Somebody School Me - Catching Big Bass

[scaleface]

18 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Absolutely!  Ever "set the hook" on a texposed bait, fight the fish, fish gets away and the hook is STILL texposed in the bait when you reel it in?

   Big bass are chomp-meisters!              jj

Yes . I lost a HAWG at LOZ two years ago .  Had it at the boat and was in the process of lipping her then the hook just came out . I did everything perfect . Felt the tap , dropped the rod , reeled in the slack , then socked it to her . Upon inspection the hook didnt even exit the worm .

[Catt]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

Upon inspection the hook didnt even exit the worm .

 

@jimmyjoe

 

Mine was on a freaking 1/2 oz Rat-L-Trap, that's 6 hook point & not a single one stuck anything!

 

One had to be at least 8#, had plenty rod, braided line, felt her pull & leaned back on her. Got her close enough to watch her open her mouth & had to dodge the Trap flying at my head.

[jimmyjoe]

Yup. I don't like using small hooks. This is a #5/0. They get stuck, and they don't get off.   jj

 

 

p.s. - and that's why I like the Mepps Musky Killer for bass rather than the plain #5 Aglias. The Musky Killer has a 3/0 treble. A Musky killer in unobstructed waters, in silver with a black/white dressing is awesome.

[Bass Rutten]

8 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

that's why I like the Mepps Musky Killer for bass rather than the plain #5 Aglias

Interesting, I grew up fishing trout with inline spinners exclusively and find I'm still drawn to them. Curious as to how/when/where you use them for bass, largies/smallies?

[jimmyjoe]

17 minutes ago, Bassjam2000 said:

Interesting, I grew up fishing trout with inline spinners exclusively and find I'm still drawn to them. Curious as to how/when/where you use them for bass, largies/smallies?

 

   I fish Musky Killers in the rivers (Mississippi and its tributaries) for LMB. I keep them mid-depth. I don't use them in lakes with weeds.

   I use smaller Mepps and Panther Martin spinners in quarries.  

   When? Whenever they hit on them. Ice-out to ice-up.

   How? Slo-o-o-o-wly. The only exception might be the Aglia Long. ? ?          jj

[txchaser]

On 7/7/2021 at 8:30 PM, gunsinger said:

. That’s when I saw her.  I just said, “Oh my God!”  
That where I made my mistake. When I saw how big she was, I dropped my rod tip slightly

A couple weeks ago I lost a fish doing pretty much the same thing. Fishing in a lake that has all the right stuff for a big fish, but only had one over seven after something like 20 trips. I know this lake really well and I had been hunting for a bigger fish for a while, but no luck.

 

On this particular trip there were a few alligator gar out, and they were being aggressive. Wife had already lost a lure to one. It felt like a gar was nipping at the back of my chatterbait as I was working it through a grass flat by deep water... it was a really different feeling. Anyway, I thought to myself "I'mma get this dang fish, watch this" which is a cousin to "hold my beer" - I hadn't thought through what would happen if I get could get a hook in it, but that's beside the point.

 

Anyway, I got a nip that felt nice and solid, and full body set that hook and proceeded to try to ski that gar back to the boat, figuring it was just a little hook tip in bone.

 

Only.... all of the sudden it breaks the water and it was the biggest bass I've seen in this lake, by a lot. It was the one. The one I had been hunting for. I was so surprised by it not being a gar AND being a big (really big, but I can't weigh it in the water) bass, I just stared at it slackjawed. Well, you know how the story ends, she shook that head and all the slack I gave her was just what she needed to throw the bait. Shake-shake-shake-DANG. Never froze before, and I hope it doesn't happen again. 

 

I know where she lives, so maybe I'll get another shot. 

[roadwarrior]

Well, now you KNOW where she lives!