Not a cloud in the sky

Blazing sun

Scorching 110° 

1/2 - 3/4 Oz black jig, Brush Hog as trailer

[A-Jay]

On 11/20/2019 at 10:12 AM, Daniel Bass said:

Hey y’all I’m new to here. I love largemouth bass fishing, kind of ironic because my last name is Bass. But I would love this convo string to be directed to, I guess analyzing the big trophy bass, the conditions you catch them in and what you catch them on. I live in a small town about 45 minutes out of Dallas and my pb Bass is 6 lbs. pretty small as far as big bass goes. Well....Look forward to hearing thought and comments  

Hello Daniel and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

 This topic of Catching Trophy Bass is both interesting & Massive in nature.

This forum alone is loaded with many threads & posts covering multiple aspects of it.

While your inquires regarding conditions and possible presentations both play a fairly important role in ones success, where an angler fishes is IMO - The Whole Deal.

  A Trophy Hunter may want to first start on bodies of water that one has observed DD fish in or have undeniable first hand knowledge that several are produced from the waters each year.  In many of the previous threads covering this topic here, the terms "I know there in there" or "There's got to be a few DD bass in there" are often repeated.   

This is Not the type of thing I referring to.  If you're going to put the time & effort into hunting trophy fish, (and there's a ton) be certain what you're looking for exists where you're looking.  

 If & when it does, the rest is bass fishing. 

But the tricky part is - just by the shear numbers & percentages - there are so few DD fish as compared to the rest of the lake's population, in most waters, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack and certainly feel like that more often than not.   But if there are a few needles in there, and you put the time & effort into learning what they eat, where they eat it and when they eat, you can seriously increase your odds of making it happen. 

  Tiny bodies of water that are constantly pressured by thousands of anglers day in & day out, all year long, will no doubt have an effect on how big bass live their life - including how, when & where they feed. 

Big fish are hard enough to pattern & catch and that scenario usually makes it harder.  Not impossible but harder.  Bass in these places are feeding at some point, just have to be there when they do. 

 No doubt easier said than done. 

Finally, I have caught a few DD fish.

I do not have access to anything remotely that big locally, so I travel to do it.

These bass all came from the same lake in Mexico.  It has a very healthy population of bass & bait.

I always say that if you put an average angler on above average water, you'd be surprised at the results.

It's all about location. 

Good Luck to you Sir.

A-Jay

[Dens228]

I live in northern Illinois and consider anything over 5 lbs to be a trophy here.  At least for me.  I've been lucky enough to catch about 10-15 or so 5+ in the last two years.  I tended to catch them in bunches.  I ended this year with 3 in my last two outings, two on jerkbaits suspended along a steep drop off that goes from 4 feet straight down to 15 feet. The other was bouncing a 7/8 oz lipless along the bottom of another big drop off in 22 feet of water. I'd bet that all of the others were all caught on jigs at various depths depending on the conditions. 

The funny thing is my PB is 8-03, caught on a wacky rig in a 5 acre pond the first year I got back into bass fishing which was about four years ago.  I've only caught one other one over 6! LOL  But I'll keep chasing them. 

[WRB]

The OP lives in Texas where DD or double digit bass are not uncommon.

Texas is a big state with lots of big bass lakes availble so his goal is achievable where he the OP fishes. This isn't true for bass anglers who live where big bass populations are non existent or very rare. I have always used the state records bass as a bench mark for regions angler fish being a reasonable target goal. Can't catch DD's if they are not where you fish.

I was fortunate to live and fish lakes that have big bass populations and focused my fishing time trying to catch them and succeeded.I am sure the majority of bass anglers fishing the lakes I was fishing on were not targeting big bass, they'd were trying to catch bass and only a hand full of dedicated trophy bass anglers actually caught big bass.

The biggest bass in any lake is a rare fish and they didn't get big by making mistakes.

If you don't dedicate yourself to catching these rare bass the chances of catching them is very low.

Tom

[WRB]

The hot lure from what I have read this year at lake Baccarac was a 1 oz green Pumpkin jig with 7" Black and blue Senko trailer or some variation of that color combo. Who thought of that lure? 7" Senko trailer is way off the norm, someone was tinkering around to solve what these big bass would eat and that is what it takes sometimes, something different the bass haven't looked at several times already and learned to aviod.

Tom

[Bird]

I'm 59 yrs old and have put many lures in the water and managed only 1 DD bass........on a 4" Culprit worm in August of 1985 in VA.

 

The more time spent on the water, the more likely you'll catch big Texas bass.

 

If the water is clear, I'd start with finesse. 

[A-Jay]

On 11/23/2019 at 10:55 PM, WRB said:

The hot lure from what I have read this year at lake Baccarac was a 1 oz green Pumpkin jig with 7" Black and blue Senko trailer or some variation of that color combo. Who thought of that lure? 7" Senko trailer is way off the norm, someone was tinkering around to solve what these big bass would eat and that is what it takes sometimes, something different the bass haven't looked at several times already and learned to aviod.

Tom

Been a staple there for a LONG time - it's just been getting a bit more notoriety recently. 

Often fished right off the tip of fast dropping deep rock points that bottom out in 25 - 40 feet. 

You could fish that rig exclusively there and do very well.

This DD choked it -

 

A-Jay

 

[txchaser]

17 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Been a staple there for a LONG time - it's just been getting a bit more notoriety recently. 

Often fished right off the tip of fast dropping deep rock points that bottom out in 25 - 40 feet. 

You could fish that rig exclusively there and do very well.

This DD choked it -

 

A-Jay

 

Don't want to hijack the thread but I've seen that combo talked about in a couple of lakes with known very large size bass populations. Anyone have any idea why that particular lure combo (big jig with a big worm) is interesting to the big girls? 

[Catt]

On 11/20/2019 at 9:12 AM, Daniel Bass said:

the conditions you catch them in

 

Every combination imaginable

 

Every double digit I've caught was in less than ideal conditions.

 

On 11/20/2019 at 9:12 AM, Daniel Bass said:

and what you catch them on

 

Every lure ever invented is capable of catching a double digit.

 

Location is first, can't catch what ain't there.

 

Second learn not only the bass's behavior but that of it's food source.

 

[wisconsin heat]

On 11/23/2019 at 9:55 PM, WRB said:

The hot lure from what I have read this year at lake Baccarac was a 1 oz green Pumpkin jig with 7" Black and blue Senko trailer or some variation of that color combo. Who thought of that lure?

Sounds like Z-Man's next biggest thing: The Super-Enormous-Gigantic-Massive-Humongous-Hefty- Extra Very Large NED RIG.

[Hook2Jaw]

7 hours ago, txchaser said:

Don't want to hijack the thread but I've seen that combo talked about in a couple of lakes with known very large size bass populations. Anyone have any idea why that particular lure combo (big jig with a big worm) is interesting to the big girls? 

Thinking on it right this very moment, and take my opinion with a grain of salt, my theory would be those two lures working in tandem and triggering a fish on multiple levels.  Bass fisherman have believed for years that jigs get big bites.  I believe they do.  The bulk of a jig signifies big meal, and the skirt mimics life and those skirts mimic crawfish, baitfish, small gamefish very well.  You're already in the money by tossing a jig.

 

Analyzing the trailer choice, several things come to mind; the fish catching ability of the Yamamoto Senko due to the soft plastic and the salt content.  The baits quivers as it moves through water and that has been making strikes happen for years.  A Senko seems to be prime pickings for bass of all sizes.  The second thing that comes to mine is the Berkley tests showing that fish are more apt to bite a bait without appendages followed by the success of the Ned Rig.

 

Add the two together and you end up with...

 

Jig(Proven quality fish bait)+Senko(Proven provider of strikes and remover of skunk) = an action packed combination that gets big fish attention followed by the subtle, bite enticing action of the Senko.  Perhaps the Senko is quivering due to the movement of the skirt during the fall, but I can imagine that when that jig hits bottom the stick bait vibrates like none other.