The Downside To Hawg Hunting

[Hook2Jaw]

I am but a fledgling in both numbers and big bass fishing.  I have had days where I have caught quantity as well as quality, but it has all been done in smaller waters I have figured out in the ripest of conditions.

 

As a pond and river fisherman, branching into lakes has been difficult and it's more difficult to disengage from my habits and comfort zone and target fish that are more displaced and concentrated by season.  I've been skunked several times by spotted and largemouth bass on my closest lake.

 

I look forward and hope this thread becomes an eye opening experience for me.  I would like to be capable of finding the most prime locations for both that singular giant bite and a couple really good bites.

 

All of y'all successful guys get in here and teach us squeakers how to do it!  Thanks for what's already been said, @WRB, @A-Jay, and @Team9nine.

[A-Jay]

 

37 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said:

I am but a fledgling in both numbers and big bass fishing.  I have had days where I have caught quantity as well as quality, but it has all been done in smaller waters I have figured out in the ripest of conditions.

 

As a pond and river fisherman, branching into lakes has been difficult and it's more difficult to disengage from my habits and comfort zone and target fish that are more displaced and concentrated by season.  I've been skunked several times by spotted and largemouth bass on my closest lake.

 

I look forward and hope this thread becomes an eye opening experience for me.  I would like to be capable of finding the most prime locations for both that singular giant bite and a couple really good bites.

 

All of y'all successful guys get in here and teach us squeakers how to do it!  Thanks for what's already been said, @WRB, @A-Jay, and @Team9nine.

I can relate.

Bigger water can be intimidating. For 10 years I  fished mostly smaller lakes here in Michigan from the Old Town canoe.  After getting the Pro-V bass, I was trying to make it happen on 30,000 plus acre lakes with 35 miles or more of shoreline.  I learned very quickly the importance of being able to breakdown down lake maps at home well before I got on the water.  Initially, it was quite a head scratcher.  I was trying to fish 'everything'.  That really wasn't working.  So I went back to what worked in the canoe.  I started fishing 'small' again.  Meaning, in the canoe, with only a trolling motor, I certainly wasn't moving around much, not fast or far.  So when I chose an area, I was pot commited.  Learn it and fish it.  Clearly the bigger platform I'm in now offers more, but I still need to eliminate water to find bait and bass before I can duplicate it in other areas and perhaps on other lakes close by.  Electronics can be very helpful, but I've learned not to try so hard to find The Perfect Structure.  At some point I need to actually fish the spot to see what's what.  For me it's a delicate balance; reviewing mapping, matching areas with seasonal patterns, some scouting on the water and then finally the fishing. 

 Unfamiliarity with a lake or area may require more of all of that.  Waters I can be on often can decrease the first few deals and allow for more  actual fishing, and if I'm holding my mouth right, a little catching too.

A-Jay 

[GreenPig]

I don't like big bass, they pull too hard and hurt my arms. I can't begin to tell y'all how many giant followers I had to jerk my swimbait away from. I much prefer 2 or 3 maybe even 4, two to three lbers on a 6 to 8 hour trip.

[roadwarrior]

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

I don't like big bass, they pull too hard and hurt my arms. 

Too funny!

 

[Team9nine]

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

I much prefer 2 or 3 maybe even 4, two to three lbers on a 6 to 8 hour trip.

If all I ever caught was “2 or 3 maybe even 4, two to three lbers on a 6 to 8 hour trip,” I think I would just quit bass fishing ?

[813basstard]

On 7/2/2008 at 1:02 PM, Catt said:

Many anglers assume big bass are so elusive and intelligent simply because they don't catch many of them but in most cases big bass are so elusive simply because they are so rare.

This^ times a thousand. 
You’ll find more sports cars in South Beach than you will in Antelope Oregon. Because, well, there’s physically more of them.