What Weight Is A "Good Bass"

[roadwarrior]

I know when you are not catching fish, any weight is a "Good Bass". But the question is, "Where do you draw the line?"

We have all caught little bass that fought like a tiger, but I think the body mass comes into play at about 3 lbs. That's where I draw the bottom line, but for me a "Good Bass" is 5 lbs.

[stratoscaster]

I think this could be realitive to where you live.  If the bite is tough they're all good fish.  I'd say in Fl I get excited about 6 pounds or more.

[Keithscatch]

All depends my friend. Like you said if nothing then anything is a good fish. In a tournament anything over the legal size is a GOOD fish. For fun fishing I used to think a 5lber was a good fish but that was in Texas. Here in NE Florida I think a 2lber is a good fish. Fishing is just not that great over this part of Florida. I am actually moving further south at the end of this month so soon I hope to be back up to the 5lb thing being a GOOD fish.

I could add to this and ask what weight is a Picture fish? Again in Texas where I used to live I have caught so many 5lbers and less that I never took any pictures of them. It would have to be 6lbs or better for me to bother even taking pictures. Here I would say a 3lber will get a picture.

[Matt Fly]

A good fish is one that has a story or memory behind it.     The only fish of the day.    A freak catch on the backlash while I was picking it out.    

Your kids first fish, or first bass.        3-5 lb fish are good chunks anywhere.

6-9 lbers are kicker fish, and the others are hawgs, or she-pigs.

But then again, I'm from southern waters.

Matt.

[Dane]

Being from the north, in my boat a 3lb bass will get a "nice fish" comment from the fishing buddy, a 5lb bass will get a picture,  and anything over 6 will get a picture and a memory.

[-Drums-]

For me I'd say:

2 - 3 lbs. =  pretty good fish

5 - 7 lbs. = really, really good fish

7+ lbs. = great fish

I say this having never caught one over 6, and I live in northern Virginia.

[CJ]

I agree with Matt-Fly,any fish that gives you a memory.As far as what I consider a "good fish",I think a 4 lb. LM or a 3 lb. SM.That's where I draw the line.Anything over 6#'s is a toad here in the midwest.

[Valascus]

For me, I would break it down like this being in MO and having limited time and places to fish.

2-3 lbs = Average Fish

3-4 lbs = Good Fish

4-5 lbs = Great fish

5 lbs and over = Excellent Fish

I rarely get to fish waters where fish bigger than three pounds are a common catch. most places I fish 1 1/2 to 2lbs bass are very commonplace. If I catch a 3 I feel like i have accomplished something. I am to the point now where I am starting to feel the urge to "hunt" for larger fish.

[Siebert Outdoors]

2-3 lbs = good fish

3-4 lbs = thats what I'm talking about

4-5 lbs = Oh baby

5 lbs -6lbs = OMG thats a good one.

6+ is when you do the white guy dance in the boat

[K_Mac]

2-3 lbs = good fish

3-4 lbs = thats what I'm talking about

4-5 lbs = Oh baby

5 lbs -6lbs = OMG thats a good one.

6+ is when you do the white guy dance in the boat

Yep

[BassProKevin]

2-3 lbs = good fish

3-4 lbs = thats what I'm talking about

4-5 lbs = Oh baby

5 lbs -6lbs = OMG thats a good one.

6+ is when you do the white guy dance in the boat

what he said...only im not white

[Raul]

Anything under 8 pounds is a dink, period !  

[K_Mac]

Anything under 8 pounds is a dink, period !

I think maybe my southern friend you have been in the sun too long! ;D ;D ;D

[BASS fisherman]

It all depends on what strain of bass your looking for.  If it is Florida strain, I would say 9-10 pounds is a "nice bass" .  If it is a northern strain, around 5-6 pounds is a "nice bass"  I just started targeting smallmouth, so I really don't know, but I'd say that 5-6 pounds for smallies as well.

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

a 2 pounder pathetic as it may seem is a good fish on the island de long, anything better is exciting to quite exciting, the fishing pressure is real bad, im really thinking about moving to upstate ny in a few years, more lakes and less people, with more of a wild life scene available, just my .02 cents

[Lane]

I would think that it would depend on the state and the species of bass. Here in

South Texas, the largemouth bass can get BIG!  Our southern lakes like Choke Canyon,

Falcon and Amistad have BIG LUNKERS! A decent largemouth is around 6lbs,

a good largemouth is around 8lbs, a 10lb largemouth is GREAT bass, over 11lbs is

a trophy. We don't have any smallmouth bass this far south, too HOT!

Now, in Mexico you can catch 10lb largemouth bass pretty often! That is probably why Raul

calls anything less than 8lbs, "a dink". The warm climate makes for a longer growing

season, and combined with a tilapia diet, they can get big FAST!!!!!!!!!!! Thats my

opinion.

[rocknfish9001]

Ive caught so many 3 lbers, i dont even usually take a picture. 4 lbs. is something special, and 5 lbs. is really big, i have only caught 2 5lb bass. For smallies, they have to be over 4lbs. for me to start getting excited. Near the dam where i fish, ill catch a 14 inch smallie and everybody along the shoreline thinks im some master angler, you really need to use the right presentation and everybody uses cranks, and they dont always work. When i caught my pb smallie, around 4 lbs, somebody even asked me if they could hold it, seeing that they never seen a bass that big there.

[Raul]

The funny part Lane is that even though they are there not many people catch them and many times it can be really hard to connect with them, I haven 't landed a 10 pounder in the last 2 years  :-/.  The closest I was to one was about a month and a half ago.

I don 't think a 10 pounder justifies homicide cuz those were the urges I got when my partner struck it with the net like if it were a dang tennis ball.  >

[pondhopper]

Humm, I have often wondered if other angles draw such lines, or if was just me. 4lbs here, but I've never met a fish i didn't like.

[Lane]

Raul, what are you throwing at them?  The US team slayed them down

in Mexico last month. Jeff, whose team won the tournament told me that

he lost count of the 10lb bass that were brought in.

I really think that the next World Record largemouth will come from Mexico.

Hopefully, it can be certified!  If you throw plastics, shoot me an e-mail and

maybe I can hook you up.

I did not quite understand the homicide part of the post. Maybe you can explain

it to me. Most guys try to practice Catch, Photo and Release of the big trophies.

The replica mounts are better anyway. If you catch one over 11lbs during the

Share A Lunker season, the Texas Parks and Wildlife will pick her up take her

back to the hatchery in Athens for spawning. You get a replica for free, plus

awards,etc.

[roadwarrior]

Raul was thinking about killing his compadre for knocking off the fish, not the bass!

[Lane]

Got it! Thats what I thought that he was saying, but I was not sure!

Thanks!

[Alpster]

In our area 4 or 5 lbs is a great fish. Anything over 6 is a hawg. Double digits don't happen. The state record LM is 10 lbs 14 oz. I get excited with anything over 3. I've caught several over 5 & a couple over 6. Lots of high fives and attaboys when that happens. In the tournament I fished last week, 5lbs  12oz took the Lunker prize.

Ronnie

[jomatty]

for me anything over 3 lbs is a nice fish although i dont break out the scales and camera unless i think its at least 5.  it dosent matter to me if a fish weighs 3.5 or 3.8 but my PB is under 6 pounds so i weigh all fish that are over 5 to get an exact weight

matt

[Raul]

What you have heard is true Lane, but it 's true half-ways, yes the stories of big bass down here are real but it doesn 't apply to all the country, there are big bass meccas, El Azucar, Vicente Guerrero, El Cuchillo, El Salto, Baccarac are the ones you hear the most and are the names that get coverage. In the rest of the country lakes are not baby sitted like those lakes so a catching a 10+ is not as easy as one may think if all you hear are stories of loonkers jumping into the boat on their own.

The fish I catch the most are between 10 inches and 3 pounds, throw in some 4-6 pounders on a really good day, fish of that size are so abundant that you have to catch a big bunch before you can step into a goodun.

If I commit myself into catching something really good I can do it, the problem is that my partners get bored with the "hunt", we take fishing seriously but the plan is to enjoy catching fish and having fun, so I go with that mentalilty, I prefer to have fun catching truckloads of smaller fish, everybody gets fun, everybody is happy at the end of the day than having my compadre and my nephew with a long face all day long.