Bigger Bass???

[Lane]

Larger bass are DEFINATELY more aggressive than their smaller counterparts! This last

weekend, I assisted with the fizzing and care of the largemouth bass at the BassChamp

opener on Lake Amistad here in South Texas. It was a rodeo, 1,800lbs of bass were brought

to the scales on Saturday, and 95% had to be fizzed. When I saw the winning sack of

34lbs come to the scales, I knew that I was in for some trouble! The big bass was 10lbs,

and all of the big fish were deep caught and needed to be fizzed. When the sack was dumped

into my section of the tank, I lipped the 10lb bass so that I could get my syringe and needle

down the throat. That big girl put a jaw lock on my left thumb. I could feel my warm blood

squirting into the mouth of the bass, which made the big bass exert more pressure on my

thumb. It seemed like an eternity before I was able to get her to release my thumb. Blood

was squirting everywhere, and it really freaked quite a few people out. The smaller bass were

easy, and rarely put up a fight. Survival is a priority for the big bass. Also, most of the

smaller bass were caught closer the banks than the bigger bass. One of the 7lb bass regurgitated

a partially digested 3/4lb bass. The less experienced smaller bass do enter into large bass

territory, but they run the risk of ending up as a meal for the larger bass. Older, larger bass

do not tolerate competiton or intrusion in their home range from competing preditors. This behavior has

been well documented. It would be interesting to know how much PSI (pounds per square inch)

a big bass exerts during an aggressive attack. By the condition of my thumb, it is probably a

significant amount of pressure for it's size!

[Chris]

*Here is some of an old post I did.

You need to find something different from the rest and that is what will hold a trophy. It is unique features that hold trophy fish and a big bass will defend it also so your only fishing for lone solitary fish. A big fish will take up the best house he can find because he is king as long as it has everything that it needs it might stay there year after year and might not travel far from it unless things change. Either the food source moved or was depleted or the cover/ structure content drops off. Sometimes if you have a small weed patch that is a different color because it is at a different stage of growth will draw a trophy. If you have a large flat with nothing on it and you stick a brush pile on the edge not far from the drop off you stand a high percentage chance of drawing a big fish. Why? You just gave a bass everything it needs. The flat is its hunting ground and spawning area, the brush pile is its home when it is inactive and is an irregular feature different that the surrounding area, the drop off gives is its escape route from danger and a place to go to when conditions are sour and the drop edge is a highway to a new home if needed. This is the kind of stuff you need to be looking for and the questions you need to ask each time you find something is are all the needs for the trophy bass met. This also weeds out most of a given area or lake and lets you focus on high percentage areas. Take a hard look at the cover or structure and ask yourself what is the natural flow of bait and if I was a big bass where would I position and which direction would I be pointing to intercept this flow of bait. Big bass hide and ambush and know the difference between natural flow and unnatural flow. If you don't bring your bait from the right direction and the right depth a big bass will never hit because the way he is positioned is in such a way that he will nail something with a 90% success rate. A big bass wants to surprise its prey not scare it away and will not move far to expend to much energy if it doesn't need to. It would rather wait for the next dummy to run by. You will tempt a larger fish with a big bait more often because of the energy expended is worth the reward. The same will hold true with any bait of any size if it is fished right. When a trophy has found its home you can bank on it being there year after year. Most people either hook a trophy because it was looking for a better home range and in transition or the fishermen had stumbled onto the trophies feeding area most guys that only catch trophy bass in the spawn. Very few people ever locate their home.

[Guest avid]

Interesting question for DH.  I'm sure he will give an answer to that one.

I have a feeling that Big bass are pretty dominant critters.  They will occupy the best cover, they will hunt in the prime areas at the most opportune times.  If you can really get to know a lake over several years and understand it's natural features, I can see how you could pattern the big bass from season to season.

Kind of like what experienced big buck deer hunters do.

[Doghouse.]

i agree with randall and matt the spot i cought my 41lb sack today from was the size of a bass boat

[Randall]

i agree with randall and matt the spot i cought my 41lb sack today from was the size of a bass boat

Not only that but I have caught the same bass (your biggest one) multiple times on that spot. That same bass was caught and released last winter by two buddies after I had caught it multiple times and swam back across the lake around two miles to its home. I believe your other big fish has been caught by my clients and myself three other times but was hard to tell from my photos but I am 99% sure its the same fish. One other time I have caught both fish at the same time on that spot. I will post photos in another post proving this. You can tell by the markings and the fact that I know exactly where you caught it that its the same fish. Big bass are predictable!

[Randall]

Here is your 10lb fish from yesterday.

[Randall]

Here's our buddys Dave and Chris last winter with your (My pet) fish. If you look real close at the lateral line markings etc. you can see its the same fish. I saw them catch it on exactly the same spot I took the photo at the ramp and it came back to the spot two miles away for you to catch it.

[Okeechobee_Cracker]

Dang Nice fish lol ;D