Have you ever caught the biggest fish in the lake? 2024
Tlauz reply :
I mainly fish lakes smaller than 1,000 acres. Once on a small lake, I caught a 42-inch pike, on another small lake I caught an upper 40-inch Musky. I always wondered if I had caught the biggest fish swimming in the lake. I have never thought this about bass because I have always assumed there is bigger bass somewhere in the lake. I don't think I would ever think this on a big body of water because no matter the size of a fish, I would always think there is a bigger one swimming. Anybody ever catch something and think I may have caught the biggest bass/fish in the lake?
Crestliner2008 reply :
Those sound like major accomplishments for small bodies of water. Congrats for sure! When I was a young teen, we fished the Ct. River system for all sorts of species. I well remember my ole' Johnson Century getting "spooled" by a huge fish on many occasions. Back then we had a large population of Atlantic Sturgeon, so it was probably one of those species that was responsible. Never landed one however! 
Mike L reply :
Smallest maybe, but never the biggest.
Mike
flyfisher reply :
If i ever was positive i caught the largest fish i would probably stop fishing
HeyCoach reply :
Only the weeds.
OCdockskipper reply :
Yes I did. When I lifted him out of the water, the lake level dropped a foot and a half. I put him in the bed of my truck and it broke the rear axle. It fed my family of 17 for over a year.
soflabasser reply :
On 3/22/2019 at 7:20 AM, Tlauz said:I mainly fish lakes smaller than 1,000 acres. Once on a small lake, I caught a 42-inch pike, on another small lake I caught an upper 40-inch Musky. I always wondered if I had caught the biggest fish swimming in the lake. I have never thought this about bass because I have always assumed there is bigger bass somewhere in the lake. I don't think I would ever think this on a big body of water because no matter the size of a fish, I would always think there is a bigger one swimming. Anybody ever catch something and think I may have caught the biggest bass/fish in the lake?
Nice catches especially if they where caught from a public body of water. There is a public lake in South Florida where I caught a double digit and have not heard of anyone catching a bass bigger than 6 pounds from it. That lake has lots of one to three pounders, decent amount of 4-5 pounders, but not many 6 pound or better bass, at least they are not caught often. Other lakes I have caught the biggest fish from what I know. With that said there where probably bigger fish in those lakes that I caught so I cannot say 100% sure I caught the biggest fish in those places.
Brew City Bass reply :
I was somewhat confident I caught the biggest bass in the little 83 acre lake I fish. Was just shy of 8 lbs and I was freaking out. That's a good trophy in Wi, and this small of a lake. Then on the same night I caught one just under 8 1/2. Now I have no idea how big they get in there.
I have a gut feeling I'll never top that for that lake, but I wouldn't be surprised if I catch a 9lber there this spawn. The 8 1/2 was a mid August fish. Not as fat as he coulda been.
I could probably say the same about the Pike there. I was pulling out 30-38"ers all summer, then on a cool fall morning I had a 43" blow up on my whopper plopper. I never imagined this lake harboring big fish like this. It's a honey hole for sure.
Tlauz reply :
Maybe a better way to say it is How big do you think fish get in the bodies of water you fish. I seem to have mastered catching 5-inch bass on a 5-inch worm. I am always curious if there really is a 7 pounder swimming there.
Dens228 reply :
My PB, 8-03 was caught in a 6 acre pond behind my daughters house. If it wasn't the biggest in that pond it was certainly top two......
Dwight Hottle reply :
My PB smallmouth from Lake Erie was 7-6lbs and that isn't close to the biggest erie smallmouth with previous fish caught over 9lbs. We will never know the biggest smallie weight existing from lake erie unless she suddenly goes dry.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 3/22/2019 at 9:29 PM, Dwight Hottle said:My PB smallmouth from Lake Erie was 7-6lbs and that isn't close to the biggest erie smallmouth with previous fish caught over 9lbs. We will never know the biggest smallie weight existing from lake erie unless she suddenly goes dry.
I love Lake Erie !! I live 5 minutes from it and I can’t wait till ice out ! Wanna beat my PB this year of 5 pound 6 oz
Dwight Hottle reply :
On 3/22/2019 at 9:55 PM, Ksam1234 said:I love Lake Erie !! I live 5 minutes from it and I can’t wait till ice out ! Wanna beat my PB this year of 5 pound 6 oz
Just tie on a jerk bait & hit the soft water.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 3/22/2019 at 10:01 PM, Dwight Hottle said:Just tie on a jerk bait & hit the soft water.
Exactly what I do. Jerkbaits , tubes , smal swimbaits like keitech
fishballer06 reply :
About 10 years ago we built a 1 acre pond on my families pond from a fresh water spring that comes up in the one pasture. We stocked it ourselves with bass, perch, crappie, bluegill and catfish (smaller fish). Fast forward a few years, I caught a largemouth 19" long and about 3.5 pounds. The fish had a scar on his left side gill plate and was very unique looking, but healthy. I've since caught that fish 2 more times, and had him come off 2 other times. The second time I landed him, he was 19.5" and 3.9 pounds. And then the last time I landed him, he was 20" and 4.1 pounds.
I'm pretty sure it's the largest bass in this pond because most of the bass in this pond are 11-14". I haven't caught that fish in the past two years, but I'm hopeful he's still there and he's getting bigger and bigger.
WVU-SCPA reply :
I grew up with about a 3/4 acre spring feed pond with a max depth of 4ish. In prime light conditions you could take a lap and see everything in it. From the ages 9-12 we had a good idea on how many bass were in there over 15" with several having names. Moby (had a large white scar on her snout) was the biggest for a couple of summers and measured just shy of 22" before she disappeared.
Jaderose reply :
The lake I fish the most is about 80 acres. It's public but way out in the boonies so not a ton of pressure. MY PB is out of there at 9.3. ABout 4 days after landing that one I hooked one that was bigger but she spit the frog at the apex of a jump. I was heart broken as I know it was a DD. She's still out there.....as is the 9.3 girl. Both should be bigger now. They gotta be in the top 5 of that little lake.
CrankFate reply :
There’s always a bigger one out there that didn’t get caught.
Glaucus reply :
There's virtually no way you could know.
jbsoonerfan reply :
No
Jleebesaw reply :
There is a 150 acre lake just a couple of miles from my house that I have fished more than any other body of water. It's also a couple miles from the house i grew up in. It has a 10 horse limit and a pretty big public shore fishing area. It gets a ton of pressure, especially ice fishing. It has good panfish, largemouth, and northern populations. They stock tiger muskies in it. In the last 20 years I have caught many hammer handle tigers there and have never heard of anybody else catching big tigers there. About ten years ago i pulled a 44", 26.5# tiger up through the ice there. It was awesome. I have never heard anybody claim to have caught a bigger fish there. I always tell everybody that I caught the biggest fish to ever come from that lake, but I obviously dont know that for sure. Also, that fish went back in so somebody else probably caught it again. Maybe it's still in there terrorising bluegill every day. Hell, terrorising everything.
Bankbeater reply :
Sometimes it feels like I’ve caught the only fish in the lake.
WRB reply :
Impossible question to answer because some of the biggest or heavist fish are not catchable. If you have caught a lake record fish then that should qualify.
Some lakes don't keep official lake records and others only validate records under more recent methods.
Examples, I caught a 8 lb bass at Big Bear Lake winning BBL Sportsmans Club annual event in '65, my mentor caught a 9 lb bass in the late 50's winning the same annual event.
Big Bear lake record bass is currently listed at 6 lbs 8 oz. Lake Havasu list it's lake record LMB at 10.5 lbs, back in '57 I caught a 11 lb LMB weighed on Roads End camp market scale. My point is it's difficult to know lake records due to poor record keeping and difficult to know what the heavist fish caught at the lake you fish was.
Tom
N Florida Mike reply :
Im 95 % sure I caught the biggest fish in my small lake when I was 19 ( just posted this on another thread ) I wade fished , swam, bank fished, and fished out of a boat several times a week there for years. I kept seeing this one big catfish, and eventually caught it by accident while bream fishing. 33 inches long - 22 pounds. I have fished the lake for 40 years since then and never seen or heard of another fish that big being caught. EXCEPT the 23 pound grass carp I snagged near the tail a few years ago.The lake record bass is 13 1/2 pounds, which was not caught by me.
I also caught a 7 pound bass in a 1 acre pond., which Im pretty sure at the time was the champ. I released the fish, and app 2 years later my son saw someone pull out a 9 pounder there and kept it. ????Probably the same fish.
MIbassyaker reply :
Two lakes I fish -- one 50 acres, one 37 acres-- I think I may have caught the largest bass in there at the time, each a couple years ago.
The reason I think this is both are public and get a decent amount of harvest pressure from casual anglers... so bass caught over the 14" limit are often kept: Once you hit 14", and if you have a taste for lures, or even just live bait, it's only a matter of time before you are caught and kept. Both of my fish were in the 5-6 range, at least two pounds heavier than the 2nd largest fish I've caught in either place, and even that size is rare. They would have had to spend about 5 years or more at keeper size without being harvested, given the typical growth rate for largemouth in Michigan. If there are bigger fish in those lakes, they are surely experts at not being caught.
One of the two lakes is listed as having a Michigan Master Angler entry bigger than mine from a couple years earlier caught while ice fishing, but it too was kept. Both of my fish were released, and if they're still in there, they're bigger now. Or, if they haven't survived, another one or two or a few may be bigger now, but not more than that.
kenmitch reply :
I can without any doubt honestly say that I've never caught the biggest fish in the lake....Not yet at least.
jbsoonerfan reply :
Sometimes I do good to grab the biggest fish in the livewell.
Bluebasser86 reply :
My biggest swimbait bass was from a tiny pond I can easily cast across, it was 6lbs. I was shocked there was any close to that size in there.
I've held the lake record for flathead catfish for a few years at another lake and it was much larger than any other than had been caught there but I wouldn't be surprised if a bigger one was in it, especially since I released mine.
Catt reply :
Have you ever caught the biggest fish in the lake?
Didn't have to! ????
Munkin reply :
In 1993 I caught the biggest Tiger Muskie that year in the Potomac river according to the DNR at 17-1. At the time I was only 6ozs away from the state record and this was the first one I caught.
Allen
HenryPF reply :
Absolutely know I have for sure - I put it in there to begin with. Have not caught it in years though, I think someone caught it and kept it. Was a 22lb blue cat and there are no blue cats in my pond other than the tiny ones i threw in there.
OCdockskipper reply :
Does my Koi pond count? If so, then yes.
He wasn't the biggest fish in the lake that I caught him in, but he is the biggest in the body of water he was released in.
MassYak85 reply :
On 3/22/2019 at 9:35 AM, flyfisher said:If i ever was positive i caught the largest fish i would probably stop fishing
This. I'd still fish because it's fun but a very large portion of my drive to go fishing is the "what-if" factor.
You wouldn't see me out in 40 degrees and gloves if I knew I had already caught the biggest fish in a given lake.
fishwizzard reply :
I fish a lot of very small, I mean like *** acre, ponds and am often amazed at how many 2-3lb bass I can pull out of some of these tiny spots. Any bass over 3lb counts as “the biggest” unitl I catch a bigger one.
OkobojiEagle reply :
Nope! Lakes I live around claim the state record smallmouth and musky. I'm sure I caught the lake's largest turtle... on spinning gear with 10lb PE line... had an 8lb flouro leader... used a Crazy Alberto joining knot. ... backreeled.
oe
Quarry Man reply :
is it legal to tag fish for individual research? might be interesting.
another idea... what if you tagged fish when you stock them and the tag connects to your electronics, the new era of fish finders
Hi-Powered Red Neck reply :
I know I've caught the biggest fish in my pond. I've got 3 big girls swimming around in there. I've put steel to all 3. The biggest was 9.6 last year post spawn. The other 2 are mid 8 pounders. The biggest was bedding right off my dock this year. I know she's a double digit this year. I tried for several hours over the course of a few days to get her to eat. She's too well trained now. I did manage to get a nice health 6ish to eat. I didn't put her on a scale she was back in the water seconds after I put her on the bank. Took one pic and released her to lay her eggs. It's getting tough to catch the big fish anymore. I've caught them all more than once. Now its mostly the little ones that I can get to bite. I probably need to give them a break for a few years. But it's so nice to walk down to the dock and untie the Bass Raider and fish my way around the 5ish acre pond.
Fishingintheweeds reply :
Of COURSE, it's impossible to know but I'll play...because after the last fish I caught on this 120+ acre lake, I wondered the same thing. It's a public lake, on the state land and during the summer, it's pounded on nearly a daily basis with swimmers, people in canoes, kayaks, boaters (although there's a fairly low speed limit) and an insane number of people out fishing. Over the last several years that I've gone there, I've caught an awful lot of 12-14" bass. Only 2 people that I've talked to who have fished there regularly have said they had something bigger. One was a 4 that was released, and another was a 5, that this person made sure to show everyone as she paddled back in to let us know she was going to eat good tonight. That was weird.
The one I got last week was significantly larger than either of those or the 5 I caught last year. By a couple seconds into the fight, I started to wonder how big the pike were in the lake but since it didn't feel like I pike, I started to wonder if one of the big carp had grabbed my chatterbait. We're in Michigan, so there aren't many up here that are caught at that size. I'm not saying that I DID catch the largest in the lake, but it was definitely big enough for me to wonder about. Based on all of the other fish that me and others have caught there, I would say it's gotta be up there.
But like someone else said, it's the "what if?" Ha, ha, since listening to all the so-called Bigfoot experts I became convinced YEARS ago that it doesn't exist...so, I guess fishing takes that place.
Alex from GA reply :
I haven't but my buddy has. We fish a pond that has lots of small bass and he caught one over 9 one year and a couple of years later he caught the same fish that was way over 10 in the same place.
Hawkeye21 reply :
I feel like I was really close to catching the largest bass in the small lake I fished yesterday. Caught my personal best of 5-12, 21.25". That's pretty good for Iowa.
Fishingintheweeds reply :
So, another general question about the biggest fish (plural) in the lake. I've been giving this a lot more thought since I've had several really big ones already this year. More catches and more that got lose than all other years combined...including an almost 15 year hiatus. I know spring is that time to do it but an interesting thing about this is that everybody, myself included, previously regarded one of the lakes as a small fish lake. The more I've learned about bigger fish and the places I've caught them, the more I've been thinking that maybe the real challenge isn't NECESSARILY that they're more or less rare, but that in certain bodies of water, they've gotten very good at remaining hidden or at least being very difficult to catch....
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