What Are Your Thoughts

[TnRiver46]

Don’t forget about your neighbors overgrown lawns and unused boats parked outside!!!

[gim]

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Don’t forget about your neighbors overgrown lawns and unused boats parked outside!!!

Yard Police and what would you call the unused boats sitting outside?  That one seems more like the Lazy Police but I don't want anyone seeing the enforcer as "lazy" here.

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

Yard Police and what would you call the unused boats sitting outside?  That one seems more like the Lazy Police but I don't want anyone seeing the enforcer as "lazy" here.

I believe it’s called HOA 

[gim]

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I believe it’s called HOA 

I can't keep up with all these violations anymore.

 

I'm gonna focus on the Haircut and Fashion and Photo citations until I can hire some help.

[Woody B]

I don't judge fishermen.  (FWIW I believe the term fishermen to be non gender specific.)

 

Some fishermen are lucky....but luck is when preparation meets opportunity.   Obviously if you're going to catch trophy bass you have to be fishing where trophy bass are.  If you're going to catch a BUNCH of bass, you have to be fishing where a bunch of bass are.   Just fishing the water where someone else catches bass doesn't guarantee anything.   My example is @ol'crickety.    She catches a BUNCH of what I consider to be quality bass.  If I were to fish in the same waters she fishes IF I didn't fall out of my canoe and drown I'd probably manage to spook every single bass around.   

 

I try hard to do the things I'm good at to maximize my chances at decent catches.  IMHO my strength are pinpoint accuracy when casting, and I don't lose many fish once hooked.  

 

If I just done better at knowing exactly where to cast to hook these bass I'd be in business.   

[Swamp Girl]

26 minutes ago, Woody B said:

She catches a BUNCH of what I consider to be quality bass.  If I were to fish in the same waters she fishes IF I didn't fall out of my canoe and drown I'd probably manage to spook every single bass around.   

 

Nah. You'd do just fine. You're an all-weather fisherman, Woody, which means you're a scrapper and flexible. You might tip once, just like I did, but you'd adapt, like you adapt to your all-weather fishing challenges.

 

Regarding stealth, one thing that I enjoy almost as much as catching bass is nudging bass. Sometimes the bass don't even know I'm paddling over their pads until my canoe's bow is looming over them and they swirl and scoot. 

 

31 minutes ago, Woody B said:

I don't lose many fish once hooked.  

 

UNLIKE ME!

[Catt]

First I do not put big bass gurus in the same category as weekend warriors. 

 

I have a friend who I consider highly "skilled", his PB is 6.7#. He fishes the Calcasieu river exclusively were a 6+ is a hawg. He routinely catches bass in the 5-6# class.

[LrgmouthShad]

I agree with the folks saying that there are many things someone might want to obtain from fishing, and that without knowing their goals, it's hard to judge them. Another good argument I see that people are making is that it's just fishing - no need to take it too seriously. 

 

I really put a lot of energy into my own fishing, but that's my choice. For me, and me alone, I just want to get in tune with the bodies of water I fish as best I can. I want to learn spots and conditions and how everything changes. Learning.... no, observation... is what I think I enjoy most. I think this careful observation will get me some good quality bass. Maybe even a lunker at some point.

[king fisher]

     I have a friend, I consider to be a more skilled angler than me.  He casts more accurately especially pitching, and is more proficient with a variety of lures. 

     He likes to fish for numbers, and counts every bass he lands.  If we are at a place catching one pound bass every few casts we are going to stay there until we can't catch any more.  If I catch 20 he will catch 30.  I don't even count the small bass, and don't care if he is ahead of me by 100 but he likes to be completive, so I keep my mouth shut, and try to learn what I can from him.  I always want to leave and not only try a different place, but a different type of location.  My theory is if there were big bass where we are fishing, we would have hooked one before we landed more than 10 dinks.  Besides the bass I want to catch would be eating the small bass, so I doubt there are many giant bass around the area.  When I suggest we leave and try something different, he always reminds me of the time we were catching dinks every cast and a he hooked and landed a nine pound bass.  I simply go along with the flow, because If I believe if I only want to fish for big bass my way, than I should go fishing by myself.

      When I do go fishing by myself, I avoid small bass like the plague.  When I start catching bass over three pounds, that is when I start trying to dial in a pattern.  If I start catching bass over 6 pounds, my big bass meter starts to red line.  At this point I am only fishing for large bass, and will not give up on the area, or technique until I am certain I have wore out my welcome. 

      At the end of the year, I will have multiple bass over 8 pounds, and my friend will be lucky to have one. My large bass success does not in any way alter the fact, that he is by far a better bass angler.  It only means I prefer to only chase larger bass, by staying away from the baby bass, and am willing to only catch a few bass a day.

      We both love bass fishing, and always have a great time every time on the water, so in the end that is all that matters.

        

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, king fisher said:

   .  Besides the bass I want to catch would be eating the small bass, so I doubt there are many giant bass around the area.  

        

I don’t know how true it is underwater, but on land There is always a wolf watching a flock of sheep 

[Spankey]

For where I live my PB Smallie and Greenies is no slouch. But I’m hunting for a 7 lb. Largemouth at the lake. I like to think that every cast is for that fish. I don’t know how to fish deep water real real well so this is a handicap for me. But I know she is not in deep water all the time. I don’t fish real large baits, I don’t think this is a handicap but it very well could be. 
 

River Smallies is where my heart is. That’s where it all began for me. Mother Nature has kicked the rivers ass big time over the last handful of years. Admittedly I guess I’m just flat out fishing for numbers but I’m in areas my larger fish were from. But these days I’m having fun fishing some new stretches. 
 

I’m certainly no expert and hope to never come off as one. I’m still learning at 64 years old. I come away with something new big or small (not fish) from river or lake every time out I guess. 
 

Good fishing, my next cast will be approximately 5:45 Saturday morning. 

[Tennessee Boy]

On 8/9/2023 at 2:44 PM, Mobasser said:

If someone has been fishing for many years, and has never caught a really big bass, would you consider them to be less skilled?

I had several 50+ fish days years before I caught my first 5 lb bass.  Once I figured out how to catch bigger fish I started catching multiple 5+ fish a year.   The skills you need to catch bigger fish are harder to master than the skills you need to catch a bunch of dinks.  I don’t think an angler whose PB is 10 pounds is necessary better than one whose PB is 6 pounds.   That said,  if you’ve caught over 1000 fish in your life and you’ve never caught a “big” fish then you have not mastered the hard skills.

[pdxfisher]

I think that some people really target just big fish and toss huge lures. I don't do that. I try to fish where big fish hang out and catch everything I can off those spots. I catch more than my fair share of big fish but also many to catch good numbers of nice sized fish at the same time. Maybe I miss out on a few big fish with my approach but it works for me. I would guess I would say I am trying to mostly catch 2 and 3lb smallmouth and happy when a 4 or 5lber shows up.

 

If I am in a spot and catch ~3 dinks in a row I will move because I don't think big or decent sized fish tend to mix in with a lot of dinks. That is probably my only concession towards trying to increase the average size of my catch.

[gim]

15 minutes ago, pdxfisher said:

I think that some people really target just big fish and toss huge lures.

I used to do this when I muskie fished for many, many years.  I was throwing nothing but big double bladed buck tails and half pound bull dawgs.  It yielded very few bites because I was only targeting the largest fish in the system.  It resulted in a very long drought in which I did not catch any muskies and I seriously considered quitting.

Fast forward to 2017, I decided to down size my presentation and sacrifice size for numbers based on some advice I had received.  The flood gates opened one rainy August afternoon and I boated three in an hour.  Since then, I have caught over two dozen more.  While I have not caught that gargantuan I am ultimately looking for, I'm more than satisfied to catch more of them on a consistent basis, even if the average size is lower.

[Pat Brown]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t know how true it is underwater, but on land There is always a wolf watching a flock of sheep 

 

 

I hear a LOT on here that big fish don't hang in the same areas as small fish and vice versa.  The Nature of Fishing and The Bass Fishing Life clear a lot of that up in there YouTube underwater footage for me.

 

If anything, lots of smaller bass means an abundance of nutrients in the area and you can almost guarantee the giants are lurking around picking up the scraps and picking off the weaker ones.

 

Smaller bass live on the same things as crappie and sunfish and shad (as do bigger bass) which is WHY we look for signs of life in an area in the first place.

 

If I'm catching fish, I know it's just a matter of making the right cast at the right time to the right area on the structure/cover.  To me, big fish baits catch small fish and small fish baits catch big fish, so I just stick with things that historically catch lots of fish and go.  You dial in your presentation  and fish the conditions and the cover the bass are relating to.  THEN maybe you can play with trying to weed out small fish with presentation and OFTEN times it doesn't work.

 

 

[Zcoker]

Sure, it takes a bit of skill to get a big fish, along with a few other things like luck, right place, right time….stuff like that. And it’s not always the fault of the angler as it relates to his/her skill level if those big bites don’t come today, tomorrow, or even years later. Only thing that I can say is to keep at it and keep changing things up…or just start using live shiners lol Also, being prepared and ready to deal with that big bite can be more important than the big bite itself. I’ve certainly missed my share big fish (or big opportunities) by being totally caught off guard. 

[Catt]

I do not judge an angler's "skill" level based off of how many big fish they catch but rather how they handle catching smaller fish.

 

Explanation 

Toledo Bend legal limit

8 bass per day with a 14" minimum length.

 

If you can not consistently catch the bare minimum year round what is going to make me believe you can catch bigger?

[Tackleholic]

I am 81 years old and have been fishing since I sat on my grandmother's lap at the creek bank while my father was away at war.  Still at it nearly every day and if I was not interested in continuing to learn I would not be following Bass Resource and what all you guys have to contribute.  

[Bankbeater]

Not every lake has big bass in it.  I think it is more important to learn and be able to adapt to the conditions during any given trip so that you can catch the bass that are available in the lake.

[Swamp Girl]

23 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

I am 81 years old and have been fishing since I sat on my grandmother's lap at the creek bank while my father was away at war.  Still at it nearly every day and if I was not interested in continuing to learn I would not be following Bass Resource and what all you guys have to contribute.  

 

I LOVE that you're still fishing. You give me hope. I foresee the day when I'll buy a boat with a motor. Maybe a cabin with a dock. And I'll just fish one pond. And if this comes to pass, like you, I'll still be FISHING!

[Alex from GA]

For 40 years I've been bass fishing often and after moving to GA from S. CA. I've been bass fishing several times a week including spending winters in Central FL.  I catch lots of bass including some good ones but up until this year my largest bass was 6-11.  In 1980 I caught a 6lb bass in Lake Castaic and ever since I've tried to catch a larger one.  I haven't spent the time or the $ to truly catch a larger one.  I'd have to be more dedicated than I am.  Maybe next winter.  The previous 40 years I fished mostly in the Pacific.