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

[NorcalBassin]

Sorry to run this thread backwards, but how did you work yourself up from the dinks a lot of us are getting to the 5 pounders in a couple years? My PB is 6 lbs, so I unfortunately have nothing to offer.

[pudmunk]

It was a stfu moment, however he handled it like a true pro, and the doubter did to. Good people, great site.

Awesome pictures sir. You look like a true fisherman

[32251]

Sorry to run this thread backwards, but how did you work yourself up from the dinks a lot of us are getting to the 5 pounders in a couple years? My PB is 6 lbs, so I unfortunately have nothing to offer.

Again here is the story...my brother lives on this 50 acre lake in alabama. He has multiple myeloma (blood cancer) and a bad heart. He has just been hanging on for the last few years. We did not get to spend much time together over the past 30 years or so. When I found out how sick he was I started driving over from Atlanta to see him at least every other week just to hang with him and give him some company and reconnect with him as brothers. He was a heck of a good fisherman, bass tourn. trophies on the wall....   That lake is full of nice fish, bass crappie, cats, bream and well managed. Private only to the homes on it and not fished much at all. The bass are so finicky!!!  They have so much to eat and the Fla. strain of bass  that is stocked there  have a tendency to shy away from lures after about 8 to 10 years so the research I have read goes. He is too sick to fish anymore with me, so while he sleeps i hop in the little pontoon and fish.  I tried every type of lure and presentation and just stayed skunked or just an occasional fish for years. The only for sure bite was when the fish had the shad herded up and were busting though them. You could throw ANYTHING though them and get a bite. It is remarkable to watch them get on the outsides of the shad and herd them into the shallows against a bank and then as if a switch goes off make their runs through them. Anyway one night I am on the dock and just decide to hit the lake in the dark.  Best move I ever made!!  Found a color...black over red shad in a worm called Big Bopper by Netbaits.  Looks like a ribbed Senko with a curl tail.  I just started beating the banks.  Texas rig, cast to the bank and twitch it out about 6 or 8 feet and that is all! Dont even waste my time fishing it back to the boat. I keep a hat bill light on my hat. I raise up my rod almost straight up and just twitch and wait a sec. With the rod tip up, I can feel any "tic" that is telegraphed down the line. Get a hookset, turn on the hatlight and get the fish in.  After a while you learn to ignore the hits on the line from the bats that fly around...the rod is a sideways tic from them. Anyway I began to catch fish that way at night on a regular basis and then during the day I also caught fish the same way.  I want to start trying a big black spinner bait at night, since I have heard of guys using that approach with good luck.

Anyway I am catching them on a good basis getting skunked just very rarely now.  I know that there are big bass in there from having caught a 10 pounder one winter and having talked to some of the people who live around the lake.  It is not that I am tired of catching what I am catching....I just want to devote some time to targeting big bass and doing what I need to in order to try to get a big bite.  I do believe that you can catch a big fish no matter what you use, but that is not the norm.  You have to really concentrate on them, and be willing to spend amounts of time with no return just waiting and hoping for that bite. I am to the point where my patience is good enough to try.  I was not there before.