So for the last 3 or 4 years (with the exception of this year), I have been only targeting BIG fish when I bass fish. I fished swimbaits (primarily rainbow trout color) from 6-8 inches, 12 inch powerworms, and a lot of 4-6 inch live sunfish and fallfish. It was hard at first going from catching tons of bass every trip (usually 
) to getting 2 bites a trip if I was lucky. In 2011, I caught 24 bass total, all year. But the smallest was tad under 4 pounds, and the average was close to 5.5 pounds. I caught a few 6 and 7 pounders.
What other guys exclusively fish for big bass? Do you have any tips? I'd say my best tip is don't be intimidated by big swimbaits. When I first saw a 7 inch swimbait, I thought "theres no way that thing would ever catch a bass!". But they do, and they catch big bass!
Live sunfish too. I was looking through past posts and found a bunch of posts about using live perch and 'gills for bait (I'm talking about you, Muskiebigfish!
). They work! A big hook through the lips or under the dorsal fin, and let it swim.
I mainly fish big, deep ponds where I know there are big bass. Spot Pond and Horn Pond are my main spots. Everyone knows Spot has a potential MA record bass in it, and Horn is very underrated. I saw a post a while ago where a lot of people were saying there are no big bass in Horn... Not true! There are some bigguns in there!!
So I'm interested to here which would you rather do - Fish exclusively for big bass, and catch 20 or 30 bass a year that are all huge, or fish for whatever bass bite, and run into a few lunkers, but have to weed through hundreds of dinks before you find them? I took an "off year" from targeting big bass this year, and am not sure about next season. I'm leaning towards throwing 8 inch swimbaits again - my best bass this year was only about 4.5
) to getting 2 bites a trip if I was lucky. In 2011, I caught 24 bass total, all year. But the smallest was tad under 4 pounds, and the average was close to 5.5 pounds. I caught a few 6 and 7 pounders.
What other guys exclusively fish for big bass? Do you have any tips? I'd say my best tip is don't be intimidated by big swimbaits. When I first saw a 7 inch swimbait, I thought "theres no way that thing would ever catch a bass!". But they do, and they catch big bass!
Live sunfish too. I was looking through past posts and found a bunch of posts about using live perch and 'gills for bait (I'm talking about you, Muskiebigfish!
). They work! A big hook through the lips or under the dorsal fin, and let it swim.
I mainly fish big, deep ponds where I know there are big bass. Spot Pond and Horn Pond are my main spots. Everyone knows Spot has a potential MA record bass in it, and Horn is very underrated. I saw a post a while ago where a lot of people were saying there are no big bass in Horn... Not true! There are some bigguns in there!!
So I'm interested to here which would you rather do - Fish exclusively for big bass, and catch 20 or 30 bass a year that are all huge, or fish for whatever bass bite, and run into a few lunkers, but have to weed through hundreds of dinks before you find them? I took an "off year" from targeting big bass this year, and am not sure about next season. I'm leaning towards throwing 8 inch swimbaits again - my best bass this year was only about 4.5
I have pretty much gotten to the same point. I am generally only trying to get big bass when I go out also. I'd rather catch 1 or 2 big bass all day than catch 25 dinks. I haven't taken it to the level where I am completely willing to ride or die with a big swimbait all day but I generally search for heavy cover and punch and throw frogs like creaturefiend said. I hit a lot of bog ponds or ponds that don't have big boat access. I have however had some good luck on some big ponds also. I'll also throw the jig and pig as big as I can get away with. I just hate the feeling that I get when I feel a bite and hook into a fish only to realize that it is a dink! Lol
Interesting thread. I also would not be happy with a one or two fish outing. Catching tons of dinks gets old too. I try to compromise and target fish in the 2-4 pound range, finessing with larger baits, creatures, beavers and jigs. Not so many worms, haven't used a senko in 5 years. Works for me.
I got this sick honey hole i fish almost every day in the summer, I caught over 100 bass this summer, but the average was probably 1 pound, biggest was only 3.5 pounds, I lost a few lunkers probably 4+ pounds. I caught many big pickerel! Average being 3.5 pounds, not one under 18", biggest being 24" 4 pounds. Catching a bunch of small dinky bass does get boring but I would always throw out a sexy frog on top of the lily pads and that really gets the hogs hungry, problem was they would always dive into and under the pads and I couldn't get them out hence I was shore fishing, so I always lost the big ones...
yea catching dinks all day aint no fun,but getting skunked all day isnt fun.
i throw jigs punch and frogs for pigs but i still get 2-4 lbsers but i still got the chance at a hawg.
find places that arent heavly fished also helps as well.
bogs are the most underated big bass producers. they are the king of these ponds. eat pickerel,perch,sunnies,crappies,mice birds,snakes,frogs what ever they can get.
i throw jigs punch and frogs for pigs but i still get 2-4 lbsers but i still got the chance at a hawg.
find places that arent heavly fished also helps as well.
bogs are the most underated big bass producers. they are the king of these ponds. eat pickerel,perch,sunnies,crappies,mice birds,snakes,frogs what ever they can get.
Im real tempted to try the bigswimbait deal!
But jigs and punching (when heavy cover is available) are my favorite to throw.
But i dont think i can fight the urge to try a big swimbait much longer
Just go for it!! I never thought I would start, and at first I caught noothing. But after you have a day where you catch 3 five plus pound bass in a few hours, you never go back!
I like jigs and frogs, but I pretty much committed to the big swimbaits. I still got too many 1 pounders on them.
And I agree that even most small ponds and lakes have that one or two big (usually 5-7 lbs.) bass, but I'd rather fish a big, deep lake where I know there are tons of 5+ pounders.
yea catching dinks all day aint no fun,but getting skunked all day isnt fun.
i throw jigs punch and frogs for pigs but i still get 2-4 lbsers but i still got the chance at a hawg.
find places that arent heavly fished also helps as well.
bogs are the most underated big bass producers. they are the king of these ponds. eat pickerel,perch,sunnies,crappies,mice birds,snakes,frogs what ever they can get.
Funny you mention that because that's where I fish, theres a big 5 minutes from my house, which is where I catch a lot of bass.
Like these?
haha rich pushing his product btw rich how much?? @bassturds is so right bog ponds are so underrated just don't go to mine lol i know the pond that the record came out of supposedly, 2 different sources have confirmed it, rich might know my bog pond area id love to get on atwood 
haha rich pushing his product btw rich how much?? @bassturds is so right bog ponds are so underrated just don't go to mine lol i know the pond that the record came out of supposedly, 2 different sources have confirmed it, rich might know my bog pond area id love to get on atwood
Baits are $60 each. they come with owner hooks, stainless steel hardware, 2x strong split rings and a spare tail
