The Hunt For Big Bass

[abelfisher]

This is an excellent article on the Home Page.  I highly recommend this read!  Good job Craig!

[abelfisher]

By the way, I just saw the same subject line from Road warrior.  I read the article first and went right into the forum to post my recommendation on Craig's article, then I scrolled downa nd noticed Roadwarriors.  Needless to say, you should read Craig's article on The Hunt for Big Bass!

[earthworm77]

Thanks, I'm happy you liked it. Take the time out and try a few of those things I mentioned, they will work.

[Raul]

Good article indeend Craig, to add a little bit to the subject, I 'm not a bigun hunter per se, I like to fish just for the pleasure of doing it but there are certain things that  you learn as time goes by that help you in catching the fish of a lifetime, I do catch big fish on a regular basis, for the last ten years in a row I 've caught at least one fish exceeding 10 pounds throughout the year, not bad considering that I don 't specifically fish for them.

Big fish are very choosy when it comes to the kind of baits they prefer, spinnerbaits are a good example of it, in all my years of fishing I 've never caught a bigun on a spinnerbait, the best fish I 've caught with a spinnerbait was a 8.8 pounder, so this means that spinnerbaits are not my bait of choice for catching a lunker so if you 're out there looking for trubble with big momma don 't tie a spinnerbait.

Crankbaits are not preciselly big fish baits too, with a couple of exceptions, suspending crankbaits and topwaters; suspending crankbaits are a completely different story, but I mean true suspending crankbaits, those that either rise very slowly or sink very slowly and if you 're having trouble keeping the bait down that 's why lead strips and lead dots were invented for. The more time you have the bait dangling and dancing on their face the better. Topwaters like the Jitterbug are truely big bass baits.

Bigger baits do not mean bigger fish, I 've caught countless ammounts of tiny fish on monster baits to proove it and to be fair, I 've caught plenty of big fish on teeny tiny baits.

The key point when fishing for biguns is .........speed, most fishermen fish too fast, what 's the rush ? are you in a hurry ? slow subtle presentations are what big fish prefer, that 's the reason why jigs, plastic worms, creatures and suspending cranks are so good, because the proper way to work them is fishing them slow.

Season is very important, know your seasonal pattern, depending upon the water temperature the fish will or will not be vulnerable. Prespawn and spawn are your best shots for catching a bigun, but they depend upon the water temperature, it always amazes me that few people take notice of the water temperature, bass begin the prespawn season when the temperature of the water has been at 60 degrees for at least 5 days in a row and it has remained there for at least 8 days regardless of the air temperature, in my country, in the area where I live this situation takes place during late March and early April.

Avoid like if it was the black plague the days where there is a lot of human activity in the lake like weekends, lots of anglers, water skiers, picnickers all of them scare the fish away. Avoid sunny days, what mortals call a beautiful day is just a nice day for a boat ride, not only the fish will be deep, sunny days increase the human activity.

For heaven 's sake, keep those hooks razor sharp always, it 's unveleibable that you don 't sharpen your hooks regularily, even the best hook will become dull, the only hooks that shoud not be sharpened are those that have cutting edges like some models of Owner. The only thing that is in direct contact with the fish is the hook.

Check the condition of your line constantly, nicks, bruises even tying a knot damages the line, the only link between you and the fish is the line.

Always iddle down when approaching a spot, 20 yards is not good enough, do it before, no fish is going to bite if you come in like a hurricane.

If you are going to anchor to work a spot, for crying out loud, don 't toss the anchor overboard, lower it by hand slowly until you feel it touching the bottom.

Depthfinders are NOT for locating fish, they are for locating structure and in the case of submerged trees, cover.

Slow down when you retrieve, my first encounter with a 10 pounder took place with a jerkbait while I was doing nothing, all I did was to make a cast and leave the bait there barely twitching it every now and then, and no, she didn 't came smashing it trying to tear it appart, she just sucked it without disturbing the surface.

Watch your line, many, many times the only thing that tells you the bait has been bitten is a slight movement of the line.

[earthworm77]

Raul, good post. I'm currently reading an old book by Bud Andrews, he is an old timer and guide in Florida, about 5 miles from where I'm building my new house. He is likely the premier big bass angler for catching 10+ largemouths on artificial lures in Florida. I'm amazed that many of the things he talks about, I have come to do almost instinctively over the years. I look forward to getting down there and tangling with bigger fish. You are 100% correct about using some smaller baits and slowing down your retrieve.

[BD]

Yes it was a good article and nice reminders there Raul.

[Fisher of Men]

A ten pounder a year for the last ten.  That's very admirable, Raul.  Very good points made in the last post.  As I said in the "Biggest Bass" post (besides the humorous sarcasm, or at least I hope you took it that way), I'd give anything to have one ten pounder, and would consider it an extreme blessing to have ten.  

[Fisher of Men]

P.S.  Sorry Craig,  I really enjoyed your article, too!

[earthworm77]

Thanks again fellas.

[abelfisher]

Hey Craig, are you planning on writing any more articles for this site  Maybe you have written others, I just need to search.  Look forward to any other articles you come up with.

[earthworm77]

Abel, I write for many sites. Go to my home site micromunchtackle.com....click on the link at the end of the article......when you get to the site, enter the fresh water section and look for a link entitled WormHole articles. I currently have about 50 articles published in the past 3 years. I write a lot of stuff and many articles I've yet to publish. I'll keep on putting them up here.