Giant Bass II 2024
WRB reply :
We all agree that Perry's 22 lb 3 oz is the bench mark world record largemouth bass and a few California giants proved that record can be broken. The question is how?
The answer to that question is; be at the right place at the right time.
I have my ideas of when the right time, what is the right lure or bait and where the right locations is.
If we look at the Perry bass; when and how it was caught and compare that to other 20+ lb giant bass, some of these questions have already been answered.
The Perry bass was caught on a jointed floating, shallow diving wooden plug, that today would be called a wake bait. Bob Crupi's bass were caught on live crawdads. Dottie was caught on swimbaits twice and snagged with a jig once. We are not sure what Ray Easly caught his 21+lb bass on, he claimed a crankbait. Mike Arugo a swimbait.
All the bass were caught during the spring or pre spawn to spawn periods.
We have limited the lure or bait choice and the time period.
Live bait, swimbait, jig and (crankbait?). Spring is the best time.
I need to run and will get back to this thread and discuse jigs, my area of expertise. Meanwhile maybe someone else can continue to add their expertise.
WRB
Marc David reply :
Nice breakdown, you did your homework with this 
Raul reply :
There is a very narrow window of time when a bass will be able to weight enough to break the record, when ? the fish has to be pretty darn close to spawn or without the weight of the eggs I seriously doubt it will weight enough, we 're talking here not about a few ounces in eggs but a good three or pounds of eggs added to a fish that otherwise would weight 19 pounds.
If I were to go on the quest the bait I would choose is thebait that has produced most of my big fish ---> jig & trailer combination. I didn 't catch my first 10 pounder with a jig, caught it with a hard jerkbait, didn 't catch my PB with a jig either, caught it with a crankbait, just ask me how many times those two baits have caught me big fish other than those two ocassions ? none, both lucked out with my first 10+ and my PB. But the jig .... ah, another story.
War Party reply :
George Perry's bass looks bigger to me.
Catt reply :
While I agree you are absolutely correct in your analysis of the time of the year I totally disagree with lure selection. Your selection was derived from the analysis of big bass hunters completely leaving out the rest of the bass fishing community. All documented surveys of big bass lures clearly shows plastic lures (worms, lizards, creatures, Senko ect.) as the hands down top producer of bass in excess of 10 pounds.
My personal opinion is that a rank amateur fishing in an almost forgotten body of water with a simple technique will break the world record.
Muddy reply :
If they are where you are fishing you can catch one, if they are not there then you can't. If you came her to Brooklyn, you could go out on the Sound and catch more huge blue fish than you ever saw, in the Atlantic, off the Lighthouse there are huge stripped bass, they happen to live there. I am not saying it takes skill but all this fuss over big Cali bass is a little over the top sometime, because by the admission of many there are plenty of big bass there, they caught more of them a while ago, which is much like the story of many Southern Impoundments in the 60 and 70's , they got hot, and backed down. I do not go under the idea that he who catches the biggest fish is the best fisherman.
WRB reply :
We can broaden this thread out to include how to catch the largest bass in any lake and local experts like Catt and Muddy can certainly add their expertise.
Giant bass where I live and fish happen to be Florida strian largemeouth bass, that is what I'm familiar with and intend to discuss.
The techniques, locations, lures, baits can be applied to any location.
The early years of giant bass fishing in SoCal started in the San Diego area because that is where the first FLMB were transplanted.
The most famous of the giant bass trophy fishermen was Bill Murphy, due in part to his book "In Pursuit of Giant Bass", a must read for bass fishermen interested in catch big bass. Bill and others quietly developed techniques that have proven very effective;giant soft plastic worms, custom hair jigs, swimbaits, live bait and deep slow trolling methods.
The early swimbaits were hand painted salt water calico bass lures that required heavy rods and big reels to cast, so most trophy fishermen slow trolled them. The Florida strain bass proved to be harder to catch on lures so the same trophy fishermen developed live bait fishing techniques based on precision anchoring. Mud suckers, waterdogs, shiners, crawdads were used.
The AC plug era introduces big trout swimbaits to the public along with the Worm King dinosaur soft rubber trout swimbait and the "tin fleet" is born. The weekend fishermen had already learned to use the San Diego anchoring technique and trophy fishermen like Bob Crupi were camped out on nearly every big bass location known. The tin boat fleet ,a large number of aluminum boats slow trolling and fishing live baits, that didn't require special tackle or great skill to catch a big bass. Mike Arugo was one of the "tin boater" that proved you could catch a giant bass.
The sight fishing era. The same group of San Diego trophy hunters also developed sight fishing techniques for bedding bass. Using large brimmed hats and wrap around polarized sun glasses and standing on raised bow platforms or standing on the rear seat of a aluminum boat and slowly trolling backwards, these fishermen moved around the shoreline for hours scouting for big bass. Using live bait they would target a giant bass.
Time to get back to work, will continue how I fish hair jigs.
WRB
Catt reply :
Excuse me I missed the part about this being a California only thread
Daniel My Brother reply :
Here's something I've wondered about for a while and would welcome your thoughts.
Around here hybrid sunfish are normally a bluegill/green sunfish mix that are considerably bigger than either pure bluegill or pure green fish. However, as the hybrids continue to interbreed they tend to get smaller and smaller until your pond is overgrown with little green sunfish.
It's been suggested that the Perry bass was a Florida/Northern hybrid. Is it possible that a Florida/Northern mix would get bigger than either a pure Florida or a pure Northern? After all, bass are just big sunfish. This would explain how the Perry bass got so big to begin with, and why no fish close to that size has been caught in Georgia since then.
Might also suggest why Cali doesn't seem to be as hot as it was not too long ago.
I'm curious what you guys think?
DMB
Fish Chris reply :
Ya' know, if this thread was about the posibility of breaking the world record, then yes, it is pretty much a California only thread. Not to say people from anywhere can't discuss it. And not "any part of" Cali either. I live way up here in Nor Cal. We have yet to document a Largemouth bass of 19 lbs or more..... while several hundred miles to the South, where WRB is from, they have documented somewhere around 20, over 20 lbs.
Granted, a genetic fluke can pop up anywhere, making it possible for a world record Largemouth to be caught at any number of places, including any of the Southern states, Mexico, and other countries as well.
However, even a fish with the right genes (or maybe the wrong ones, depending on how you look at genetic flukes) will have an easier time getting to be world record size, in a place like So Cal, with that climate, and lots of hatchery trout.
Peace,
Fish
SPEEDBEAD. reply :
WRB, please expand on the anchoring technique you mentioned in your last post.
RoLo reply :
QuoteIt's been suggested that the Perry bass was a Florida/Northern hybrid. Is it possible that a Florida/Northern mix would get bigger than either a pure Florida or a pure Northern? After all, bass are just big sunfish. This would explain how the Perry bass got so big to begin with, and why no fish close to that size has been caught in Georgia since then.
Might also suggest why Cali doesn't seem to be as hot as it was not too long ago.
I'm curious what you guys think?
DMB
It's almost a certainty that Perry's bass was an intergrade, which have a growing rather than dwindling population.
California is a whole other ballgame. Florida-strain largemouth bass were transplanted into California,
as a consequence the state is dealing with two stumbling blocks:
1) California waters undergo intense fishing pressure, significantly worse than the Southeast.
2) California's bass are subjected to an invisible stumbling-block known as "waning genetic vigor".
We first seen this phenomenon with spotted bass that were transplanted in Perris Lake, California. At the time, Lewis Smith Reservoir, Alabama held the world-record within the natural range of the spotted bass. By-and-by, a freak spot in Perris Lake, CA broke the natural world-record. Here's the sad part, today Perris Lake is a marginal spotted bass fishery at best (almost non-existent),
yet the former world-record is gone forever.
When any fish is transplanted outside its natural range, initially it enjoys burgeoning growth, similar to a new reservoir. Thereafter however, with each passing generation the chromosomes of the offspring progressively revert back. Anyone who's been watching California will have noticed that new lakes enter the limelight in turn, then fade away in turn. One of the first was Miramar, followed by Casitas, then Hodges, then Castaic and now Dixon. This is the work of waning genetic vigor, something that California will always have to deal with. In my opinion, if California finally hits the jackpot, it will likely take place on yet another newly emerging Florida-strain fishery. This is not fuel for argument, just one man's opinion.
Roger
Matt Fly reply :
Too some extent, I disagree on the amount of pressure some of those So Cal lakes receives, specially the San Diego area lakes.
Pressure on Texas lakes can be 24/7, meaning you can fish at night as well 7 days a week.
I certainly don't know current regulations on what they are allowing lakes to do these days, but sure don't see them becoming less stricter since leaving cali.
I say that because the vast majority of So Cal lakes only allow you to be on the water at sun up and off the water before sunset, no night fishing at all. The park gates won't open before sun up, so you'll always get the tail end of the morning top water and rarely get the evening top water because you are required to be off the water 30 minutes prior to sunset.
Also, some of those great lakes only open to water skiing on certain days. They used to alternate days for fishing and skiing, and that wasn't for a few years, it was basically that way for 15yrs I was stationed there.
I say that, because the majority of lakes that produced Cali's biggest bass fall under that type of management.
Most of the smaller lakes have motor restrictions and capacity limitations that have produced some of the states biggest bass. Some lakes even restrict speeds down to putt putt, ie...no boats on plane ever.
That intense pressure appears when bass are on the beds. The regulations set by the city of San Diego itself limits pressure on those lakes with red tape itself.
Imagine fishing your home lakes on odd days and skiing on even days.
To me, pressure is 24/7, not just on certain days throughout the year.
Miramar closed for years, don't remember the reason, but as of now, its open for 10 months of the year, 5mph speedlimit, and only open Sat-Tues. just a typical So Cal lake. Sunup till sundown.
Muddy reply :
A few things; I am not an expert, I am a Mook and
I do not believe that the guy with the biggest fish wins, or is the best fisherman, just doesn't do the trick for me :-?
Hammer 4 reply :
Matt, I think we have to take into account the shear number of fishermen out there when the lake are open. Yes some of the SD lake are only open certain days, but when they are,look out, the big bass boats are Flyin to get to their fave spots.
As for most LA county lakes, i.e. Castaic, Piru ect..open 7 days, and yup you can fish em at night. It would be really nice if we (my Son and I) could go to a lake, and not have 30 other people around at the same time.
BTW, there are lakes in Texas I'd love to fish..I'm no expert, nor am I a trohpy hunter.
jbass reply :
QuoteWe all agree that Perry's 22 lb 3 oz is the bench mark world record largemouth bass and a few California giants proved that record can be broken. The question is how?The answer to that question is; be at the right place at the right time.
I have my ideas of when the right time, what is the right lure or bait and where the right locations is.
If we look at the Perry bass; when and how it was caught and compare that to other 20+ lb giant bass, some of these questions have already been answered.
The Perry bass was caught on a jointed floating, shallow diving wooden plug, that today would be called a wake bait. Bob Crupi's bass were caught on live crawdads. Dottie was caught on swimbaits twice and snagged with a jig once. We are not sure what Ray Easly caught his 21+lb bass on, he claimed a crankbait. Mike Arugo a swimbait.
All the bass were caught during the spring or pre spawn to spawn periods.
We have limited the lure or bait choice and the time period.
Live bait, swimbait, jig and (crankbait?). Spring is the best time.
I need to run and will get back to this thread and discuse jigs, my area of expertise. Meanwhile maybe someone else can continue to add their expertise.
WRB
Lake Casitas: Big Bass Paradise
By Mike Blackwell
The heaviest bass ever caught at Casitas weighed 21.19 pounds, just shy of the 70-year-old world record of 22-4 set by George Perry in 1932 in Montgomery, Ga. Ray Easley caught the Casitas record on March 4, 1980, on a live crawdad.
I agree you have to be in the right place at the right time.
Jerry
WRB reply :
QuoteExcuse me I missed the part about this being a California only thread
I intended this thread to be about giant bass where ever they be located. Texas has a giant bass population second to none in numbers, if you consider a Florida strain or intergrate that exceeds 15 lbs as a giant. Northern strain LMB over 12 lbs should be consider a giant of that strain of LMB. Any spotted or smallmouth over 8 lbs is a giant in my book.
Texans, IMO, are some of the best bass fishermen anywhere and have world class bass lakes to fish.
WRB
WRB reply :
QuoteHere's something I've wondered about for a while and would welcome your thoughts.Around here hybrid sunfish are normally a bluegill/green sunfish mix that are considerably bigger than either pure bluegill or pure green fish. However, as the hybrids continue to interbreed they tend to get smaller and smaller until your pond is overgrown with little green sunfish.
It's been suggested that the Perry bass was a Florida/Northern hybrid. Is it possible that a Florida/Northern mix would get bigger than either a pure Florida or a pure Northern? After all, bass are just big sunfish. This would explain how the Perry bass got so big to begin with, and why no fish close to that size has been caught in Georgia since then.
Might also suggest why Cali doesn't seem to be as hot as it was not too long ago.
I'm curious what you guys think?
DMB
The is a difference between a hybrid and a integrate. Florida strain and northern strain LMB are very similar, cousins in the sunfish family.
Mixing two different fish species like green sunfish and bluegill or white bass and striped bass equals a hybrid. Each generation of mixed FLMB and NLMB are known as F, F1, F2, F3 etc., F being a pure FLMB.
Only the original FLMB introduced into Upper Otay, Hodges and Miramar were pure FLMB, all the others in the state, to the best of my knowledge, are F1 to F25 and counting. Castaic, Casitas were planted in 1969 with F1 to F4's and both lakes had a NLMB population when planted and still produce giants to this date. Hodges didn't have a NLMB population when the pure FLMB where planted and could still have them.
Fishermen move bass around and plant them on their own, so it's hard to say what the Perry bass was, it certainly was a one of a kind for both Florida and Georgia.
Fishing pressure is the primary cause of giant bass population collapse.
The SoCal lake are tiny, less than 2,500 acres, most less than 2 miles long. Castaic for example is within the LA city limits and is a popular water sport lake with year around daily fishing pressure, water skiing, jet skier, family runabouts and bass tournaments. Tournaments are held every weekend and nights tournaments starting in April to September. Tremendous pressure is put on the bass fishery, the result is few bass get the chance to grow to be a giant size.
The initail planted FLMB grow at the same time, so you have a high number of those bass getting big at the same time and a boom period results, followed by high fishing pressure as the word gets out.
WRB
WRB reply :
Old School jig fishing, but not the presentation your father learned.
When the word got out that San Diego lakes Otay, San Vincente, El Capitain, Wolfford etc, was producing bass over 10 lbs on a regular bases, I joined the Pisces Bas club back in 1969 to learn how to catch these new big Florida bass. Rumor had it that the Florida's wouldn't hit a lure, only live bait.
The rumors were true in some respects; almost all the good bass fishermen fished with live crawdads, mudsuckers, waterdogs and shiners. A few fished with 8" to 12" plastic worms using a round split shot clinched on the line about 8" up, the same way they fished live bait. These fishermen also anchored their boats using 150' of rope with an anchor on both ends. They set the front anchor, then let out all the rope and set the back anchor, then trollied the boat between the anchor along the rope without lifting anchors to move. They used buoys the float the rope. This would fence off the area they were fishing and could saturate the area with a slow quite presentation of live bait or plastic worms, a very effective method.
Anchoring and live bait or big worm fishing worked, but drove me nuts...too slow for style of fishing. So I started to jig fish using hand tied hair jigs and custom cut pork trailers that worked for me in my home lakes for big NLMB. Hair jig worked great for FLMB if you made a long 30 to 40 yard cast and slowly retrieved the jig like a plastic worm along the bottom. Horizontal jigging became my favorite presentation to catch giant bass, no anchoring, no live bait and I could move about and fish any type of water, cover or structure.
The key to horizontal jig presentation was to use the reel to move the jig and only lift the rod up to free the jig form some obstacle, then lower the rod and crank the reel handle 1 or 2 turns, let the jig settle down on the bottom and repeat. When you see the line twitch or feel the jig go weightless or loss feel, you simply crank the reel fast until the line tightens, then sweep the rod back to set the hook. You can get a good hook set with the reel setting method far better than trying to use the rod, when a jig is cast more than 50 feet. The cover was too sparse and water too clear to get close to these big bass without spooking them.
WRB
WRB reply :
QuoteQuoteWe all agree that Perry's 22 lb 3 oz is the bench mark world record largemouth bass and a few California giants proved that record can be broken. The question is how?The answer to that question is; be at the right place at the right time.
I have my ideas of when the right time, what is the right lure or bait and where the right locations is.
If we look at the Perry bass; when and how it was caught and compare that to other 20+ lb giant bass, some of these questions have already been answered.
The Perry bass was caught on a jointed floating, shallow diving wooden plug, that today would be called a wake bait. Bob Crupi's bass were caught on live crawdads. Dottie was caught on swimbaits twice and snagged with a jig once. We are not sure what Ray Easly caught his 21+lb bass on, he claimed a crankbait. Mike Arugo a swimbait.
All the bass were caught during the spring or pre spawn to spawn periods.
We have limited the lure or bait choice and the time period.
Live bait, swimbait, jig and (crankbait?). Spring is the best time.
I need to run and will get back to this thread and discuse jigs, my area of expertise. Meanwhile maybe someone else can continue to add their expertise.
WRB
Lake Casitas: Big Bass Paradise
By Mike Blackwell
The heaviest bass ever caught at Casitas weighed 21.19 pounds, just shy of the 70-year-old world record of 22-4 set by George Perry in 1932 in Montgomery, Ga. Ray Easley caught the Casitas record on March 4, 1980, on a live crawdad.
I agree you have to be in the right place at the right time.
Jerry
Ray reported that he caught the bass on a Rebel Suspend R crank bait.
I asked him what he caught it on and it wasn't a crawdad, however it was a live bait fish, not a trout! I fished the same (spot) area called deep cat ledge and know it well and still is a good area today. After Ray caught his bass, the ledge looked like a parking lot with hundreds of boats on it for several years.
WRB
WRB reply :
Swimbaits.
The first swimbaits were modified Rapala CD 18's cut in half and a soft plastic molded trout backend super glued to the hard front end of the CD 18. Bill Murphy created this lure and wire lined trolled it in the deep off shore structure of San V. Bill caught a remarkable 70+ lb, 5 bass limit back in the early 80's on this rig. Everyone was accusing Bill of using live trout. Murphy showed me how he tied hair jigs, he used monkey hair dyed various colors and told him how I was fishing them.
Murphy would dye crawdads with food coloring and use squid sealy style hooks painted brown, soak his line in coffee to remove the sheen and odor. It's all in the details.
Swimbaits are all about detail. They look like the real thing and swim like a real bait fish and that is why they are so effective. Swimbaits are not crankbaits and that is the most important thing to remember.
A swimbait generates strikes by looking and acting like a real baitfish, not a frantic or panicked baitfish, but a easy meal. Water clarity is important because swimbaits are sight baits that a big bass needs to be able to see, not hear. The bass will feel the water being displaced naturally and see the lifelike profile, coloring and movement.
Giant bass like to trap big baitfish against structure or the surface and that is how you should present the lure to them. Casting out over structure into deeper water and retrieving back up and over the structure is a high % retrieve. To excite the bass into striking increase the retrieve speed when you see a follower or feel a light bump, the bass reacts to the escaping baitfish by attacking it for a kill.
WRB
Hammer 4 reply :
I gotta say....this is a great thread..
cart7t reply :
Quote
QuoteIt's been suggested that the Perry bass was a Florida/Northern hybrid. Is it possible that a Florida/Northern mix would get bigger than either a pure Florida or a pure Northern? After all, bass are just big sunfish. This would explain how the Perry bass got so big to begin with, and why no fish close to that size has been caught in Georgia since then.
Might also suggest why Cali doesn't seem to be as hot as it was not too long ago.
I'm curious what you guys think?
DMB
It's almost a certainty that Perry's bass was an intergrade, which have a growing rather than dwindling population.
California is a whole other ballgame. Florida-strain largemouth bass were transplanted into California,
as a consequence the state is dealing with two stumbling blocks:
1) California waters undergo intense fishing pressure, significantly worse than the Southeast.
2) California's bass are subjected to an invisible stumbling-block known as "waning genetic vigor".
We first seen this phenomenon with spotted bass that were transplanted in Perris Lake, California. At the time, Lewis Smith Reservoir, Alabama held the world-record within the natural range of the spotted bass. By-and-by, a freak spot in Perris Lake, CA broke the natural world-record. Here's the sad part, today Perris Lake is a marginal spotted bass fishery at best (almost non-existent),
yet the former world-record is gone forever.
When any fish is transplanted outside its natural range, initially it enjoys burgeoning growth, similar to a new reservoir. Thereafter however, with each passing generation the chromosomes of the offspring progressively revert back. Anyone who's been watching California will have noticed that new lakes enter the limelight in turn, then fade away in turn. One of the first was Miramar, followed by Casitas, then Hodges, then Castaic and now Dixon. This is the work of waning genetic vigor, something that California will always have to deal with. In my opinion, if California finally hits the jackpot, it will likely take place on yet another newly emerging Florida-strain fishery. This is not fuel for argument, just one man's opinion.
Roger
I recall a Bassmasters article in the early 90's concerning this very matter after the Crupi fish was caught. They had broken down the genetic possibilities of the fish size potential, estimated maximum age and then created a time line for the window of opportunity of catching the next WRB. Once the time line ended, the window closed.
As for lures? Big bass, regardless of where they're from become far more susceptible of being caught in the spring on a variety of lures because their guard is let down. They're feeding to rebuild body mass lost over the winter and to survive the rigors of the spawn. Just about any lure becomes a good choice for a potential world record catch.
WRB reply :
Where do the giants go after the spawn?
Lets apply Catt's big 3; structure, prey and cover.
The water is warming and bass being cold blooded animals need more food as we move into the summer period. The catch rate of giant bass during the summer period is very low. The big bass must eat to survive and grow, so why are they hard to catch?
1. Structure; few bass fishermen understand how to fish structure.
2. Prey; nearly every bass fishermen knows what bass eat, but have little idea where the prey lives.
3. Cover; What is cover to a giant bass?
After the big bass spawn they go through a period we call post spawn, a recovery time that can last several days for older bass, some don't make it through this period. Once the bass recover they are looking for easy meals that don't require a great deal of energy. Lakes that have threadfin shad provide bass schools of high protein bait fish that are an easy meal and they come to the bass. In SoCal the giant bass also get planted 6" to 10" rainbow trout delivered to them, easier meal. Bass become very selective when prey is abundant, live shad on light line or swimbaits on fluorocarbon line work well for bass between 8 to 12 lbs in SoCal lakes, very few giants are caught during this transition period or the balance of the year until the next pre spawn. The reason may be cover.
What is cover to a giant bass?It may not be the traditional cover of weeds; few giants have been caught around weed or grass beds during the summer period and that is where most of the bass population is caught.
Lakes where bass are the top predator, the giant bass can go where it has everything it needs; prey, sanctuary (cover), preferred water temperature & DO levels. Weed beds get too warm and have low DO levels after the sun is down, so the giants move out into cooler water, near structure that provides both prey and sanctuary in the deep shadows. The shadows become cover and the thermocline becomes their friend and they live just above that layer for several months.
WRB
fivesixone reply :
QuoteI gotta say....this is a great thread..
Seriously. WRB, thanks for the knowledge!
Catt reply :
"Structure; few bass fishermen understand how to fish structure"
Dude that's funny right there
Matt Fly reply :
THe next world record as mentioned can come from as far away as Japan or South Africa.
I always thought Mexico, Cuba, and Cali was the front runners for the next record.
To get to that wieght in Texas, we need 10 years of mild winters and cooperation from mother nature, plenty of rains to make another run. Fish have to be able to live that long and have enough days out of the year to grow that big, and Texas vast majority of lakes will drop below 50 degrees in the winter, something that the socal lakes never does.
If your bass has the genetics, and is given a 365 days growing season with plenty of easy forage, then the potential is there.
The only lake that I fished in Cali that got that close was Lake Moreno out in the desert. And that lake produced teens up to 19 lbs.
Who ever mentioned a new fishery is the closest guess I'd buy into.
And right now, Falcon, Amistad, and Choke Canyon are like new lakes in Texas. For 10 years or more, these lakes were below 50% capacity for some, and others upto 70 ft low. When the rains came in late 2004, they filled. Over ten years of new shoreline growth was now new cover for those old lakes. Hence, mother nature gave them an over night face lift so to speak.
Those lakes didn't produce those types of stringers, the results are there from the years past, good stringers yes, but the whole 200 boat field was not weighing in 20lbs sacks like the recent years.
Texas is top notch in bassin, but not in the record race yet. Let us break 20 first, then we can add Texas in the mix.
I believe the climate that permits a bass to grow 24/7 365 days year is best suited to eclipse the world record.
WRB reply :
Let target the giant bass in your state; New York, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, or anywhere else. Each state or region has big bass, they may not be world record class, but giants in there own right.
FLMB = 15 lbs.
NLMB = 12 lbs.
Spotted Bass = 8 lbs.
Smallmouth bass = 8 lbs.
If I was going to catch a giant bass, I would use the similar lures discussed for CA giant bass; jig, big worms and swimbaits.
I would target bass during the pre spawn period in locations that big bass tend to stage and feed on larger bait fish or crawdads. In other words I would try to find the same type of water I'm familiar with.
In Florida it would take some time to adjust to what is deep water and where big bass locate to stage. My favorite lure; the hair jig, would not be a good choice in shallow water, unless sight fishing.
You need to select lures that can be used effectively in the water you are fishing, that closely resemble the primary forage.
California isn't like any other state due to it's length, coastal areas and mountains. SoCal for example has bass lakes near sea level in moderate climate and up to 8,000' altitude where lakes freeze over.
500 miles north of San Diego, the climate changes drastically due to the Alaskan current, the moderate Mediterranean climate of the south is gone, replaced by the colder north pacific climate. The CA delta is a vast river confluence of 5 major rivers. There are a lot of different areas to fish. The world record spotted bass; 10.27 lbs from Pine Flat in central CA, located in the high sierra foothills, fed by the cold water Kings river.
The CA state record smallmouth is 9.1 lbs from Trinity lake, a cold mother lode lake. Chris caught a 8.94 smallmouth from Pardee, a giant smallmouth, on a swimbait.
WRB
Catt reply :
January through April
Where: bank shallow out to 10'
Solid bottom: hard sandy bottoms, gravel or rocky banks, a fallen log or lily pad root.
Protected coves: When possible, bass will bed in water that is sheltered somewhat from the elements like in a cove or pockets.
The rest of the year
Prime structures that contains specific elements that include a good sized feeding flat. That flat would ideally be heavily weeded, with a number of weed types and open pockets 4-8 feet deep. Other kinds of cover like trees, stumps, brush or rocks are also beneficial. Deep water down to 17 feet or more as near as possible and better yet, if there were a source of inflowing water, like a creek.
Weapon of choice: Plastic lures out produce all other by a ratio of 5:1 so you can bet I'll have #1 tied on followed by a Jig-N-Craw. During January through April I'll add a Rat-L-Trap and Spinner Bait.
RoLo reply :
Catt accurately described the living quarters of largemouth bass in a Mesotrophic Manmade Reservoir.
Hang on, because the waters in central Florida are predominantly Eutrophic Natural lakes,
that is to say, nearly diametrically opposed to a meso impoundment.
Eutrophic Natural Lakes
In an artificial impoundment, manmade features have no depth bounds (bass depth is limited by oxycline & prey).
However, in a typical natural lake the main biomass of trophy bass will live-and-die
between the shoreline and the outer weed-line.
The actual depth of the outer weed-line hinges chiefly on four elements:
> Weed Species (For example, hydrilla can grow much deeper than bulrushes)
> Water Clarity (the limit of photosynthesis)
> Water Fertility (water-borne NPK and micronutrients)
> Bottom Content (sand for example offers better circulation than muck)
We've lived in Florida since 1998, fully 10 years. Although every natural lake is unique,
our most productive year-round depth for trophy bass on balance, has been 3-feet.
A rough breakdown might look something like this:
NURSERY: 0 to 2 ft
GREENERY: 2 to 4 ft
GRADIENT: 4 to 6 ft
FISHERY: 6-in to 6-ft
Exceptions are lakes with offshore hydrilla beds or deep pondweed. Prior to Hurricane Charley,
the key depth on Lake Walk-In-Water (our former home lake) was 8½ ft, which merely represented the depth of optimal hydrilla growth.
On the flipside are the so-called hayfield lakes in south Florida's sugar belt.
The cover here consists of emergent weeds like sawgrass, cattails and reeds that rarely grow deeper than 4 or 5 feet.
Trophy bass are commonly taken from 2 feet of water during a hot sunny midsummer day.
Oddly enough, I happen to love deepwater structure fishing for smallies, pike & saltwater species.
Nevertheless, the angler who's adverse to bank-beating is going to be one lonely camper in Florida
Roger
WRB reply :
The majority of the bass fishermen are going to fish regional lakes they are familiar with. The lakes classification is extremely important to determine where the giant bass in that specific lake tend to be located. Based on where they bass live 80% of the time, will determine the type of lure or bait you should choose to catch them.
Swimbaits have gone through a big change to become acceptable for the average bass fishermen to use and designs that can be fished in and around weed cover are now available.
The Mission fish by 3:16 and Huddlestons weedless swimbaits are good examples. Basstrix hollow body paddletail has spun off a new class of small swimbaits that include the EZ-Shad by Roboworm that can be fished effectively in weeds.
If you are serious about catching the biggest bass in your area, swimbaits should be part of your lure selection.
In Florida the topography is flat, the lakes are shallow compared to most bass lake around the country being located in hilly or near mountains. Out west we have high land, hill land and canyon classification lakes in various stages of the aging process. The delta would be a low land tidal system. The Colorado river is a good example; the upper lakes are oligotrophic, oligo/mesotrophic in middle river lakes and eutrophic on the lower river. The vast majority of bass lakes in California and around the country are mesotrophic.
Catt's input is very valuable as his experience represents the heartland of bass fishing.
WRB
Mottfia reply :
hmm. while we on the subject, can we cover the different types of lakes or give out a site that covers them? And if we can how big bass relate to each?
Mottfia
paul. reply :
besides obvious factors like fishing pressure, poor management, climate and forage requirements, etc., i think there are 2 factors to consider as to why a truly giant bass, especially a world record, will be so hard to catch. that has to do with the 2 scenarios required to produce the fish.
the fish has to be either (a) a true genetic freak of nature that is so big that it always or at least usually hovers above the 22-4 mark, no matter the conditions, season, etc. or (
the fish has be a "smaller" 19-20 pound fish that has gone on a massive feeding binge.
the problem with scenario (a) is that if such a fish exists to begin with, the odds are astronomical of running across it. there might be a handful of fish swimming around on this entire planet that will usually be heavier than 22-4. and the sad reality is that there might not be one single bass alive today that meets this description.
the problem with scenario ( is pretty obvious. even 18-20 lb. fish are quite rare. and if they go on enough of a feeding spree to reach world record proportions, the chances of catching them are very slim because they are already gorged to begin with and have little or no reason to eat again. that means that to entice this type of fish, the angler's presentation would have to be absolutely perfect.
that's why i think a bed fishing scenario has as good a chance as any to produce a record. the fish will more than likely be stuffed from feeding up in preparation for the spawn. it will have the additional weight of a load of eggs. and this already stuffed fish that is full of food and eggs will not have to be tricked into biting because of hunger. i would guess based on the record chase with dottie, other folks figured this out pretty quick too. of course the obvious problem here is that you have to find the fish during a pretty small window - hopefully when she goes to bed for the first time in the spawn phase before she dumps a lot of eggs. when you are talking about a fish this rare, even 1 or 2 oz. of egg weight might make all the difference in the world.
just my .02. very cool thread WRB.
Z06-VETTE reply :
QuoteTHe next world record as mentioned can come from as far away as Japan or South Africa.I always thought Mexico, Cuba, and Cali was the front runners for the next record.
To get to that wieght in Texas, we need 10 years of mild winters and cooperation from mother nature, plenty of rains to make another run. Fish have to be able to live that long and have enough days out of the year to grow that big, and Texas vast majority of lakes will drop below 50 degrees in the winter, something that the socal lakes never does.
If your bass has the genetics, and is given a 365 days growing season with plenty of easy forage, then the potential is there.
The only lake that I fished in Cali that got that close was Lake Moreno out in the desert. And that lake produced teens up to 19 lbs.
Who ever mentioned a new fishery is the closest guess I'd buy into.
And right now, Falcon, Amistad, and Choke Canyon are like new lakes in Texas. For 10 years or more, these lakes were below 50% capacity for some, and others upto 70 ft low. When the rains came in late 2004, they filled. Over ten years of new shoreline growth was now new cover for those old lakes. Hence, mother nature gave them an over night face lift so to speak.
Those lakes didn't produce those types of stringers, the results are there from the years past, good stringers yes, but the whole 200 boat field was not weighing in 20lbs sacks like the recent years.
Texas is top notch in bassin, but not in the record race yet. Let us break 20 first, then we can add Texas in the mix.
I believe the climate that permits a bass to grow 24/7 365 days year is best suited to eclipse the world record.
Some of you are forgetting that the record came from GA! So if the record is from GA why can't the next be form there?Or any other body of water in the southeast.GA sure doesn't have a all year growing season.But Perry's bass got huge.I think for the most part people over think the whole thing.The fact is anywhere in the south can produce a world record.
Maxximus Redneckus reply :
What also needs to be put into perspective is Northern strain live longer then Florida strain<think of it this way up north say Massuchusettes or even Canada swimming with huge muskie and pike where bass aint fished for very often there could be a record and who knows it could be LOTS
Muddy reply :
This guy is always good for the best of the night!
DINK WHISPERER reply :
Maybe if FL spoon fed our bass we could catch a world record too!!!!
bladerunner808 reply :
QuoteWhile I agree you are absolutely correct in your analysis of the time of the year I totally disagree with lure selection. Your selection was derived from the analysis of big bass hunters completely leaving out the rest of the bass fishing community. All documented surveys of big bass lures clearly shows plastic lures (worms, lizards, creatures, Senko ect.) as the hands down top producer of bass in excess of 10 pounds.My personal opinion is that a rank amateur fishing in an almost forgotten body of water with a simple technique will break the world record.
DEAD ON. I remember fishing here up north (PA) - where bass typically don't grow as big as other parts... 1992 - no cell phones with cameras, no digital cameras, just me and a baitcaster with a snagproof frog. Bank fishing pulling the frog through lilly pads. I had bites from big fish all day but not one hookup. Then after cleaning a birdsnest leaving my frog in 10 inches of muck RIGHT at my feet literally - WHOMP. The biggest fish I ever caught. Bent my pole in half and I had to drag it up the bank. I could put my fist in its mouth easy. I have NO IDEA how much it weighed but it was LONG @24". I could not comfortably lip it with one hand. At the time there was no internet so I figured wow - my biggest fish - but I felt so bad keeping it out of the water I plunked her right back in. Years later looking up the record for PA I saw it was somewhere around 10 pounds - I'm an idiot. I'm sure it was flirting right around there - but who knew? I've been fishing my whole life and I only kept ONE bass ever. My first one! I ran all the way home with it on the line when I was a kid. 
So YES - it will come to someone fishing a smaller body of water with well fed lunkers in the weeds - not on a lake at the hands of a depth-finder.
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