Question about today’s largemouth

[Otter17]

I caught a 21” Largemouth today that weighed 4.76lbs.

 

This is in northern Illinois in a large pond. I just picked up bass fishing again 2 years ago. I hadn’t really fished for bass consistently since I was much younger. 
 

This is the biggest I’ve caught in these last two years. It seemed pretty nice to me, but is this size of a largemouth considered a decent size or no?

 

Thanks much!

 

[JustJames]

4.7lb to me is a nice bass any day any part of country.

[BrianMDTX]

4 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

4.7lb to me is a nice bass any day any part of country.

Agreed. Over 4 lbs is a nice bass!

[geo g]

4.7 is nice anywhere in the country.  Just watch MLF and see how thrilled they are to have a 4.7 anywhere they fish.

[dodgeguy]

That's a good sized bass !!! 

[Koz]

My take:

 

0.5 lb - 2.5 lb  meh, could have taken a nap instead

2.6 lb - 4.0 lb  I'll take it

4.1 lb - 5.5 lb  Now we're talkin'

5.6 lb - 7.0 lb  Oh baby!

7.1 lb - 9.9 lb - Grow dangit!

10.0 lb + I can die in peace. Make sure you put my PB on my tombstone.

[Otter17]

That’s cool to know guys, thanks very much for sharing that. I was really happy and excited about it, I just didn’t know what others think about a bass of that size. 
 

It just inspires me more and more to figure out how to target the bigger bass in each of these waters I fish to be more consistent.

2 minutes ago, Koz said:

My take:

 

0.5 lb - 2.5 lb  meh, could have taken a nap instead

2.6 lb - 4.0 lb  I'll take it

4.1 lb - 5.5 lb  Now we're talkin'

5.6 lb - 7.0 lb  Oh baby!

7.1 lb - 9.9 lb - Grow dangit!

10.0 lb + I can die in peace. Make sure you put my PB on my tombstone.

I love it! That’s funny dude!

[MN Fisher]

Considering that 4.7 is my current PB - heck ya, that's a nice bass.

[Bluebasser86]

18" is a keeper most lakes I fish and an 18" fish averages about 3lbs, so 18" or 3lbs is what I consider a nice fish.

[Hammer 4]

Any bass that puts a smile on your mug, is a Good bass..

[MIbassyaker]

Just because of rarity where I live and fish, I get really excited about any largemouth over 3lb, and any smallmouth over 2lb.

 

In the northern states, a 4.7lb largemouth could be 10+ years old -- you need a lot of lucky breaks to live that long if you're a fish in a pond.

[casterus60]

I'm in northern IL too. This is nice bass in here. My PB is 22" and 5.6. I caught it late fall few years back.  

Adam

[Bankbeater]

Around here a 4.76 is a hawg. 

[DitchPanda]

Anything approaching 5 lbs is a dang good fish in my book. At 21 inches had you caught that fish prespawn she would have 5.5lbs id guess. So next year catch her in April or May and she can be your new PB! That said yep that's a nice fish.

[The Bassman]

4.76 a good bass? Well, to quote Fred Sanford; "Is a bullfrog waterproof?"

[Team9nine]

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

18" is a keeper most lakes I fish and an 18" fish averages about 3lbs, so 18" or 3lbs is what I consider a nice fish.

Pretty much this ^^

 

Biologists use various metrics to determine bass population size structure in lakes. In most public waters here in Indiana, bass 18” and larger only comprise 0-3 percent of all bass in the lake. Our best waters only approach about 10%, so like @Bluebasser86 anything 18 inches or above qualifies as a nice bass in my book. Depending upon location, health and time of year, an 18” bass weighs between 3-3.25 pounds. If you look at the recent Bassmaster Opens, not a single angler averaged 3 lbs per bass on the AR River, and only 3 anglers did on Kissimmee. Even at the Elite level, 50 of the 86 anglers at Eufala also couldn’t catch a 3lb average across their 5 fish per day. Like legit 5lb bass, its a pretty good metric across most of the country.

[RoLo]

 

Whether I'm bass fishing in FL, GA, NJ, PA, NY or Ontario,

"3 LBS" is the first weight plateau, the benchmark that nullifies disappointment    

 

Roger

[LCG]

That's a fish to be proud of, congrats. 

[MGF]

I'm in norther Indiana and I only catch a hand full of 20+ inch bass in a season. I'm mostly catching small mouth in the Tippecanoe but the lake large mouth I catch locally aren't any bigger. So far this year I've caught only one bass over 20 and it was a little over 21. I don't carry a scale so I can't say for certain what it weighed. My PB is about 22 for large mouth and small mouth.

 

Over the course of a year I catch a bunch that are 18  ish. Yesterday I got 4 that were all about 16. It looked like I was catching the same fish over and over. That's not a really big fish but in the warming river they sure do fight.