Recatching hooked and lost bass

[casts_by_fly]

Hi all,

 

I am curious about bass behavior in all ways and wanted to think about a specific case that is timely. We all know when a bass misses a lure you can cast back in with either the same lure or different lure and it will hit. If you sting one on the hit the might or might not hit again. What about when you fully hook one and lose it at the boat?  How long before it will hit a lure again?  How far will it move?

 

the pertinent timeliness is that on Monday I lost a PB right at the boat. I had it to the boat but my dad didn’t have the net ready so it dove. I worked it back and as it turned towards the net the hook popped. It was a solid 5-6# largemouth (later validated when I caught a 4-03 which was small in comparison).  He’s caught plenty in the 6-8# bucket (a 6-03 smallie just last week) and we both thought it was well over 5 when it rolled.  That stretch was one of two we caught fish Monday so every time we passed through I hoped that fish would hit again but realistically I knew it wouldn’t. But realistically, can that fish be caught the same day?  Next day?  With good isolated cover there’s a decent chance of it returning to the area, but just how much energy should you put in and how soon?

 

for clarification/boundaries, I’m not talking about spawning fish on beds. 

[Micaiah Lindquist]

I think it all depends on the fish, but there's a good possibility of her still being there and possibly catchable. Better than anywhere else on the lake.

[HenryPF]

I have caught the same fish, in the same place on the next day. Caught a bass, hook was buried in the gut so I cut the hook in 1/2 with wire cutters and released. Next day, same fish still hit my bait with the hook down it's throat (I could see it). Have done the same with catfish.

 

Awesome video:

 

 

[Pat Brown]

I have caught the same fish 6 or 7 times in a week.

 

This time of year, they are generally pretty locked down to the areas you catch them in.

 

The big females are more transient but not by much, they still seem to move up into their spawning areas and then don't go far when they're done with a round of eggs.

 

Edit to add:

 

What I WOULD do in your situation:

 

Make note or the clarity, sky conditions, wind direction, depth you were working your bait, structure and cover in the area and then keep your eye out for the same kinda thing on your home lake, no matter how subtle.

 

A LOT of times, you can pattern big females this time of year and you'll find them all over a lake doing similar things in similar types of areas where the conditions are right for them to congregate.

[TOXIC]

Many times I have broken off a fish on a Senko and then turned around and caught the same fish with my Senko still hanging out of its mouth.  Did it most recently in Florida. Hooked a bass, wrapped me in the reeds and broke me off.  Re-tied and threw back to the same spot and caught the same fish again.  Was not on a bed. Think about it, bass eat things that poke them all the time, crayfish and most all other fish with back spines. In my opinion, the reason they don’t hit again when you lose one is not because you hooked them but because you have spooked them off. 

[casts_by_fly]

47 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

What I WOULD do in your situation:

 

Make note or the clarity, sky conditions, wind direction, depth you were working your bait, structure and cover in the area and then keep your eye out for the same kinda thing on your home lake, no matter how subtle.

 

A LOT of times, you can pattern big females this time of year and you'll find them all over a lake doing similar things in similar types of areas where the conditions are right for them to congregate.

 

That's what we did through the day to find fish.  It was very specific where they were clustering- shallow water right next to deep where the flat banks met the steep banks.  They would be within 25-30 yards of the transition.  

 

41 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

 In my opinion, the reason they don’t hit again when you lose one is not because you hooked them but because you have spooked them off. 

 

This was kinda my thinking on this one.  I pulled her a solid 25 yards from where she was.  If she then swam up to another 25 yards she could be where she started or 50 yards away.  I probably am going back to that lake on Saturday morning and you can be sure I'm starting not too far away from that area.

[Functional]

Pre-spawn I caught the same fish 3 times and got her to the kayak and either broke off or she came unbuttoned. The 3 times were in the span of 30 minutes. Fish was in maybe 6"-1ft of water. I cant be 100% positive it was the same fish but it was a tiny shallow pocket surrounded by reeds. If it fit 3 fish of her size in there then it had to be a Throuple looking to spawn. 

 

Cast 1 T-rig: came in, big wake, slammed it hard and fought her to the side of the kayak and she came undone.

 

Cast 2 T-rig 30 seconds later: came in same way and hit hard, got her to the side and she made a surg and snapped the line as I was reaching to lip her.

 

Cast 3 20-30 minutes later: Used a popper and she slammed it before it settled from the cast's "plop". Came undone about 3-4 feet away as she tail walked her way out of my life. 

 

Bass judging by length was going to be 5lb +. Wish I got a look at her heft but she felt d**n close to the 7lb I dragged in a week later. 

 

Just depends on the fish and its mood. 

[813basstard]

Go by the local dive bar around 7pm…

 

You'll see a bunch of the same trucks..

I would imagine not much difference 

[Bluebasser86]

I hooked and broke this one off on the weedless Ned head with a 7" blue fleck powerworm on a spinning rod. Switched to a baitcaster with a T-rig and the same worm when I came back through 2 hours later and apparently, the worm still looked good to this fish.

 

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve caught the same bass numerous times off my dock. It was a 4 pounder I nicknamed  “ Tyson” because he was so agressive and hit so hard… I caught him with various baits, sometimes the same one, sometimes different…

[the reel ess]

I've caught the same bass in the same spot a couple of times. The first time in FL, I know it was the same bass because it was so deformed. And this fish bit the same lure twice. I told the guide I was with he should keep that one because he's trying to commit suicide. The second time I caught the same male off the same bed two days in a row. 

 

The place I fish most has a good many fish that weight 4-8 lbs. and not much more than that, thus my PB. Few fish there have much of a gut, even leading up to spawn. I have caught a bass with an enormous gut on it twice in the same general area, so I believe this to be a recatch. 

 

Since Jan. 2021 I've kept a log and I've caught 23 bass 3 to 8 lbs. I'm almost certain I've doubled up or more on some of those bass. 

[Troy85]

Last year my brother and I were fishing a spot.  He set the hook on a fish and his line popped on his TX Rig craw. We keep fishing the same spot and catching fish every couple minutes.  I'd say about 15-20 minutes go by and he catches a fish and brings it into the boat.  He goes to unhook it when he notices his old hook and craw are still in the fishes mouth.  

 

[geo g]

I have caught bass with hooks in them from someone many times.  They were willing to eat with hooks, and even hard baits attached.  I once caught a 4 pounder with a beautiful bone color Zara Sppok attached.  This became my number one top water bait for several years.

Another time I lost a big bass on Bill Dance deep diver and for an  hour heard the bait rattling at the surface at different location a hundred yards away from the lost site.  I threw a Senko into a distant location and caught thatt fish with my lure.  It’s often better to be lucky than good!!!!!  Lol

[GRiver]

My Dad I were wade fishing for smallies in NC. Hooked a nice size one, he got broke off. We moved on and on our way back he started fishing the same spot. He caught the fish again with his t-rig hooked in him. It had only been about two hours.

I don’t remember what article it was, about Berkeley fishing lab, where they design baits. They stated they caught the same fish within 15 minutes in their test tank.

[Johnbt]

I was fishing a 9-hole golf course pond from the back seat of my mentor's boat 30-some years ago. Early winter fishing with minnows. Thirty minutes before lunch I hooked a big bass near the bank and the line broke about a foot above the bobber. Seeing that we were 50 feet from the tiny clubhouse dock, we tied off and went inside to warm up and buy hotdogs. Call it a 20-minute lunch. 

 

Leaving the dock we continued down the bank toward the small dam. About 100 feet along my buddy said, "Is that a bobber under that lone bush?" Before I could answer he got off the motor and tossed a minnow at it. Bang. It was a 7-pounder. I got my plastic bobber back and my hook. Didn't get my minnow though.

[TnRiver46]

On 4/18/2023 at 11:14 PM, casts_by_fly said:

We all know when a bass misses a lure you can cast back in with either the same lure or different lure and it will hit. 

No one actually knows that 

[Jar11591]

About 10 years ago I was staying in a lakeside cabin with several docks that I would fish off of. My dad and I caught the same bass at least 4 times that week, and you could tell by how jacked up this fishes jaw was that it gets caught over and over and over again. Mouth completely deformed, a dozen holes in its face. Had to be the stupidest bass out there. 

[Alex from GA]

I've caught the same bass an hour later and the same snook a week later.

[PaulVE64]

I remember the first time I could consistently catch smallies on a fly I had made. Before that experience was over i lost that black marabou jig in lip of a 1# smallie.

But that smallie stayed right there and I tried everything afterwards to get that jig back. 

Never did.

[SpinLight]

My fishing buddy and I caught the same bass three times on a Texas rig worm in the Tennessee River one day several years ago. We were both throwing the same worm. Each of us had clear, blue fluorescent line. One of us hung a bass which then ran into a log jam and broke off several yards of line.

 

We continued to fish in that area and hooked the same fish again about an hour later. The fish jumped and shook loose. We could see that he still had the extra line hanging out of his mouth from when he first broke off. We stopped by at the end of the day, and hooked and finally landed him, with the piece of line and worm still in his mouth.

[geo g]

About 20 years ago when I caught a decent fish in my local neighborhood lakes, I would cut a small V about a 1/4 inch, between the spikes in the dorsal fin.  Always between the first and second spike with my scissors.  It was a small V that you could only see if you pulled the dorsal fins up.  Every once in a while I would catch one of these fish  again.  Although I only did this for a few months because it was a pain to do,  I still check when catching a decent fish.  A true way of detecting a catch repeat, without tagging it. 

[Jleebesaw]

I lost a bass at the boat one time when my knot failed. My buddy caught it later that afternoon close to where I had hooked into it. I got my super spook junior back!

[papajoe222]

I've caught the same fish more than once on a 60acre lake that I fish fairly regularly.  The first time I can remember, a nice fish blew up on my spook and halfway to the boat, my line snapped. I was more upset that I lost the lure than because I lost the fish.  A little less that two hours later I caught her again, this time on a shallow running crank, not 50yrds. from where I'd hooked her the first time. Got my Spook back.  A couple of other times, I've done it fishing the same deadfall a couple of hours after catching and releasing a fish.  Shallow fish are territorial and if the big ones don't return to their home, another will move in, sometimes that same day.

[Dye99]

Happened this morning for me actually. Not the first time though.

Chasing smallies with a weightless senko, set the hook and my leader snapped.

Hour later wife caught a nice fish, hauled him in and there was my hook and senko....