Topwater Bass Strikes!

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Big fish big bait....large or small if you know a big bass haunts a stump, tree, brush, etc. You can often elicite a savage strike by antagonizing or harassing him by repetive retrieves. Spooking him doesn't work of course. I've come back after discovering a good fish and after 10+ casts finally get the brut to bust it. I think it's more invading his space and anger than feeding for sure. This can work in bright sunshine when normal behavior is quite the opposite... Another point is a big bite in the hook gonna land lots more than all those lost w/lil bream bugs. I like to use midsize bugs that will get the occasional bream, make for easier casting, still have enough bite to get bucket mouth. When lots of good bream are around I use small trailer bug or wetfly about 2' behind the popper. Have caught 2 bass at once a few times.

 

What state are you in, if you don't mind me asking? Those are some nice bass!

[Guest]

M'spi...mostly state lakes.

Years ago tried to get admin to let posters have their location under usernames ... Seems like where someone is from helps on info....oh well they don't think it is relevant enough I guess. Not sure it's in the profile either....

[Guest]

With regard to toilet flush/ bowling ball...lotta poppers imitate frogs....just because a bass grabs a frog doesn't necessarily seal the deal. I think the perception/attitude of the bass reacting to the type of forage whether eating it or eliminating it determines whether all he needs to do is slurp or crash! Have you ever had one jump outa da water and grab the bug going back in?! !!! I'll take the Smack! And the bug is down his gullet rather than tryin to set the hook in the hard jaw/lip on a gentle slurp. Back to the rule don't strike till you feel the fish...

[dayhut 0]

Big fish big bait....large or small if you know a big bass haunts a stump, tree, brush, etc. You can often elicite a savage strike by antagonizing or harassing him by repetive retrieves. Spooking him doesn't work of course. I've come back after discovering a good fish and after 10+ casts finally get the brut to bust it. I think it's more invading his space and anger than feeding for sure. This can work in bright sunshine when normal behavior is quite the opposite... Another point is a big bite in the hook gonna land lots more than all those lost w/lil bream bugs. I like to use midsize bugs that will get the occasional bream, make for easier casting, still have enough bite to get bucket mouth. When lots of good bream are around I use small trailer bug or wetfly about 2' behind the popper. Have caught 2 bass at once a few times.

Skip Morris calls this spanning the Bass-Bluegill Lap.

There is a size range in baits and lures that appeals to both - it's an overlap.

I tend to stay there too, especially in crankbaits.

[elderbarry 0]

Way back in another life, a lady talked me into taking 3 adventurous boys out to a ranch her ex owned. It was called the Miami Ranch and during the winter they stabled thoroughbreds until it was time to go racing. So anyway, I took the kids and their fishing gear out for a weekend of fishing lessons. The training track was surrounded by a nice canal with lilypads, ald all kinds of reeds and such. Two of the boys did pretty well but one was plainly a "city" boy. He put his bedroll on a fireant bed! They insisted on releasing their bass, all in the one or two pound range. They wanted me to catch "dinner". I went to the south end of the track with my flyrod and the boys insisted on watching as my bluegill sized bumblebee popper disappeared in the mouth of some kind of fish. I took in the slack and the fish came up on the surface and scared me half to death as it was a big old sow bass, and she never made a move! I just backed away from the edge of the canal and she came along right up onto the bank. I got close enough to put my hand in her mouth and all she did was belch. I picked her up and one of the boys came running with the scale. Nine (9) pounds so we had more than we could eat! We gave half the fish to some of the cowboys. Biggest bass by far that I have caught. If you want to fish there, it's called Farm 13 out by Fellsmere here in Florida. But I don't know the GPS for what used to be the canal around the racetrack as it is all underwater. A great place to fish!

[portlyjoe 0]

I honestly dont care as long as i feel that weight. both the toilet and the bowling ball are just as exciting for me. what really churns my butter is having a quality fish drag me around in my 8' kayak

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

For me, this question is a lot like when my Dad used to take me to the barber shop as a kid to get my and his hair cut. A popular discussion for whatever group had assembled there that day was what species of fish tasted best on a dinner plate. Whenever my Dad was asked for his opinion, he'd look up in the air, and with dreams in his eyes, he'd say "Whichever one's on my plate." That pretty well sums up my take on this issue. "Whichever type of take I'm experiencing at the moment," and if I'm not experiencing it at the moment, than I'm thinking about the next time it WILL. Sometimes, it's really just not necessary to have a definitive opinion on what's "best," just so's we enjoy them ALL.

[Guest]

Had some smack some suck.... Kinda tricky or let's say the slurpers got missed more on the take than the smackers. Had some new bugs hangin around. Stopped with lil wet fly and took some brim ....

Yeh public lake and I killed these fish and ate some last nite for you c/r Natzis!!!

[Hatchet Jack 0]

Toilet bowl ?

Bowling ball ?

I'm confused.

We're fishing in the bathroom of a bowling alley?

 

[mikechell 0]

Had some smack some suck.... Kinda tricky or let's say the slurpers got missed more on the take than the smackers. Had some new bugs hangin around. Stopped with lil wet fly and took some brim ....

 

Yeh public lake and I killed these fish and ate some last nite for you c/r Natzis!!!

I've got no problem with some selective harvesting and eating a few fish. But you do seem to have exceeded your legal limit. That's nothing to do with c&r ... but it IS poaching.

[Rocco 0]

I rarely fish flies for LMBs anymore just for SMBs.

 

Way back when I was using casting gear we fished Back Bay, the upper end of Albemarle Sound on the VA/NC border. Big water but way shallow --2-3 feet deep most everywhere -- and brackish which made for dense weed growth. The only open water were boat channels where prop blades 'mowed' their way through.

 

The mojo then was casting weedless Johnson Silver Minnows with plastic twister tails onto the green carpet and wriggling them back through the salad. The hits often were ferocious but the fight was reduced to a mere dragging up of weed covered fish. Many really big fish never saw the boat.

 

Rocco

[vicrider 0]

Rocco, we used to that "chew-hay fishing". We did the same thing in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

 

Denduke, as long as you stay within laws nobody has a right to bitch. However, once the freezer holds your possession limit you're on shaky ground if a warden or some jealous fisherman wants to pull a home inspection. Saw it happen a few times in Minnesota.

 

mikechell, the Lindner boys up north got on this selective harvest kick. I was fishing a bass tournament that Ron Lindner was in also. I told him I was a great believer in selective harvest. I told him if a fish selects my bait he gets harvested. He looked at me through his cigarette smoke and said, "I think that's funny...if you're kiddin'".

[mikechell 0]

I know this will be wildly off topic, but it's a story I have to relate about keeping too many fish.

When I first started this traveling job, I spent a TON of time in Houston. I got in with a bunch of anglers, most of whom jug fished for catfish. On the site, there would be daily posts about their catches. Many of them seemed to spend everyday on the water ... catching multiple dozens of fish a day.

AND ... they complained about how few of them were the "giants" of years ago. They blamed this on the grass carp that had been stocked to get rid of the hydrilla and millfoil. While I agreed that the loss of vegetation (the project had eradicated almost ALL hydrilla and millfoil in the southern part of the lake), I pointed out that their own daily takes were more to blame than the grass carp.

I tried to explain that, even if there were only ten daily anglers ... and each took 40 to 60 fish a day ... the annual number of fish taken would be well over 120,000 fish. And that number takes into account that each angler will miss many days of fishing each year. If each angler is on the water 365 days, the number climbs to over 150,000 fish.

I don't care how big the lake is ... you will see a decline in big fish with this kind of harvesting. and that's only 10 anglers. Factor in all the anglers, all the days spent on the water ... these numbers are probably very under stated.

So ... selective harvest is necessary on today's over fished waters.

[Guest]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/local-news/mississippi-outdoors_20140522145619198

[mikechell 0]

I agree with that article, Denduke. 100% C&R can result in over population. But, 0% C&R can also destroy the fishery. Mostly, these extremes affect smaller bodies of water more than larger ... but with enough anglers, even large water can be affected.

 

I think the places that do the best are those where slot limits keep the harvest selective to average fish. Smaller fish, needed to maintain population and genetic diversity ... and the largest fish that give rise to larger hatch rates, are all protected.

 

Eat up people ... just remember to only take what you can eat. Don't try to feed the whole neighborhood.