Catching 12-14" Bass?

[KSanford33]

I know no one really ever targets these fish, but I'm fishing in a kayak tournament tomorrow (just a local thing) and since kayak tournaments are measured in inches, not in pounds, I thought if I could quickly get a limit of barely keepers, I could then spend the rest of my time trying to add kickers. Does this sound like a good gameplan? Any suggestions on how to go about it?

[J Francho]

That technique has been around a long time.  It works really well on super tough days, rarely consistent.  Problem is you're gambling on not missing the window when big fish are biting.  Consistent tournament winners catch bigger fish on average than the rest of the field.

 

My experience in kayak tournaments is that you need to be striving for 100" to win.

[gim]

I don't think its a good game plan unless you already know that the bite is going to be so tough that a limit of 13 inchers might win it.  I've heard of that happening, but its not the norm.

 

I would try to catch the biggest 5 fish you could the whole time.

[KSanford33]

Thanks guys. I thought that might be the case. 

[Darth-Baiter]

I can't target fish by size.  well, I guess I could choose smaller baits.

 

good luck!!  I think getting a limit would be my first goal.  a quick limit to take the heat off the situation. 

[Fishing_Rod]

Happy Friday!
I'm just a recreational angler. I find it is really good to get rid of the skunk as soon as possible. I'm all about catching fish. Each opportunity is special.

In the case of tournament angling, every opportunity to catch fish is vital and valuable to your success. As with other sports you are up against a clock so it if important to maximize your catching. You do this by simply angling as much as you can. I often see folk fussing about this or that. They are greatly failing to utilizing time with bait in the water. They are too concerned with other factors and missing the opportunities for success.

 

You really don't get to select the fish you to catch, you encourage them to strike. So catch as many as you can so you can sort through the results.

 

Ya gotta catch them first.

 

Good Luck and have a great time catching fish. Cheers!

[Junk Fisherman]

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

I know no one really ever targets these fish, but I'm fishing in a kayak tournament tomorrow (just a local thing) and since kayak tournaments are measured in inches, not in pounds, I thought if I could quickly get a limit of barely keepers, I could then spend the rest of my time trying to add kickers. Does this sound like a good gameplan? Any suggestions on how to go about it?

 

Depends on how confident you are, the quality of the fishery, and the quality of your competition.  Keepers then kickers is usually my game plan.  Granted, I am more of a finesse guy so that is my strength.  But I like getting that limit early because it takes the pressure off and then I look to upgrade.  But numerous times I have caught my big fish on a Ned so I never get out the jig or start punching in order to look for a big fish.  On the other hand, I have a good buddy who is an excellent fisherman and he's always fishing for big fish.  But if I were as good as him and won as much money I'd probably do the same thing.  

[KSanford33]

1 hour ago, Junk Fisherman said:

 

Depends on how confident you are, the quality of the fishery, and the quality of your competition.  Keepers then kickers is usually my game plan.  Granted, I am more of a finesse guy so that is my strength.  But I like getting that limit early because it takes the pressure off and then I look to upgrade.  But numerous times I have caught my big fish on a Ned so I never get out the jig or start punching in order to look for a big fish.  On the other hand, I have a good buddy who is an excellent fisherman and he's always fishing for big fish.  But if I were as good as him and won as much money I'd probably do the same thing.  

I’m very similar to you in that I’m much more successful with finesse fishing than power fishing. I’ve heard a bunch of people echo your sentiments about catching larger fish on a Ned rig, but I still don’t have that experience. I went out for a couple hours this morning and caught nothing but rock bass and crappie on it. 
 

 My last tournament (which also happened to be my first) I got skunked except for a bunch of yellow perch. My goal for this one is to show up on the leaderboard. I don’t care if I’m dead last as long as I can say I actually caught some bass. That was the thought process behind aiming for a bunch of dinks rather than throwing a 9” swimbait or something. 

[Sphynx]

I mean...I wouldn't go out of my way to target small fish, I would go out of my way to establish the largest active pattern in a given body of water and start filtering through them as quickly as possible to look for kicker fish. If you can, before you go, look up the winners totals from previous tournaments and see what ballpark your working with for a winning total, if you need 100" to win, then you know your looking for around 5, 20" fish to win, or something close with a respectable kicker to make up the difference. 

[scaleface]

I tell my lures to not catch dinks and only catch big ones but they dont listen . I throw them around cover and take what the water gives up .

[jbsoonerfan]

I just fish where I think the fish are. Sometimes they are 14" and sometimes they are 23" just never know. 

[ATA]

3 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I just fish where I think the fish are. Sometimes they are 14" and sometimes they are 23" just never know. 

WOW, Good for you. I never had 20" and plus, My son had 21" 10.1lb  ?, I wish I catch it some day.

[jbsoonerfan]

4 minutes ago, ATA said:

WOW, Good for you. I never had 20" and plus, My son had 21" 10.1lb  ?, I wish I catch it some day.

Geez!!!! I've caught 22" bass that were barely 7lbs. But that was with a scale. You had a scale and weighed a 10lb 21" bass? 

 

This one was 7.1 and that is a good belly. 

Your son caught a fish that was an inch shorter than that fish and weighed 3lbs more? That's impressive!!!

[ATA]

13 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Geez!!!! I've caught 22" bass that were barely 7lbs. But that was with a scale. You had a scale and weighed a 10lb 21" bass? 

 

This one was 7.1 and that is a good belly. 

Your son caught a fish that was an inch shorter than that fish and weighed 3lbs more? That's impressive!!!

sorry it was 25" it is at wall right now ?

 

Have the clip when he catch it on age 12

[jbsoonerfan]

Okay, I wasn't going to call you a liar, but a 21" 10lber sounded like a stretch to me.

[gim]

23 hours ago, Sphynx said:

I mean...I wouldn't go out of my way to target small fish, I would go out of my way to establish the largest active pattern in a given body of water and start filtering through them as quickly as possible to look for kicker fish.

X2, don't go out there looking for 13 inchers.  Just try to establish a pattern and upgrade as you go.  Putting 5 legal fish, whether they are 13 inches or 20 inches, is important.  Then just try to cull through them with the biggest five you can find.  If you are stuck with a limit of small fish, that's how it goes.  Some days the bite is very tough and 14 inchers can do pretty well.  I've seen it.

[KSanford33]

Just as an update, you guys were right. 83” won it. My biggest takeaway was that you have ~8 hours; focus on catching the biggest 5 you can. 

[Sphynx]

9 hours ago, gimruis said:

X2, don't go out there looking for 13 inchers.  Just try to establish a pattern and upgrade as you go.  Putting 5 legal fish, whether they are 13 inches or 20 inches, is important.  Then just try to cull through them with the biggest five you can find.  If you are stuck with a limit of small fish, that's how it goes.  Some days the bite is very tough and 14 inchers can do pretty well.  I've seen it.

I've seen days down south with an east wind where simply catching a limit of legal sized fish won a local tournament, and most guys did well to show 3 fish, but make no mistake, there are monsters in that lake, and on a normal day 20+lb in 5 fish is what it takes to get in the money. 

[Darth-Baiter]

I'll do a tournament one day.  I still have lots to learn about bass fishing in general without the added stress of competition.  

 

having said that, I can picture myself doing a jubilant fist pumping the sky at the simple 5-fish limit.  all baby steps for me.  

[Deephaven]

If it were like my last Sunday adventure where within 2 minutes of getting to my first spot something was blowing up the bait fish.  Tried some faster baits with nothing and then went to the Neko and on 6 successive casts I caught small bass.  Tournament or not I fished out the bite and left.

[Jmilburn76]

@Darth-Baiter  you need to look into the FREE tackle direct tournament going on until August 15.They are giving away $15k in prizes.  It uses the also free Fishing Chaos app. Its all CPR catch,photo,release. Just upload 5 bass(they have other categories as well) at least 12" or larger on a measuring board with identifier in the pic. Its a great way to learn the ropes so to speak.  https://www.tackledirect.com/national-fishing-tournament-2022.html

[KSanford33]

5 minutes ago, Jmilburn76 said:

@Darth-Baiter  you need to look into the FREE tackle direct tournament going on until August 15.They are giving away $15k in prizes.  It uses the also free Fishing Chaos app. Its all CPR catch,photo,release. Just upload 5 bass(they have other categories as well) at least 12" or larger on a measuring board with identifier in the pic. Its a great way to learn the ropes so to speak.  https://www.tackledirect.com/national-fishing-tournament-2022.html

100% agree. The online tournaments are the best way to start out. And on the Fishing Chaos app you can usually find a free one. TourneyX not so much. 

[Darth-Baiter]

3 hours ago, Jmilburn76 said:

@Darth-Baiter  you need to look into the FREE tackle direct tournament going on until August 15.They are giving away $15k in prizes.  It uses the also free Fishing Chaos app. Its all CPR catch,photo,release. Just upload 5 bass(they have other categories as well) at least 12" or larger on a measuring board with identifier in the pic. Its a great way to learn the ropes so to speak.  https://www.tackledirect.com/national-fishing-tournament-2022.html

Thanks. Never knew about this!  

[WRB]

Tournament bass fishing your #1 priority is winning. #2 priority is placing high enough to earn a check that cover your event expense.  

Catching 5 bass weighing 3 lbs or 17” to 18” bass will cover expenses 90% of the events. To win you will need at least 1 bass kicker 20”+. This puts you at 90” for 5 bass minimum.

It’s comfortable to put 5 bass in the 3 lb class. The issue is when to target a bigger bass? 

If you are confident in your skills to catch 5 bass, try to catch bigger during their active feeding period where you fish.

Tom

[KSanford33]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

Tournament bass fishing your #1 priority is winning. #2 priority is placing high enough to earn a check that cover your event expense.  

Catching 5 bass weighing 3 lbs or 17” to 18” bass will cover expenses 90% of the events. To win you will need at least 1 bass kicker 20”+. This puts you at 90” for 5 bass minimum.

It’s comfortable to put 5 bass in the 3 lb class. The issue is when to target a bigger bass? 

If you are confident in your skills to catch 5 bass, try to catch bigger during their active feeding period where you fish.

Tom

This is an excellent answer, thanks Tom. Do you think this holds true no matter where the tournament is? As Roland Martin says, from Connecticut to California? Thanks Tom.