Tips for getting a new PB this year

[scaleface]

40 minutes ago, WRB said:

Looking at the op's avatar he is wearing tournament jersey so I assume he is a tournament bass angler.

Nah,  thats Chris Zaldain .

[WRB]

51 minutes ago, skekoam said:

I could be totally wrong, but most big fish (DD) are caught on larger type swim baits resembling trout.  Is this totally off base?

If the lake doesn't have a population of hatcury raised and stocking of rainbow trout the big bass population focuses on what prey source is currently available.

Lake Casitas and the main Castaic upper lake for example went over 5 years without trout plants and the Swimbait fishing success stopped during that time period and hasn't recovered. Threadfin Shad, young of the year Red Ear, bluegill, crappie, bass, carp and crayfish continue be the primary food sources bass are targeting at Casitas and Castaic. Trout imitating swimbait fishing remains at a low success rate.

Tom

[A-Jay]

14 hours ago, skekoam said:

I could be totally wrong, but most big fish (DD) are caught on larger type swim baits resembling trout.  Is this totally off base?

I can't say for sure.

While I have caught DD bass on swimbaits - none resembled trout.

 I've also taken DD fish on jigs, spinnerbaits, 10 inch worms, Big Flukes, Lippless and Crankbaits and a Scrounger. 

So there's that.

A-Jay

 

 

 

[WRB]

44 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Nah,  thats Chris Zaldain .

I see said the blind man

[newyorktoiowa57]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Looking at the op's avatar he is wearing tournament jersey so I assume he is a tournament bass angler. Tournament bass fishing tactics are very different from trophy bass fishing. 

Looking back at the tournament anglers I have known only a few that were good at consistantly catching big bass and those few targeted big bass on their own time not during a derby. The reason is obviuos tournament bass are 3 lb fish on average that make up a far larger population density then 6 lb bass increasing your odd of catching a limit of 3 lber's to earn a check. Trophy bass anglers know the odds are reduced when moving around trying to locate active feeders verses waiting at a location known to hold big bass for the right time to catch them. Time is against the tournament anglers and trophy bass anglers are not restricted by time. Different mind set and tactics.

Tom

The picture is Chris Zaldain, he is my favorite angler.  I've never fished a tournament. 

[WRB]

10 minutes ago, newyorktoiowa57 said:

The picture is Chris Zaldain, he is my favorite angler.  I've never fished a tournament. 

Then you are not time restricted.

Try reading In Pursuit of Giant Bass by the late Bill Murphy, apply what works for.

Tom

[Bird]

The big fish hit big baits theory is true more often than not but my only DD bass came on a 4" culprit worm. 

 

Still much prefer targeting bigger fish with much less action vs boating dinks all day but let to many hours pass without cooperation from the big mouths......I become a dinkster.

[Harold Scoggins]

Don't ask the Friday Night Guy!

[TBAG]

I myself am going to focus more on jigs and bigger worms this year and hope I can get a new PB. 

 

Good luck OP! 

[FryDog62]

In my part of the world a true 6+ lb largemouth is quite rare.  I’ve caught 8 in the past 3 years between 5-12 and 5-15.  Can’t crack the 6 lb ceiling ...yet.  Most of the bigger fish have been caught with jigs, but like many of the people above, I get the feeling a big worm might be the other better option to add to the mix.  

[GreenPig]

Slow down & then slow down more. Get intimate with a body of water that has a big fish in #'s. Fish high percentage places, not where you caught 10, 12, or 15 two lbers. 

[newyorktoiowa57]

12 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

In my part of the world a true 6+ lb largemouth is quite rare.  I’ve caught 8 in the past 3 years between 5-12 and 5-15.  Can’t crack the 6 lb ceiling ...yet.  Most of the bigger fish have been caught with jigs, but like many of the people above, I get the feeling a big worm might be the other better option to add to the mix.  

I got 4-0, 4-8, and 4-14 last year. Feel the same way with the 5lb mark, but I feel that those fish are there. 

[clemsondds]

9 hours ago, WRB said:

Any angler can make a lucky cast and get bit by a big bass it happens all the time. Most of these strikes end up in a fish story where the bass gets away a few are landed.

When I say you must fish for big bass it means dedicating your fishing efforts toward that goal, not going fishing and hope you make a lucky cast.

Study the bass and determine what the big bass are eating where you fish. Learn where and when they tend to feed. Instead of doing what you normally tend to do trying to catch keeper size bass using lures you prefer change and target big bass.

The old saying that 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the bass holds true in spades for big bass.

Tom

What's the best way to do this?  

[MIbassyaker]

I fish about 20 or so different small bodies of water in my area each year. I don't fish the best big-fish places in my area by reputation (they tend to be more crowded than I will tolerate), and I don't fish all that many hours per year total. So I don't have any expertise as a "big fish hunter" for my area, but I can share something that may be useful:

 

I keep track of everything I catch, in every place I fish, and have been doing this for 7 years. What I've found is that is there are 7 or 8 bodies of water that consistently outperform the others in terms of average size bass. All but one of these have something in common: healthy northern pike populations...not too numerous, not too rare, and keeper-sized. I know about the pike because I've caught them. The only one that doesn't have pike has gizzard shad, which is very rare up here.  I found out about the shad from a lake survey I dug up online, and subsequently have seen little baitballs of shad swimming around, and dead adult-size shad on the shore. That shad lake -- a small natural lake of just 100 acres -- is clearly the best of the bunch, and I expect my next PB will more than likely come from there (as did my next-to-last PB).

[WRB]

2 hours ago, clemsondds said:

What's the best way to do this?  

Start by studing the type of bass you have where you fish. Contact your local fishery management and ask them what the bass have for a prey source and if they know what size bass the lake has from elecrto shocking studies. 

Studing a topo map look for areas that big bass prefer to locate based on the prey types availble, bass are never far from thier food source.

Next study books about catching big bass like In Pursuit of agianst Bass by Bill Murphy.

Take time to to learn about your lakes bass population. Where successful tournament anglers catch the bass and any records on big bass caught.

Anyone who believes catching big bass is all about using big lures simply doesn't know much about bass behavior. Big lures work best when the lure appeals to a active bass that has developed a preference for larger size bait fish. Knowing when and where to fish for big bass is far more important then the lures selected.

Tom

[Fishing Rhino]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

I see said the blind man

That must have been the blind carpenter who picked up his hammer and saw.

[Catt]

On 3/3/2020 at 7:25 PM, newyorktoiowa57 said:

stick to the baits I have most confidence in (spinnerbait, frog, etc.) and throw them hard,

 

Lots of talk about trophy bass, big bass, DD, truly big bass but seriously we talking breaking 5 lbs.

 

Add to the above

 

#1: understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively.

 

#2: understand what the predominate prey species in your lake and how that species relates to structure with each season...morning, noon, and night.

 

#3: understand that next after location is timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure.

 

#4: spend as much time on the water as possible!

[MGF]

If I were to go after a PB I'd do some research to find the best place and plan a trip.

 

I live in NW Indiana and mostly fish close to home. I get some nice bass but rarely break 5 pounds. At the same time, I know folks who catch far larger bass in private farm ponds that most of us will never have access too. Location, location, location.

 

[the reel ess]

Plan a trip to Okeechobee with a guide who uses live shiners.

 

Fish the spawn and don't have a conscience about sticking a big bass off the bed. That's the best time of year for most big bass make their presence known.

 

Be fishing NOW. Big gals are feeding up for spawn unless your water is hard. This is a case of fishing for maybe 1 or 2 good bites all day. Maybe no bites, but it's better than sitting in the house or going shopping with the wife. Amirite?

 

Most of us don't really fish for PB's. We fish for a combination of numbers and the occasional larger fish. We fish the techniques we enjoy rather than the ones that actually produce more large fish. Playing the odds is fishing for numbers because we don't like getting skunked. Really fishing for only large bass means there will be days, even at a stretch, where you don't catch fish.

 

Watch everything on YouTube and read as much as you can related to the subject.

 

[MOC]

21 hours ago, WRB said:

If the lake doesn't have a population of hatcury raised and stocking of rainbow trout the big bass population focuses on what prey source is currently available.

Lake Casitas and the main Castaic upper lake for example went over 5 years without trout plants and the Swimbait fishing success stopped during that time period and hasn't recovered. Threadfin Shad, young of the year Red Ear, bluegill, crappie, bass, carp and crayfish continue be the primary food sources bass are targeting at Casitas and Castaic. Trout imitating swimbait fishing remains at a low success rate.

Tom

Tom, when was that 5 year period?

[CHIP-MAINE]

got pb smallie-6ish and close to pb larges-8ish last year by thinking outside the box.got the smallie in deep water just about dark on a topwater in an area heavily fished. got the larges carrying my kayak into a new spot which i had fished but not had much luck there before. could tell never fished from the water much because no place to launch a boat on the stream in that area.

[WRB]

On March 5, 2020 at 11:55 AM, MOC said:

Tom, when was that 5 year period?

Member from Simi!

Actually trout plants stopped around 2012 from the Filmore* hatchery that supplied rainbow trout for Castiac, Casitas, Pyramid, Piru and Cuchuma lakes and continues to this day. There has been a few random stockings this year and end last year. Casitas purchased a few stocks of larger size Tail Walkers from private hatchery occasionally but not in the past few years.

Fishing has been very good at Casitas this year for bass between 4 lbs to 7 lbs, no DD's I am aware yet this year, it should happen during this spawn cycle.

Tom

* reopened now

 

[Bird]

Just about every lake I fish, I can Google the shock study and usually see bigger fish then I'm catching.....grrrr.

[Cdn Angler]

I think where you are at geographically makes a difference. Where I am LMB basically top out at 5 lbs and there is far less difference between a 5 lb bass relative to his peers than a 10 lbs bass and his, even in areas with bigger fish.  

 

So I think the strategy is going to be a bit different than in somewhere like California. 

 

I'm not an expert, but here in Canada most of my larger bass (4+) were a result of: 1) places with bigger LMB - not stunted 2) larger than normal lures (not huge swimbaits, but bigger sized cranks, spinnerbaits, topwaters etc) 3) something a bit different 4) fishing a lot. 

 

Of all those I think the most important is to fish places with bigger fish. Can't catch em if they aren't there. 

 

I've noticed here, for example, that areas which are LMB habitat and have higher volume predators of juvenille bass (pike mainly) seem to also producer bigger bass. Areas with fewer the LMB are all 2-3 lbs, so I avoid those bodies of water. 

 

  

Edited March 6, 2020 by Cdn Angler

[soflabasser]

1. Fish where there are bass bigger than your current PB bass.

2. Study the body of water you plan on fishing in.

3. Use techniques known for big bass.

4. Be patient and learn from each fishing trip.