OK I can catch plenty of 3-5lbers how to make the move to the big ones??

[iceintheveins]

I would use bigger, more realistic baits fished slooowly, and also right in whatever cover is on the lake. Nighttime can be good, but concentrate mostly on mornings and evenings. During the middle of the day, fish the deepest areas of the lake with a 1/4 ounce sliding sinker on a carolina rig, tipped with a 6" or a 9" lizard.

[jignfule]

Hellbenderman.....the lake is not pressured at all.....very underfished.

O.K. I'll meet you in the morning bout 6:00 but I got to get back to work bout 10:00 ;D P.S. I'll bring the fish I caught today. we can use them for bait :-[

[Raul]

Hellbenderman.....the lake is not pressured at all.....very underfished.

At my cousin 's and friend 's ponds fish seldomly see a lure, actually I 'm one of the very few persons that fish them and when I began fishing them I must have caught every single dink in them over and over again for several years, the biggest fish I caught must have been tops 3 lbs, I knew there were big fish in them because they have been stocked for many years still the big fish were nowhere to be seen until I changed baits, presentation and location, that 's how I caught my first 10 pounder.

So the fact that there 's very little pressure doesn 't mean much, bigger fish won 't bite your baits just beacuse they don 't see baits oftenly.

[WRB]

Thread fin shad move into cover as the sun goes down and move out when the sun raises. Cover is anything that the shad can hide in; underwater brushes like flooded willows, small trees that hang over the water edge, Christmas trees planted by fisherman any weed beds, moored boats and boat docks. Follow the shad and the bass will be close. The small lake will or may have an aeration system near the dam, any structure or cover nearby will hold big bass.

Big bass tend to target the most available prey and don't waste a lot of energy chasing prey; they locate at the prime locations where the prey comes to them.

You may want to invest in an aerated live bait bucket and long handle shad net. Fish with live shad during the post spawn to summer transition (now) to learn where the big bass are located. Underspins with a baby fluke in shad colors, little Georges, structure spoons and drop shot soft plastics are good lures as an alternate to live shad.

I'm not promoting live bait, however if the bass are targeting thread fin shad, "candy" for bass, then lures will take a lot of skill and patients to catch big bass with.

The only way bass can grow big is to get a good start on growth when they are small. Too many small bass will stunt the growth of all the bass in a small lake or pond. Harvest some of the 12 to 14 inch bass, it will help in the long run.

WRB

[urban_angler28]

if you can catch 5 pounders like that then you should be on espn every weekend. lets get some pics every week then cus I'm smelling bs. if i was catching them like you said i would be showing them off.

[32251]

if you can catch 5 pounders like that then you should be on espn every weekend. lets get some pics every week then cus I'm smelling bs. if i was catching them like you said i would be showing them off.

One of many....ye of little faith..

[roadwarrior]

Great come-back! Nice fish, too.

This is a very informative thread. It seems to me that we can

boil it down to structure and lures. I know they say location is

everything, but...

In a 50 acre pond, I suspect the bass move around a bit more

than you might think. Although my ponds certainly have "spots"

that consistently hold big bass, I occasionally get surprised!

So, for my money we're back to lures and presentation. The

evidence suggests a strong preference for shad. Solution:

Mattlures Baby Bass. Secondly, a big "bottom" presentation:

GMAN 3/4 oz Mop jig with a Rage Tail Lobster trailer. Jigs may

not always be the best choice on any given day, but they produce

everywhere, all of the time.

And one more thought...You may have seen Big O's post

from a recent outing. Dude "got lucky" fishing a Thumper.

I think you should be fishing his big worm, too!

8-)

[VAfishin4me]

excellent post

you have a very unique lake at your disposal compared to the ones I typically get to fish

I think the best advice so far would be to follow Catt and WRB's logic; this seems to be focusing on structure and location first to find the big fish. It sounds like you have already narowed down some great places to start in the deeper areas and springs. Lures and presentation should be a secondary concern, use what you have already been catching the larger ones on. IMO any size bass from a 1 pounder to a 14 pounder will bite a senko or zoom trick worm.

[tyrius.]

if you can catch 5 pounders like that then you should be on espn every weekend. lets get some pics every week then cus I'm smelling bs. if i was catching them like you said i would be showing them off.

He's fishing a lake that is fertilized and actively managed.  Not that difficult to believe that it will produce larger than average fish.

One should think before speaking 

[32251]

You guys here know me. I did not fish for 35 years when I started back a couple of years ago. Everything I have learned that has gotten me to this point I learned off this board and from my brother who lives on this lake. I have reached a plateau fishing there....went from catching squat to being consistent. Now I want to move up and i appreciate the info here!!! Slow seems to be the word.....bigger offereing too. I am going to anchor shallow on the drop off I know of at the old railroad cut and set the front of the little 10ft pontoon boat facing the drop off and then I can cast in three directions covering deep and the ledge from three sides of the boat. I might even use two rods and let one just be a dead stick, turning the reel handle once every 5 mins or so. I am going to start out with some big Manns jelly worms that they just came back out with...BIG....I have a couple of different colors.

Here is a another fish....

[32251]

more fish so the BS sniffers will believe

Letting a nice one go well over 5. Anytime you can stick your whole hand in his mouth to get to the hook....that is a nice fish!

[32251]

nice one...4 or 5... i need a scale

[32251]

another one....All large fish are always released.

[senile1]

Ah, yes . . . . . I bear witness to the snuffing of the sniffers. 

[32251]

Here is a stringer of harvested fish. This is the neighbors dock. If you look in the background you will see a blue barrell in the water. This is where I have to keep my fish over night. If I leave them on the stringer next to the pontoon, there are some HUGE snappers that will eat what they can hold....maybe an otter too. Like I said, the lake is underfished and the management company sent out a letter to the residents asking them to please remove as many fish under a couple of pounds as they wanted.  It has taken me two+ years of fishing to get to the point where I can be assured of catching fish all the time.  I was skunked so many times you would not believe it, looking at these pics.  I learned why my Dad was never a bass fisherman....always fished for crappie and catfish....he wanted to bring home fish to eat!!! Bass were a challenge! 

[urban_angler28]

look dude im sorry for calling you out on your post. ive just been in a crap mood cause life sucks right now for me. being laid off and my fiancee leaving me earlier this year just makes me feel like i cant do anything right. and those little 1 or 2lbers i catch are the only thing that keeps me from going over the edge. i guess i took it like you being ungrateful for that quality. good luck catching those big ones. 

[32251]

Thats ok man...life is like that.  Fishing takes the edge off of it for me.  Best to you in this butt lick time that a lot of folks are going through.  No hard feelings at all. Tomorrow is another day.

[evrgladesbasser]

look dude im sorry for calling you out on your post. ive just been in a crap mood cause life sucks right now for me. being laid off and my fiancee leaving me earlier this year just makes me feel like i cant do anything right. and those little 1 or 2lbers i catch are the only thing that keeps me from going over the edge. i guess i took it like you being ungrateful for that quality. good luck catching those big ones.

I think you did the right thing just now..... case closed.

32251 has made his case and will seldom find a doubter again. Awesome pics, I for one am jealous

[triglet]

don't think i could add any insight to the thread.  but gotta say nice fish!!!

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Good god, thats one serious stringer.  What I wouldn't give to have a crack at that lake.

[tyrius.]

Good god, thats one serious stringer. What I wouldn't give to have a crack at that lake.

And those are the "little" ones!!!

[fishfordollars]

Amazing what a few photos will do to settle any questions. Guard that lake well and be careful what is in the background of any photos. Someone may home in on it that way.

Enjoyed the pics.

Jack

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Amazing what a few photos will do to settle any questions.

That was arguably the best internet stfu moment I've seen in a while.

I just went back and looked at those pics again.  Those are some seriously healthy looking fish.  That place looks very well managed.  Hope you get to enjoy that for a long time, 32251.

[Fat-G]

Amazing what a few photos will do to settle any questions.

That was arguably the best internet stfu moment I've seen in a while.

I just went back and looked at those pics again. Those are some seriously healthy looking fish. That place looks very well managed. Hope you get to enjoy that for a long time, 32251.

That was hilarious. I freaking love this place.

On a serious note, this is probably the most informative thread I've ever read.

[Rory_MO]

Man I wish I was fishing that lake! ;D