Is bigger really better??

[RatONaStick]

Not a problem, gotta give credit where credit is due.

[Raul]

A fish can not outsmart you, they are like Roger so graphically placed it: as dumb as a box of rocks, you think, they do not; the problems are that first you do not know how to locate them, then you don 't know how to make them bite and to finish, you fish too fast. In order to catch fish consistently you need to widen your horizons, learn how to fish different baits properly and very important: know your prey and be creative, bigger not means necessarily better, bigger culls the smaller fish away but fish like bass do have bigger mouths than brains.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I don't count my biggest bass ever as my PB simply because I don't want to think about having to beat 14 pounds in Arkansas. I aim to catch a bass around 9# here and be satisfied with that. Our state record is a little over 16#, on Lake Mallard. In that lake near Oralndo, FL, my guide gave me a 16" long snake worm. When the bite began he had me wait while the line danced, then when the line began tightening and moving to the side he told me to set the hook. It took several seconds for the worm to be eaten. I'd never consider fishing with a 16" worm here, but I do use baits up to 7" long, and am convinced big bass will eat those. They eliminate pestering small bites, though I've caught a 6" bream on a 7" topwater.

We had a fee pond nearby where a family could fish all day for $1 per adult. They had long docks with brush piles and plenty of benches along a mowed shoreline near aquatic vegetation. It was a really nice place for people to recreate. Bass were catch & release only, all other fish to be harvested.  Due to lawsuits over a drowning the public access closed. However, friends and family of the owner report the pond now contains plenty of grown up bass around 15 pounds. They get trapped with gill nets as part of their management plan, they die and are found floating in winter and in the heat of summer. But nobody has caught a single one of those big bass. Part of it is no boats are allowed on the 10 acre pond, and I doubt anyone can cast to the deep holes holding those fish. Some pros have fished there, none catching a sizeable bass.

Jim

[roadwarrior]

Well, I generally agree with Roger on most topics and I'm not arguing the logic on this one. Presentation and the right location go a long ways and account for a high percentage of big fish taken. But, to consistantly catch big bass, the size of the bait can come into play. Smaller fish are much more aggressive than larger bass.

To take a specific example, I watched a demonstration of the Fat Ika by Mike Whitten, GYCB writer and Pro Staff, at the BPS this spring. The 5 & 6lb bass attacked this bait as it fell, the big bass were curious, but just followed it to the bottom and watched it until it was moved. My point is that if smaller bass are present, you generally need something that you can get past them. Not only do I fish for big bass only, I really don't want to catch smaller bass, ever.  

So, for me, bigger baits are a solution to the problem of catching too many little fish. My big bass bait is the 6" Senko.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I don't remember why the USGS has scientists studying fish, but they have produced some videos that would be best sellers at BPS. Most bassers will never see them. Those videos are usually made for Congressmen toward securing project funding then are archived. I've watched big bass so well camoflauged you can barely make one eye out, resting in a glob of cover. When almost anything living, however tiny, passes within a foot of their mouth, they inhale it wihout moving their body. They do that constantly. I suspect their belly remains full most of the time. When small panfish swam close those bass stayed put, passing on fish they couyld obviously swallow. But there was one screen shot of a bass launching out at a fish like a snake striking, with blinding speed, catching the bream or whatever it was a couple of feet away. It swung right around and backed into its hole and chomped down, spit the fish out, and re-swallowed. From that and other types of videos, plus experience, big bass simply prefer it's meals come a foot away or closer, requiring pin-point lure placement. It also requires a high degree of realism in the bait, not one slip-up in presentation.

On the other hand a juvenile bass will swim to great lengths to swallow a single shad. Maybe they simply have more energy like my grand daughter has over me. The day has come I can't catch her. I suspect a 10 year old bass is a lot like me. I no longer like going thruogh buffet lines. I let my wife fill a plate for me. How'd I do it? "Honey, you know if I get up I'll eat way too much, so maybe you can help....ah, THANKS, sweet, you always know what I like." I just want it set in front of me.

Jim

[tennsopher]

I believe Rolo is dead on location is a huge part of the equation.Weekend before last I caught a 7-4,an8-15 and a9-5 all on lucky craft lv10.The lake is one I just started fishing again this year after several years of not fishing there.Developement has taken away the once plentiful hyacinths and much shoreline cover.This also killed out the golden shiners once plentiful near the vegetation.Solution?I noticed schools of shad roaming open water and several dead ones floating where they had been struck and crippled.The locator showed underwater mounds  and grass beds offshore in 10-15ft of water.I found the most realistic looking shad bait I could .I fish these near the structure when the bait is close by as shown by my depthfinder.Your bait should match the predominent bait in the lake in size and appearance.

                                                                                                 hope you get a whale

                                                                                                       Tennsopher