Targeting Giant Bass

[WRB]

The cold water period will be ending sooner then you think with pre spawn big female bass moving up.

Instead hoping to catch bass of your lifetime fish for it.

I believe most bass anglers want to catch a personal best giant bass but bon’t know how to do it.

Covering water like a tournament bass anglers isn’t a high percentage tactic to catch big bass. The opposite works better, camping out on high percentage spots where the big bass are located is the key to success.

The concept of being very quite and keeping a low profile is beyond today’s bass anglers where speed, electronics and state of the art tackle is thought to be the answer to success.

Giant bass are caught by anglers who use live bait in anchored boats because it works. Copy those anglers tactics using lures that replicate the live bait the bass art hunting.

1. Making long casts with slow moving big swimbaits, glides and wake baits that resemble the baitfish or terrestrial critters where you fish.

2. Making long casts with jigs that move naturally resembling a crawdad.

3. Making long casts using big soft plastic worms 9” to 13” long that resemble a night crawler.

You don’t need any more lures then the above.

The theme is simple “making long cast”. A Long Cast is defined as far as you can keep in contact with the lure. Further then you can feel the lure by struck by a bass is too far.

Be patient, think terms of hours not minutes. Be quite so the bass can return without knowing or being alerted by your presence. 

Fan cast the area and stay alert, this isn’t easy but it is rewarding.

Good fishing!

Tom

 

[jimmyjoe]

20 hours ago, WRB said:

Be quiet so the bass can return without knowing or being alerted by your presence. 

 

   This is DEFINITELY not in many bass fishermen's playbook!

 

  

20 hours ago, WRB said:

Further then you can feel the lure struck by a bass is too far.

 

   Amen!  Many bass will hit a lure the instant it hits the water ...... and soooooo many fishermen don't feel it. As a shorecaster trying for maximum distance, I'm probably guilty of this more often than many others.

   Thank you.        jj

[TnRiver46]

I fish this way a lot, especially in my small boat because the current carries it away very quickly. Our rivers don’t always lend themselves to a long cast, several you can cast all the way across. But it does crack me up seeing all the bass boats. Spot lock on every trolling motor and dual power poles on every boat. Rarely, if ever, do you see one of these boats sitting still, even though they’ve devoted $10k to sitting still 

[Bluebasser86]

Most of my big bass are caught during the cold water period ?‍♂️

 

Plenty of good 4-5 pound fish during prespawn, but those 6+ pound fish are almost always winter time fish for me.

[NoShoes]

I’m too dang impatient to stay in one place without a bite that long, even though I do throw the high percentage baits for bigger bass. When you pull up to a spot, how long do you fish it before moving along?  I when you say a spot, are you talking staying anchored up or drifting along one point or structure?

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Most of my big bass are caught during the cold water period ?‍♂️

 

Plenty of good 4-5 pound fish during prespawn, but those 6+ pound fish are almost always winter time fish for me.

Me too, although when it comes to LM I’ve gotten 3 bass about 8 lbs. One was December 27, one was in summer, and was in spring 

[Bankbeater]

Good point on keeping a low profile.  A lot of times it isn't the boat that spooks the fish, it's me moving around on the boat that runs them off.

[A-Jay]

Been fishing this way since I joined this site.

Especially during prime big fish windows.

Started with two anchors in the canoe and progress into two talons in the Pro-V Bass.

A-Jay

[gim]

Going in there like a ninja does seem to help.  I used to roar in there with the outboard but I don't do that anymore, especially approaching shallow, clear water during the daytime.  I back off now a ways out, allow my momentum to creep me closer, and then use the bow mount.  Mille Lacs is known for incredibly big smallmouth bass here but the pressure is out of control and the water is clear.  Long casts are a must now.  I don't fish in the "winter" because our lakes and rivers are locked up in ice but right when the season opens in the spring the fish are often still pre-spawn and at their heaviest.

[12poundbass]

Good advice Tom that I need to employ. Thank you! 

[roadwarrior]

 

 

 

 

                                             

 

<-----------January

[Mr. Aquarium]

Never did well fishing colder months for big

bass! 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Never did well fishing colder months for big

bass! 

It works a lot better south of Cincinnati ! (To borrow a line from dwight yoakum)

[WRB]

Cold water pre spawn at the depth the bass are located in, 50 degrees for NLMB or Smallmouth and 55 degrees for FLMB. Surface water tends to be colder during the cold water periods.

Giant bass is a bass a few lbs of your state record or 8 lbs for NLMB and Smallmouth, 12 lbs for FLMB for a baseline.

Everyone have a enjoyable New Years and catch that PB!

Tom

 

 

 

 

[Dirtyeggroll]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement Tom! Coming from one of, if not the greatest.

[Catt]

One reason I hunt big bass during the Dog Days of Summer & in the Dead of Winter is there's no one else on the lake.

[Mobasser]

Things that I always see in the better post on big bass are: patience, persistence, and the ability to sit it out on the prime locations, long cast, and a quiet approach. Great advise WRB. In today's run and gun world of fishing, these things go against the way many guys fish. It makes a lot of sense. Most of the guys who catch huge bass consistently have these traits. It's what sets them apart from other fisherman.

[Team9nine]

13 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Things that I always see in the better post on big bass are: patience, persistence, and the ability to sit it out on the prime locations, long cast, and a quiet approach. Great advise WRB. In today's run and gun world of fishing, these things go against the way many guys fish. It makes a lot of sense. Most of the guys who catch huge bass consistently have these traits. It's what sets them apart from other fisherman.

 

The newest trait, which is actually a tool, will be Livescope, or forward facing sonar. Some impressive catches of big bass are being made now by the early adopters. Just a matter of time before word is out and everyone is chasing these "ghosts." It goes against most of the standard advice and approach, but it's not the same big fish population that they are chasing, or you could argue it's one that has been identified, but only rudimentarily fished for.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Thanks for the advice and encouragement Tom! Coming from one of, if not the greatest.

Ditto!

 

in a few days I hope to catch my first “January” bass. I already notched the bedpost for November and December. 
 

As far as PB, I know the big one I caught in May was without a doubt my all-time PB by far, but without a scale I cannot be truly sure what it weighed (by measurement it should be between 6-7 lbs, but that’s not good enough to be certain). So my goal is to catch and weigh a bass in 2021 over 6 lbs. 

[roadwarrior]

9 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

So my goal is to catch and weigh a bass in 2021 over 6 lbs. 

That is very doable in Texas. As a matter of fact, I know you have the lure that

can get'r done!

 

[BrianMDTX]

8 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

That is very doable in Texas. As a matter of fact, I know you have the lure that

can get'r done!

 

Come to think of it, I may have more than one! ?

[roadwarrior]

Well, I meant one particular new lure.

 

 

[BrianMDTX]

19 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, I meant one particular new lure.

 

 

I know. But I got more than one new one lol. But yeah, the topwater would be awesome!

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

One reason I hunt big bass during the Dog Days of Summer & in the Dead of Winter is there's no one else on the lake.

In sportsman’s paradise Louisiana? I call bull.........

 

I have been fishing on Christmas and had a guy with a Santa hat ski by 

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

 

The newest trait, which is actually a tool, will be Livescope, or forward facing sonar. Some impressive catches of big bass are being made now by the early adopters. Just a matter of time before word is out and everyone is chasing these "ghosts." It goes against most of the standard advice and approach, but it's not the same big fish population that they are chasing, or you could argue it's one that has been identified, but only rudimentarily fished for.

I’ve also heard a few people That had livescope from jump street say that fish are already getting used to it and not biting like they were when it first came out. For every gadget humans come up with, wild critters adapt and stay one step ahead 

[Team9nine]

15 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve also heard a few people That had livescope from jump street say that fish are already getting used to it and not biting like they were when it first came out. For every gadget humans come up with, wild critters adapt and stay one step ahead 

 

Agreed, but it's still new enough (in the bass world) that a lot of big fish in a lot of lakes haven't been exposed to it heavily yet, especially when compared to traditional big bass techniques and locations. There was just a 5 fish 50 lb. bag caught this week using it. There will be a lot more big catches over the next couple years until a certain saturation point occurs. A lot of the initial users are likely just using it to catch bass in general, not specifically targeting the biggest fish in the system.