I did it, 50 largemouth. (Load Warning)

[cichlid fiend]

Great thread and keep on going cause it's a wonderful thing once you gain knowledge on the most chased game fish. I was brought up fishing but since 04" I started going hard with LMB! Every year I have gained more and more knowledge and went through a few phases. Like Larry said it starts out as I want to catch them, then it's I want to catch a lot of them, then it's I want to catch only big ones, and once you get there you will want to catch them how YOU want to catch them. I believe this statement a lot. Anyway good luck to you on ur quest, anything you put time in over time you will get beter at it.............

 

[pelleeklund]

Much appreciated buddy, will do.

 

[pelleeklund]

Oh yeah Newworld I threw in the 8 smallies I caught and the rock bass. All things bass my friend.

 

[StoneyRedneck]

Cool idea to take pictures of it like that. I didn't realize it was random until you said something, I just figured you got better at it.

 

[NCStateFisher]

good goin boss a good record to go for, now we just have to get you in to some bigger fish, doesnt look like any of those fish hit the 1lb mark - keep at it and keep learning, but most importantly have fun

 

[L A R R Y]

CONGRATS on hitting your goal and exceeding your goal. That is always a good feeling. The size of your catch will come in time. If you want to start targeting larger bass, go up in size of the baits you are using. Not saying that big bass will not hit a smaller lure, but the smaller fish tend to be a little more aggressive on the smaller baits. If you haven't tried plastics, get yourself some plastic stick baits. If you are on a budget, look at the Yum dingers. Be aware that when fishing plastics, you go through them alot faster. You can either T-rig them, or my favorite Wacky rig with either a piece of electrical tape wrapped around the center and put the hook through that, or use a O-ring and place the hook through that.

 

[TheFishJunky]

 

[pelleeklund]

Thanks guys. Things are slowing down a bit recently due to a lot of repair work I've been doing around the house, so I only managed to pick five more largemouths since 50. (That and it's been raining for the entire last friggin month.) If I remember right one of them was a decent size, actually I'll just post them, keep everything transparent. I have a question though. Do bass get more intelligent/discriminating as they get larger? Am I using pre-school presentations that only fool the gullible young bucks? If so, can anyone give me a tip to run with that could get those big ivy league bass to bite? I would figure out of all of these bass at least one big pig would have bit. I know the northern strain isn't on average as big as the florida, but I also know they get bigger than what I have found. Thanks again everybody.

 

[NCStateFisher]

yes bass do get a lot smarter with age, the very simplest method IMO to get a shot at big bass (and still catch em all the way down to a little under a lb) is to take a yum dinger stick bait (as suggested by Larry) or if you live near a bass pro shops or are willing to order online i prefer the BPS pro series "Stik-O". Wacky Rig it, cast out, keep an eye on your line - a lot of times bass will attack it before it hits the bottom. if nothing bites and it hits the bottom, twitch the rod tip up slightly twice, let it resink and reel in your slack, repeat. ive caught many good sized bass with this method and its fairly inexpensive if you are fishing areas with lots of snags vs losing valuable lures left and right. ive had some good success using a 3/o eagle claw weedless hook with the little clamp that keeps it weedless until hookset.

 

[pelleeklund]

Sounds good. I've seen those weedless hook setups, i'll have to check them out. The only reason I haven't used the wacky rig much is because i fish a lot of snag and scum filled ponds, but that should keep my hook from getting hung up every time. Thanks for the advice.