What Size Fish are You Catching Mostly

[New Bass Man]

I am curious how big the fish you are catching in your area.  I live in Maryland and I'm generally catching fish around the 2-4 Lbs range.  That's pretty standard in the lake I fish.  How about your lake?

[KYbass1276]

I usually catch bass that range in the Two to four pound range with and average of of about ten bass a year in the 5 to 8 pound range. And of course some that weigh under 2 pounds. But this year I have only caught one that weighed 6 pounds most have been in the 3 to 4 pound range.  And a guess on 1 pound and under fish for this year would have to be around 25 to 30

[senile1]

I catch mostly 2 - 4 lbs, with some dinks to 1 lb, and the occasional 5 lb'er plus.  I think if you get anyone who catches mostly 5 lb'ers and up, they are fishing only for big fish.  The professional anglers do not generally average 5 lbs a fish.  On some days they blow this away, but not on a regular basis.

[ww2farmer]

Up here in NY I catch tons........and I mean tons of bass from 1lb to 4lbs every year, with a few 5+'s, and every once in a while a 6+. A bass above 2lbs and below 5lbs around here is considerd to be a respectble fish, with 5+ beeing BIG, and 7+ beeing a monster. Up here it might take a bass 12-15 years to reach 5+ lbs,  heck it takes 3-5 years just to reach spawning size. A freind of mine has a pond down in FLA. just by accident it was built and stocked with at the same time as I built and stocked one of my ponds. Granted we have different bass, Florida strain vs northern strain, but some of his bass after 5 years are pushing 7-8lb's with the average size about 2-4lb's, mine are just getting to be in the high 2lb- to mid 3lb range for the bigger ones, and alot of 1lbers yet.

[langs15]

I knew up in the north we grow a bit smaller in bass sizes...

My average is 3 punds..never smaller than two pounds.

[cravenfish]

I want to go fish with the person who put over 11lbs. In VA. most of the fish we catch are up to 4lbs and we catch a few that are up to 7lbs. Over 7 is not common, that would be a heck of a nice fish. The pond fisherman catch the bigger fish around here.

[rebel909]

i cant imagine too many places where the average would be over 4 lbs.  the pond bill dance fishes on maybe.

[Raul]

8 inches to 3 pounds is the normal, toss in a couple of 4-5 pound fish on a good day, but when I 'm on the hunt I may catch 1 or 2 fish over 6 pounds, problem is that my partners ( my compadre and my nephew ) can 't stand the hunt.

[5bass]

i cant imagine too many places where the average would be over 4 lbs. the pond bill dance fishes on maybe.

You took the words right out of my mouth.....

[senile1]

I want to go fish with the person who put over 11lbs. In VA. most of the fish we catch are up to 4lbs and we catch a few that are up to 7lbs. Over 7 is not common, that would be a heck of a nice fish. The pond fisherman catch the bigger fish around here.

I wonder if Fish Chris marked 11 lbs.  He's a trophy fisherman.  Or maybe somebody is just being funny.  

[Guest JoshKeller]

On a good day I can have a limit with the smallest fish being 4 - 5 pounds. Those are the days when you get tired of catching 2 and 3's, but most days I will have at least one 3 lber in my limit.

[mudcatwilly]

In the places that I've fished in California, it can be feast or famine.  In some places, you will get numbers (20-50 fish days), in other places you will only get a few, but they are better sized.  There is one small lake that I fish that may produce the next state or world record (a 17 and an 18 pound bass were caught and released there this year and I have seen many more large fish come out of there).  When I fish that lake, I am trying to catch those fish, so I can go the whole day without even a bite.  At other places, I am content to catch anything, so the 1 and 2 pounders all day long are fine with me.  I'd say the average fish size is about 2 pounds, but every once in awhile, there will be a biggun'.  It's like: dink..dink..2 pounder..dink..12 pounder..dink..dink!

[p-funk]

I knew up in the north we grow a bit smaller in bass sizes...

My average is 3 punds..never smaller than two pounds.

You never catch fish smaller than 2lbs? :

[WABass]

I knew up in the north we grow a bit smaller in bass sizes...

My average is 3 punds..never smaller than two pounds.

You never catch fish smaller than 2lbs? :

Thats what I was thinking, the average here is 2-5 pounds with some in the 6-9 pound range, but I cant say I never catch anything smaller than 2 pounds, what bait are you using to keep the smaller ones away? in washington the smaller fish even around a 1/2 to 1 pound will hit jig n pigs and 10 inch worms.

[Fish Chris]

Before I read the poll choices, I immediatly thought 8 to 12 lbs. So I guess my answer would be both the 3rd and 4th.

But now here's the part I find interesting. The "average" size of the bass caught,  by the large majority of anglers, in the very same lakes I'm getting these 8 to 12's in, is ususally "considerably less than 3 lbs".... Yes, read that again, "less than most of the average sizes listed by the posters above". Hmmmm......

Granted, any of the guys fishing in my area, and also, any of you guys, could catch the fish which average 8 to 12 lbs too. They / you would just have to fish specifically for the 8 to 12 lb plus fish.  

Yes, we have lots of big fish here. Most guys just don't catch them, least wise with any regularity.

Peace,

Fish

[Fish Chris]

I started thinking about a few 4 to 6 lb 'dinks' that snuck in there and got a hold of my Hud, when I wasn't looking :-) Often, I will hardly remember those catches by the end of the trip....

But anyway, if I must include those in my average, I guess it would put me solidly in the 8 to 10 spot... So I just voted for that choice.

Peace,

Fish

[Rattlinrogue]

For the whole year,I'd vote 2-4 pounds.In the mid to late spring,I caught two 8's, two 7's,and a bunch of 3-6 pounders.In the last two weeks,I'm struggling to not get skunked.The winter fish were mostly smaller fish.

[Fish Chris]

Getting skunked is okay ! :-) Enjoy the weather, the water, the sky, the trees...... and that monster freaking bass when you finally put her in the boat :-)

"Not getting skunked" is more than it is cracked up to be :-)

The king of skunks,

Fish Chris

[senko_77]

WOW.  I must suck at fishing.  On an average most of my fish are in the 1-2lb range.  Im not really an in between fisherman.  I usually will catch them up to around 3lbs.  then i wont catch many in the middle, and then i get monster.  My tourny fishin partner mike never catches monsters, but consistently catches them in the 3-6lb range.  But it sounds like I may be fishing at the wrong lakes, because i never go out and have days were most of my fish are over 2lbs.  

[Bankbeater]

Where I am 2-4 is about the average size. Anything over 5 is an eye popper.

[senile1]

WOW.  I must suck at fishing.  On an average most of my fish are in the 1-2lb range.  Im not really an in between fisherman.  I usually will catch them up to around 3lbs.  then i wont catch many in the middle, and then i get monster.  My tourny fishin partner mike never catches monsters, but consistently catches them in the 3-6lb range.  But it sounds like I may be fishing at the wrong lakes, because i never go out and have days were most of my fish are over 2lbs.  

Are you sure you're not underestimating the weight of your fish?  I know most people think that anglers overestimate the weight of fish and this is probably true in many cases, but I generally don't weigh a fish that isn't longer than 20 inches because I know it's not going to compete with my personal best, and I am not a tournament fisherman who needs to know the weight of every fish for culling purposes.  I used to estimate all my 17 and 18 inch fish as no more than 1 - 2 lbs until I checked out the fish calculator when I joined the forums on this site.  A chunky 18 inch fish can break 3 lbs.  I've caught quite a few 18 - 20 inch fish this year and weighed a few.  A few of the 18 inch fish broke the 3 lb mark.  

[Crabcakes]

8 inches to 3 pounds is the normal, toss in a couple of 4-5 pound fish on a good day

What he said. I'd say this puts my average fish at a little over 2lbs because the dinks offset the 4-5lb fish.

[p-funk]

WOW. I must suck at fishing. On an average most of my fish are in the 1-2lb range. Im not really an in between fisherman. I usually will catch them up to around 3lbs. then i wont catch many in the middle, and then i get monster. My tourny fishin partner mike never catches monsters, but consistently catches them in the 3-6lb range. But it sounds like I may be fishing at the wrong lakes, because i never go out and have days were most of my fish are over 2lbs.

I'm right there with you.  Most of the bass I catch are in between the 1-2lb range.  Add in some 3 and 4lbers and the occasional 5 to 8lbers.  

[bassmasta7]

WOW. I must suck at fishing. On an average most of my fish are in the 1-2lb range. Im not really an in between fisherman. I usually will catch them up to around 3lbs. then i wont catch many in the middle, and then i get monster. My tourny fishin partner mike never catches monsters, but consistently catches them in the 3-6lb range. But it sounds like I may be fishing at the wrong lakes, because i never go out and have days were most of my fish are over 2lbs.

Same here, my average day is 1-3lbs. And then about once every five trips i will catch a 5lber and bigger.

[wacky rig]

If I were to guess-

50%  1/2 - 2  

40%   2 - 4    ;D

9%    5 - 7    

1%   8 - 10   8-)

0%     11+     :-[ : :-X........I can dream about it, can I?

If the pollster meant the average weight of the combine fish caught, then it would be around 2-2 1/2#s.

If the pollster meant which weight catagory do you catch more fish in than any other, then a 2# and under catagory should be added because that's where most of the bass fisherman would be.