How to catch the big ones?

[Sal329]

So I have been catching bass in the local lake about 1-3 lbs and a lot more under a pound. Yesterday my kid and his friend caught 2 up to 7lbs, but they used blue gille. I would rather use artificial. What would you suggest? The water has a lot of vegetation and is pretty open for the most part. It is also pretty shallow maybe 10-13' at the deepest. I have been using T rigged plastics weightless, worms, flukes, senkos. The big bass the kids caught were pretty shallow they were about 5-6' from shore and about 4-5' deep. What can I do to get these bigger bass?

[slappy]

bigger bait = bigger bass

[Matt Fly]

Watch the kids some more.   You are asking us, when the two pros are schooling you.   LOL....Are you rich?   About one of those 35.00 swim baits?  Mattlures baby bluegills or something similar.

[senile1]

I'm with Matt Fly.  If they're catching them on Bluegill, get a Bluegill swimbait, or a large crankbait in Bluegill colors.  

[alhuff]

larger swimbaits......they work.

now where is that mattlures website, fathers day is coming up soon...

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE BAIT MONKEY, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alfred

[Guest JoshKeller]

larger baits, fish them slower, fish them deeper

[Sal329]

Today I used worms, spinners, a crank bait, senkos, and more worms and caught nothing. Then right befor eit was real dark I threw out a pop R and got me a 4 pounder but only that one in 3 hours.

[CJ]

I think it would be your presentation.If you got the right color of worm,try slowing down and casting into the thick stuff or close to it.If the grass is matted try a Zoom Horny Toad late in the evening or on a cloudy day.Throw it right on and over the mats.Use a heavy enough sinker to penetrate the mats with the worm.When I visited Florida last year we had good success with a 10" junebug worm and a watermelon Horny Toad.Good Luck CJ

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Tie on a big swim jig&pig with all the Bluegill colors. Don't trim the skirt, leave it full, and maybe add a second skirt to slow it down and add bulk. Use a paddletail grub trailer.

Jim

[Sal329]

The water we fish is pretty open. There is a lot of plants out about 6' from the bank. There are alos huge concrete walls that have pipes that feed the lake from the local canal. The color is stained I guess cause its not crytal clear like it is in the winter/spring time. I use colors from black/red, baby bass, motor oil, greens. When the water was cooler I was catching like 4-5 bass a night (3 hours of fishing) now I am catching 1. When I tried to actually use a weight with a T rigged worm I reeled in a whole lot of grass just about every cast. I was using a small weight not really sure the exact size I had it in my box

[jayhawkfishin]

The thing is when you try to catch the big one you are going to have to sacrafice numbers.  Hopefully it will pay off and you can catch a 8 pounder.  Stick with it if its what you want.  Personally I would rather go out and catch 10 fish than go out and catch 1 big one.

[BassMaster_1]

you got all the tips you need... now pray to the fish gods.

[Darold_31]

Sal I went through the same thing when I was young.  I could catch small fish out of the pond on artificial and all the hawgs would only eat perch.  My suggestion on getting those young guys to learn to love artificial baits is give a topwater bait.  I used to catch them real good on a Tiny Torpedo in the pond I fished.  I think a frog-type bait or even an old Devil Horse would attract some good ones as well as give you a heart attack when they strike.  The kids should get a kick out of seeing one explode on top. Good luck.

[Sal329]

Even the smaller fish are not biting all that much  

[Rattlinrogue]

Fish lakes that have a reputation for big bass and use big baits.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Sal ,you wrote "When I tried to actually use a weight with a T rigged worm I reeled in a whole lot of grass just about every cast. I was using a small weight not really sure the exact size I had it in my box".  That hasn't been talked about so here goes.

Use only enough sinker to get the worm to where you want it, plus use enough weight to keep control of the line and stay in contact with the worm. If you don't find that perfect match you won't do well with it. Use a bullet sinker with a hole that matches line diameter closely, not using one the line can dance around inside. If you use a Peg It or some other pegging method make sure no part of the peg extends past the point, sticking out to catch weeds. Unpegged sinkers catch less weeds, but then if the rig drapes over something like a branch you end up with sinker on one side, worm on the other- not very convincing to a bass. Those work well on sandy botttoms where the sinker works like that on a Carolina rig.

Preventing weed buildup starts with making it weedless. The hook eye needs to be buried or dead center on the nose, not off to a side where it will catch weeds. The knot needs to be cylindrical, elongated a bit, not a gob of line, the tag end clipped off short. Work on tying a knot so the tag end sticks out pointing to the rear of the worm, making a little bit of a brush guard deflecting weeds. Look at the Improved Clinch Knot at http://www.bassresource.com/fish/knots.html

You run the line through the eye and twist 5 times, back through the first loop, then back through the second loop that creates. Now add one step. Run the tag end back through loop #1 at the eye. Carefully draw it down keeping it wet. The tag end will be against the eye or ring attached to an eye, and will be pointed towards the rear of the bait. Clip it short to about 1/8 inch. Don't clip it shorter or it will be too stiff and stick out the side too much. When a weed hits it the tag end will bend back. When using 17# line leave the tag end 1/4 " long since it's stiffer line. Experiment with tag lengths for each line weight and brand. They differ. Soft low memory lines can be clipped shorter than stiff high abrasion lines. Adding that loop will wear against the knot more than the standard knot, but you ought to be re-tying frequently anway, never exceeding about 10# of boated bass on one knot. Any knot, most if not all of them, have at least one crossover loop that will dig into itself. The Palomar is the toughest on itself.

Next the hook point. Once it's pushed back through the worm to the back bury the point tip in the back skin.

If you feel a weed buildup rip the rig forward to clear it. That cleaning action often excites a bite, and you get another bite chance when the worm falls again.

Jim

[Sal329]

Thanks Jim I will give that a try

[Sam]

Sal,

I went to a local pond this morning and at 6:10 AM I hooked a 6 pounder on a black buzzbait with a red trailer hook.

Try a buzzbait in the early AM.

I also cautht two other smaller bass around a pound each on the buzzbait.

Nothing is as exciting as seeing that swirl around your buzzbait and have your line tighten.

Let us know how you do.