Specifically Targeting Big Bass

[the reel ess]

Here's what I do. Go where you know there are big bass. Throw a jig, T rig, spinnerbait, Whopper Plopper and a frog/toad. Given that you say the lake has a lot of lilies, I would wear the frog out. You might catch a lot of dinks. I do. But sooner or later you'll get a good one.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

I’ve spent an awful lot of time studying this aspect of ‘bigger bass’ fishing over the years, especially more recently, and a lot of the framework, IMO, lies within the above selected responses. 

Here is what I’ve been thinking recently. Let me know if you think I am on the right track here. I relate this to concepts I have of deer hunting. The biggest deer are going to be in an area of the forest with the most abundant and quality food, water, safety, and does. Similarly, a very large bass or other large predator is going to stake out an area of a lake as their own territory that provides the best food, oxygen, safety, nutrients, etc. They will outcompete smaller bass. If you are fishing and catching smaller bass, you may simply be fishing water where the big girls do not lie at that particular time. Right track? 

[WRB]

2 things to remember about big bass, 1) they are females and 2) they tend to group together by year class.

There are very few big bass so groups my only be 3 fish or at times a single fish. Big fish eat little fish so they don’t share the same space outside of the spawn cycle.

Tom

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

Here's what I do. Go where you know there are big bass. Throw a jig, T rig, spinnerbait, Whopper Plopper and a frog/toad. Given that you say the lake has a lot of lilies, I would wear the frog out. You might catch a lot of dinks. I do. But sooner or later you'll get a good one.

This totally works but it can be a little tricky to pin down.

I went to Mexico and I found them. 

A-Jay

[the reel ess]

Just now, A-Jay said:

This totally works but it can be a little tricky to pin down.

I went to Mexico and I found them. 

A-Jay

Yeah, that's a safe bet.

[LrgmouthShad]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

This totally works but it can be a little tricky to pin down.

I went to Mexico and I found them. 

A-Jay

HAHA ??

 

You rock man

[Team9nine]

4 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Here is what I’ve been thinking recently. Let me know if you think I am on the right track here. I relate this to concepts I have of deer hunting. The biggest deer are going to be in an area of the forest with the most abundant and quality food, water, safety, and does. Similarly, a very large bass or other large predator is going to stake out an area of a lake as their own territory that provides the best food, oxygen, safety, nutrients, etc. They will outcompete smaller bass. If you are fishing and catching smaller bass, you may simply be fishing water where the big girls do not lie at that particular time. Right track? 

 

Personally, I find this common line of thinking a bit misleading. I wouldn't focus so much on "most" or "the best," as they really only need "adequate and appropriate" to survive and grow big; oxygen, forage, etc.. It also seems things like nutrients don't play that big of a role with bigger bass, though they certainly do with bigger crappie. Beyond the food part of the equation, I would also add deeper water/heavier cover, along with living a long time/capture avoidance. The first of those three is hard to determine or quantify, other than if you catch a big fish somewhere, then you know that to some degree, those necessary environmental conditions exist. The latter two aspects, which to a certain degree are intertwined, can guide you toward a lot of the right areas, where I'd then agree again with @WRB on the "dedication and spending hours on the water," as seeing (in whatever form), hooking and catching are the best data points to putting the final puzzle pieces together.

[LrgmouthShad]

4 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Personally, I find this common line of thinking a bit misleading. I wouldn't focus so much on "most" or "the best," as they really only need "adequate and appropriate" to survive and grow big; oxygen, forage, etc.. It also seems things like nutrients don't play that big of a role with bigger bass, though they certainly do with bigger crappie. Beyond the food part of the equation, I would also add deeper water/heavier cover, along with living a long time/capture avoidance. The first of those three is hard to determine or quantify, other than if you catch a big fish somewhere, then you know that to some degree, those necessary environmental conditions exist. The latter two aspects, which to a certain degree are intertwined, can guide you toward a lot of the right areas, where I'd then agree again with @WRB on the "dedication and spending hours on the water," as seeing (in whatever form), hooking and catching are the best data points to putting the final puzzle pieces together.

Alright. Thank you! 

[gim]

I have often noticed over the years that I catch the most plus size bass of the season when there is a consistent muskie bite going. It has helped me catch more big bass.

 

Last season this occurred during a months span from early August though Labor Day. There was a series of low pressure fronts coming through. It definitely triggered bigger fish to bite.

[Tennessee Boy]

I think the first step is to avoid falling into what I call the Dink Trap.  We all like catching fish and if you chase numbers you will end up fishing for the smallest fish in the lake.  That's the Dink Trap.

 

Within a year after buying my first boat and joining a club,  I took a week off to spend it pre fishing for an out of town club tournament.  I was going to spend the week finding fish to show the club that the new guy was a force to be reckoned with.  I was able to dial in a pattern and I was catching fish like crazy on the bank in specific areas on Slider worms.  The day of the tournament came and I probably caught 100 fish.  My biggest five weighted just under 7 lbs.  I was in the Dink Trap.  The winner of the tournament had over 26 lbs.  My PB at the times was a little over 4 lbs and this guy's biggest 5 fish on a single day were all bigger than my PB.  That's when I realized that I needed to make some big changes if I wanted to compete in tournaments.  For me,  the change was different baits and realizing that you don't have to always fish the bank.  I also think just more experience made me a better fisherman which led to catching bigger fish.  I found place that held big fish and caught multiple big fish from them over time. I don't consider myself an expert on big fish by any means but I’ve improved over the years.

 

We learn from time on the water.  What we learn depends on our goals.  Once I stopped judging my day based on the number of fish caught and started judging based on my best five,  I started catching bigger fish.  If you judge your success based on your biggest fish in a year,  that will make you a true big fish angler.    If you consider a day where you catch 25 one pound fish better than a day where you catch 2 five pound fish then your time on the water will make you better at catching numbers.  You will fall into the Dink Trap. 
 

Some people like fishing for numbers and there's nothing wrong with that.  

[Catt]

On 7/2/2022 at 11:33 AM, KSanford33 said:

I went out this morning caught six bass all between 15-17” within three hours. Definitely a great morning. But then I wanted to transition towards targeting larger bass. How would I go about doing this?

 

Don't know how this subject always ends up on double digit bass?

 

This is a dumb Cajun's opinion!

 

I would concentrate on catching bass in the 6-9# class first. 

 

If ya can't consistently catch those bass ya ain't gonna catch no double digits.

 

[Mobasser]

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Don't know how this subject always ends up on double digit bass?

 

This is a dumb Cajun's opinion!

 

I would concentrate on catching bass in the 6-9# class first. 

 

If ya can't consistently catch those bass ya ain't gonna catch no double digits.

 

Good point Catt. Many lakes may not even have any DD bass.

[MN Fisher]

27 minutes ago, Catt said:

I would concentrate on catching bass in the 6-9# class first. 

 

22 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Good point Catt. Many lakes may not even have any DD bass.

Considering his state's record LMB is 11lb4oz - DD bass are very rare up there.

( https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7935.html)

 

Catt's suggestion is a good one - a 'big bass' up there I'd say would be around 8#

 

For here - a big bass is 6# - our state record is 8lb15oz.

[RDB]

6 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I relate this to concepts I have of deer hunting. The biggest deer are going to be in an area of the forest with the most abundant and quality food, water, safety, and does. Similarly, a very large bass or other large predator is going to stake out an area of a lake as their own territory that provides the best food, oxygen, safety, nutrients, etc.

If I were trying to increase my odds, I would focus on structure with deep water access…deep being relative.  IMO, big bass are much less willing to give up the security of depth v a smaller bass, so much so that you will often find them accessing feeding areas from lower spots for concealment.  To equate to the post above about bucks, a big buck typically won’t walk the crest of a ridge line but will instead travel below the ridge.  While different bass behave differently, if I were going to search for potential big bass locations, I would be looking for structures with good deep water connections and deep water access points.  But that’s just me.

[Catt]

Bass fishing is a mental game, to catch "bigger" bass you will have to change how you think about bass fishing.

 

NADINE ain't gonna be hanging out with tighteyes!

 

Nadine got big because she knows her body of water.

 

We think we know it!

[gim]

51 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

For here - a big bass is 6# - our state record is 8lb15oz.

Even a 5 pound/20 inch bass is big here if you ask me. I haven’t caught any that big yet this season. Largemouth or smallmouth. I probably catch 2 or 3 that size all season. My best season which occurred in 2020, I landed 8 that size or bigger.