How many in a good day?

[PDB]

First off any day on the water is a good day.

A good bass fishing day depends on the body of water.  In the Louisiana marsh I have caught over 50 in a trip.  It takes about a dozen for me to consider it a good day.  In the lake I live on I need to get about 6 before it's a good day.  On the river systems, some days catching anything is good.    If bass fishing is slow, I don't mind switching over to ultra light for some pan fishing.

[Guest avid]

Can;t put on a number on it.

Tha'ts why I can only approximate how many fish I caught.

Steve P. on the other hand has a notebook where he puts hash marks for every fish boated.  I think all guys who guide are very tuned into the numbers so they can post an accurate report.

Forget what your girlfriend told you,   SIZE MATTERS!

One 5 lb or better can make up for alot of hours of no fish.

[Popeye]

Another "one is enough" guy, IF it's the right one! A nice bass, pike, or even cat if that's what I'm fishing for makes me happy (and possibly fed:o) Sure, I like to catch a mess of fish, but I don't like being "skunked" much at all.

[X-Rap]

usually about 7 or 8 will do it

[Crestliner2008]

I'm happy to wake up in the morning and find out I'm still alive!  ;D However, we are blessed here (in MA) with the Quabbin Reservoir. A pristine water supply system for Boston. With a slew of restrictions and access ONLY to fishermen with licenses, this place will make anyone's heart soar - even if you don't catch anything. I've been skunked a time or two on the Q, but an average day is about a doz. smallies between 2 - 4 lbs.; a good day would be double that. Throw in a laker, salmon or a couple of rainbows into the mix and it becomes a great day   That's not counting the numerous eagles, loons, deer and turkey you have a good chance at seeing each time out. Life can be VERY good indeed!

[Redlinerobert]

Sounds like a beautiful place Crestliner.

I also have to mention that ANY day filled with topwater action is tops with me.  

[Willzx225]

I have the tournament mentality so 5 good keepers would be a good day. 2 limits would be a very good day.  I also consider any day that I learn something new a good day.

Though a 5lber could send a so-so day into a good day in the blink of an eye (especially on Tournament day)

[tfisherman]

It's all in perception! One mans catch is another mans disappointment.

If I'm fishing for fun as long as I never feel like I'm spinning my wheels it's a good day.

If I'm on a new lake 5 or 6 good fish

Practicing for a tourney at least 5 solid fish

[HesterIsGod]

This is going to sound really REALLY cliche but,

Any time im out on the water and i can learn something new im happy. When i was really young i didnt really understand drag and why it was important, and i had it really tight. i hooked into the biggest bass of my life at that time and halfway back to the boat my line broke. I lost an awesome fish but i learned something that made me better so i can catch and land more next outing.

[garry77]

Some days even a mudfish will put a smile on my face.

[FivePoundBluegill]

There are several factors that go into this. It all depends on the type of fish I am targeting, time of year, time of day, and size of my catches.

Lets say I am fishing for bass and I go out for 4 hours and catch 10 fish and they are all dinks then it is not realy a good day. Now If I catch 20 dinks it probably would be a pretty good day. However If I go out for four hours and catch only three bass yet they are all over 5LBS that is  a better day for me than catching 20 dinks. Also if I go out bass fishing for 4 hour and catch 5-10 fish of 14 inches + then that would be a  very good day too. Usually when I fish I am not out for 4 hours though...im usually only our for about 2-3 hours at a time. I am just giving examples...

[.dsaavedra.]

Assuming I catch nothing of size 7 or 8. A 3lber counts as two fish, 4lbs =3, 5lbs=4, 6lbs=5 and 7lbs makes my fishing pants go crazy.

it is exactly the same way with me man! lots of ppl look down on 3lbers, i love em. they are above average for the places i fish......well at least out of the fish i catch. :

[Jeff C.]

ohh ya,, if it happens,, 1-- biggie makes the day great..

but..

in the early spring--3-4 fish

after the water temp gets up there-12-

late in the fall--3-4 fish..

thats on the lakes

less on the river..

[The Bass Guy]

well now that is one hell of a loaded question.. It really depends upon the type of water and where I am fishing..  Really life is strange and any day on the water is an awesome thing....  Have a great time and I hope we all catch what we need..

Duane

[Cory20]

My favorite fish are:

the few good ones that solidify a pattern

the dinks me and my friends catch, dinks are 1 point, "nice" bass are 2 to 3, pickerel and sunnies are both -1.  

the northerns that seem to show up only during tourney times

catching that pig that's been busting up the pads all evening  8-)

sometimes you're on 'em and sometimes you're not

[Davis]

how many fish do you have to catch to consider it a "good day". now i know most of you will think that its a good day even if you dont catch any or just one, but lets not be so humble. how many do you have to catch to consider it a good day that you can brag to your buddies about?

for me a good day is usually 7 or 8 bass. i dont catch much. this is usually how many usually catch whenever i go out anyway.

so how many do you guys usually catch and how many make it a good day?

For me?

If I catch nothing but one 4 lber than I'm a happy man and consider it a good day. Especially if that 4 lber is a smallie.  8-)

But if I'm catching numbers than I would say the same thing dave. 7-10 fish is a good outing for me. Especially being shore bound most of the time and only fishing a couple hours at a time.

[Wayne P.]

I have been keeping fishing records since the mid 1970's. For 2007, I averaged 32.94 bass per outing. My lowest for a day was 1 and my highest for a day was 176. I consider 25+ day a good one. I don't tournament fish anymore so size does not matter. I'd rather spend the day catching fish than just fishing. I don't keep records for other species.

[mattman]

For me it has to do with how long in between bites like some of ya'll have said. Also, for it to really be a good day i need at least on over 5.

[mattman]

176???!!!! what do you use? a gill net?

[-Drums-]

My main goal anytime I go out is to avoid the skunk.  That said, I'd generally consider 5 solid keepers (2+ lbs.) a pretty OK day.

I also have to mention that ANY day filled with topwater action is tops with me.  

No doubt! Along those lines, my best day ever was a few years ago on the Upper Potomac River in MD/VA.  My cousin and I had been out for several hours and the fishing was pretty slow (it was hot -- summer dog day).  Then at dusk we got into a smallmouth buzzbait bite that was incredible.  In one hour we caught around 40 bass (about 20 each), all in the 1.5 to 2.5 lb. range, all on top.  We were getting bit on almost every cast, sometimes multiple bites in one cast.... as in "swat -> miss, swat -> miss, SPLOOSH -> fish on!").  I'll never forget it.

[Wayne P.]

mattman, nope. It was on a newly opened to fishing lake and was the first day I fished it. I returned six days later and caught 146 bass. It was not remarkable as others duplicated it for the first couple of weeks. Gotta love fishing for those uneducated bass. I used up 4 1/2 packages of finesse worms that first day.

[mattman]

I bet that was fun, to say the least. I have caught over 100 several times on ponds and creeks that were unfished but never in a lake. that in awesome!

[Tokyo Tony]

Just one good for me will make a good day, but for the parts of the day when I'm not catching anything, I'll definitely be frustrated.

I'd say averaging a couple decent ones per hour is a good day for me, and I'm talking spring through early fall.  

If I'm shore fishing after work for a couple hours it just takes a couple decent ones for it to be a good afternoon, and a really good afternoon is 8 + or so.

Night fishing, 1 or 2 per hour is good, and night time is usually when I catch my biggest fish.

On my favorite smallie lake in NH, a good day is 50+ fish.  It's just loaded, and I love it because I can catch them using many different techniques  ;D  Can't wait til ice-out.

[Jake.]

It depends on where I'm fishing, but usually 5 good ones is a good day for me.

[Tpayneful]

Having a wife and two young boys makes all day on the lake a tough bargain!  I do spend a lot of 4 hour days on the lake.  So I like to keep track by fish per hour.  If I am at 2+ fish an hour, I am probably having a good day.

My best day was last June on the Potomac.  30+ largemouth.  4 broke the 15 inch minimum length limit for a weight of 12lbs.  I even caught two fish on one crankbait at the same time!  My parter didn't do too bad, he had about 20+ fish and one over 15 inches.