The Five Percent Or The Other Ninety-Five Percent 2024
roadwarrior reply :
I have read numerous outdoor writers state that
only 5% of bass fishermen have ever caught a 5 lb
bass. Although the chances of a fry reaching that weight
in a natural environment is less than one in a million,
there are thousands in big lakes, especially Southern
waters.
If your goal is to catch a few bass and the size doesn't
matter to you, just about anything will do. Location
is the key, but once you find them, bass are really
pretty easy to catch.
So, for 95% of the fishermen out there, the gear and tackle
isn't that important. On the other hand, if you want
to consistantly catch bigger bass, the situation is different.
Location still dominates in importance, but presentation,
gear and tackle come into play.
When I answer a question on the forum, I'm addressing those
that want to advance their game, especially the young novice.
I try to share the things that work for me and specifically
recommend the brands I fish. More importantly, I want to share
the "where", "when" and "how".
Which brings us to the question, "Which do you want to be
a part of, the 95 percent or the 5 percent?"
deep reply :
I'm shooting for a 10 lb northern strain lmb now.
Catching 5 pounders get old after a while lol. Just kidding.
SirSnookalot reply :
RW gives good advice !
Bassn Blvd reply :
I'm in the 5% bracket, BUT I can help you get into the 1% bracket if you'd like 
:respect-059:
00 mod reply :
I'm in the 5%, but want to be in the 1% or even higher. Bassn blvd, HOW? LOL
Jeff
Nitrofreak reply :
5% bracket for me!!!
Location for me is the first and formost thing, Confidence in being able to locate the fish first then confidence in the decisions you make that follow.
Gatorbassman reply :
<-------------Yea, Yea, Yea...... Just read what it says above my avatar.
Long Mike reply :
5% for me. One of the few things left on my bucket list is a 10#+ LMB.
Dave T. reply :
I'm in that upper 5% too. Several 5lb + large mouths.
Now I'm shooting for that 5lb + small mouth. A bit more difficult task where I fish... but reachable. 
Ima Bass Ninja reply :
5% percent for me too, but as much as I enjoy catching big fish I would rather catch a small fish than no fish.
Professional Overrun reply :
Wow! What a club! I cant say that im there yet guys, only a four pounder for me, but ive only been bass fishing for less than a year :0
Lucky Craft Man reply :
Great write up and advice RW. That is why I have more equipment I know what to do with, because I need to maximize my chances.
As a side note: It has to be higher than 5%. My 10 year old nephew caught a 5 lb. LM this past summer by accident and I would venture to guess there are a lot of fisherman who have done the same. Now, it might be 5% who have caught at least 5 bass over 5 pounds (which would eliminate all those who just happened upon one).
Bluebasser86 reply :
5% for me. My problem is catching them much bigger than 5. I catch plenty of 5's each year, just getting the 6+lbers that's tough.
slonezp reply :
5% for me.
Wish I could "dink drop 5 pounders"
River Rat316 reply :
5% for me also, for both Largies and Smallies, although the "official" weight of the largest smallie was 5.1 so barely, I have caught what i perceived as bigger but no scale to prove.
roadwarrior reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 6:51 AM, Lucky Craft Man said:Great write up and advice RW. That is why I have more equipment I know what to do with, because I need to maximize my chances.
As a side note: It has to be higher than 5%. My 10 year old nephew caught a 5 lb. LM this past summer by accident and I would venture to guess there are a lot of fisherman who have done the same. Now, it might be 5% who have caught at least 5 bass over 5 pounds (which would eliminate all those who just happened upon one).
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/where/reservoirs/quality/
2,666,546 hours of fishing = 473 5 lb+ bass in this study.
That's 5,637 hours per fish. If you divide that into 8 hour
days, it's 704 days per fish.
Note too, this study was conducted on waters considered
to be the most productive in the country in terms of
numbers of 5 lb bass!
Lucky Craft Man reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 9:40 AM, roadwarrior said:http://www.outdooral...rvoirs/quality/
2,666,546 hours of fishing = 473 5 lb+ bass in this study.
That's 5,637 hours per fish. If you divide that into 8 hour
days, it's 704 days per fish.
Note too, this study was conducted on waters considered
to be the most productive in the country in terms of
numbers of 5 lb bass!
Wow...I find that surprising. Those are some incredibile numbers. I feel lucky to be in the 5% who has caught 5 pound+ bass. The next 5 pounder I catch (assuming I catch another one), I will be sure to really appreiciate it, now knowing the rarity of catching one.
james 14 reply :
5% here too. My goal is to put one in the boat on every trip...or at least in every tourney. I'm still waiting on that stringer with 5 - 5lbers! 
Jigfishn10 reply :
5% here but that took a long time. For me, I was able to fish a lot more the last 5 years, which certainly helped a lot. It's hard here in the northeast to get those opps if you're not spending time on the water. My five plus fish were on jigs and spinnerbaits, so now my goal is to try and get one on topwater.
Team9nine reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 9:40 AM, roadwarrior said:http://www.outdooral...rvoirs/quality/
2,666,546 hours of fishing = 473 5 lb+ bass in this study.
That's 5,637 hours per fish. If you divide that into 8 hour
days, it's 704 days per fish
Your math is off. The 2.6 million angler hours is the total accumulated hours for all study years combined. The 473 bass over 5lbs. is just for the 2010 reporting year. In 2010, there were 70,003 reported angling hours, which when divided by the 473 reported bass >5lbs works out to 148 hrs per 5lb fish, or one every 18.5 tourney days (8 hr days).
Several states keep track of this type of information. A few years back, I compiled all the available reports from 6 different states, including Alabama, a data set that was twice as large as the Alabama set alone (nearly 5 million angler hours). The average time across all lakes and states that it took to catch a 5 pound bass worked out to be 495.9 hours per fish. If you looked at just the best lake in any given state for a year that had at least 5 reports for itself, and averaged those across the 6 states and many years, you arrived at a best average of 165.5 angler-hours to catch a 5 pound bass. At the time, several of the states had been affected by the largemouth bass virus. Now that that has largely run its course on many waters, its obvious that bass fishing is only getting better and better.
Would be interesting to know exactly what the basis is for the 5/95 stat that has been reported...
-T9
Bass_Fanatic reply :
5lb fish are common around here. Pretty much everyone I know has caught a 5+. I have caught serveral hundred over 5lbs...
zip pow reply :
5% here to I figured out a long time ago about the more hours the more bigger fish I get upset if I don't catch one over nine every year. I put alot of time in so I want my reward.
Georgia Jeff reply :
wow. Only 5% have caught a 5lb bass. That seems really low. However, I do live in the south. Almost everyone I know has caught a 5lb or better fish. I guess I have been taking some things for granted. Now a 10 pounder, that's elusive.
Fishes in trees reply :
That 5% seems low to me also, but what do I know about stats? Over the last several years, I've caught a few 5+ lb bass every year. My best year ever I caught 12, my average is closer to 3 or 4 per year.
weezy109 reply :
I mostly fish tva lakes and the biggest bass i have ever seen come out of one is a 7lb largemouth, caught by yours truly.
tomustang reply :
5%, 95%... I dont care, catchin is catchin
SirSnookalot reply :
Statistics are misleading, not everyone fishes the areas where any records are kept. 5% does seem low, being in Florida 5# bass can become a reality quite easy. As cited in the OP " bass are easy to catch", a debate for another day, we have lots of bass in the south and the likelyhood of a 5 pounder is excellent. I don't think there is any question, at least in my mind, that location is the overwhelming factor in catching quality of any species. I fish but a few techniques with very basic equipment and have notched on my belt quite a few 5-10# bass and I'm not primarily bass fisherman, I'm just in a good area.
JIGFISHERMAN. reply :
ya 5% # is bunk.
Ignoring all else, even that study doesn't give a complete story. Tournament fishing, (esecially with weeknight series events) isn't really fishing for size. It is, but catching 5 fish is the first priority. Take the catch of all those who DO NOT tournament fish, PLUS the guys who DO tournament fish-but the catches they have when not tournament fishing; You will end up with a much higher number.
Lund Explorer reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 9:40 AM, roadwarrior said:http://www.outdooral...rvoirs/quality/
2,666,546 hours of fishing = 473 5 lb+ bass in this study.
That's 5,637 hours per fish. If you divide that into 8 hour
days, it's 704 days per fish.
Note too, this study was conducted on waters considered
to be the most productive in the country in terms of
numbers of 5 lb bass!
That's an interesting study, and while I wouldn't argue against those numbers, I would respectfully say that the original post was somewhat misleading. Based on this study, the 5% rule may be true for tournament anglers in that region of the country . But I don't think the statement would hold true across all of the different regions or across the wider spectrum of fishermen's experiences.
It would be interesting to hear what Catt's take on this 5lb bass per/angler hour average given his home waters. I know from my old tournament logs that we fall well below the average of 148 hours per/5lber. IMHO the magic number of 5lb's is slightly skewed the farther north or south you travel from the Tennessee River. I also don't think you can compare the results of tournament angling with fishermen targeting stocked and/or private lakes and ponds.
More importantly to me would be a study that determined how much effort (angler hours) was needed to catch that specific region's definition of a quality fish. The study should include all angling hours spent on public waters across an entire fishing season, and include data regarding the type of tackle/baits used.
The data from such a study could be a valuable tool for the traveling angler to provide him/her with a goal for that region during a specific time of the year. Perhaps you folks that will be attending this year's road trip could keep track your results to compare to the attached study, and report back to the rest of us how it turns out.
tomustang reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 6:49 PM, Lund Explorer said:I also don't think you can compare the results of tournament angling with fishermen targeting stocked and/or private lakes and ponds.
I would hope no comparison would be done with private water holes
South FLA reply :
I wonder what Big O is, like .00001%?
00 mod reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 6:49 PM, Lund Explorer said:The data from such a study could be a valuable tool for the traveling angler to provide him/her with a goal for that region during a specific time of the year. Perhaps you folks that will be attending this year's road trip could keep track your results to compare to the attached study, and report back to the rest of us how it turns out.
I will certainly do my best to keep up with numbers of hours spent and numbers of 5+lb fish I catch while on the road trip!
Jeff
Dwight Hottle reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 10:03 PM, South FLA said:I wonder what Big O is, like .00001%?
Big O is more like .000000001% 
Blue Streak reply :
I have caught five pound largemouth and smallmouth, but here in the Ohio waters it seems that at least 95 per cent of the 5 pounders are caught in the spring and the rest in the fall. Five pound bass are very rare in Ohio.
Sam reply :
I am part of the 5% crowd.
In a tournament we have to decide to go for the five bass limit first and then try for the big ones or start trying for the big ladies right away.
Depends on the season, body of water, weather conditions and where you are in your tournament standings.
it is always nice to catch a big lady now and then, even at a pond.
scrutch reply :
Already a part of the 5% club... Going for the 1% now.
There have been many days I would have settled for the 95% though!
Bobby Dale Viverette reply :
I have caught 2 five pounders so I am in the 5%. Looking to get in the 1% if i can get me a good worm rod!
RiverFisher13 reply :
im in the 5% club for LM, trying to get there for small mouth.
flippin and pitchin reply :
If I read you Kent, your motive for the question is to help you answer member's questions in a context that fit's their goals or expectations. I like that. I read once upon a time that bass anglers go through a transition of goals. Catch a bass, catch a limit of bass, catch a big bass, catch a limit of big bass, catch a trophy bass, help other anglers achieve their goals. It might not be in exact order, but that's about it. It was kind of like that for me. The 8lb largemouth eludes me to this day. Had em' on, several, but cannot put one in my hand. Same for a 6 lb. smallmouth. That is still my goal. I guess I am the 5% but strive to be, maybe the 2% group.
Bigbarge50 reply :
I am part of the 5%... happily and luckily.
I aim for the 5lbers but am very happy to catch fish.
RW this was a great bit of REAL info, as you mentioned when look at it, is some of the best big fish water in the WOLRD..... and tells a telling picture of the challenges of catching large fish. I was impressed with the 13 8lb+ fish caught. Really tells a story.
I also love when we discuss such things how many some guys are "catching" huge fish every trip, and yet are passing on making millions on the tournament trail. Somehow guys are falling all over 5lb fish every trip out. Think we need some scales checked out there, because they would dominate KVD every day of the week.
.ghoti. reply :
It pays to think of Mark Twain when one encounters statistics.
He said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
For those of you who believe that the 5% figure is low, I submit the following statistic.
97% of all 5 pound bass aren't.
slonezp reply :
On 2/5/2012 at 9:49 PM, .ghoti. said:It pays to think of Mark Twain when one encounters statistics.
He said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
For those of you who believe that the 5% figure is low, I submit the following statistic.
97% of all 5 pound bass aren't.
Party pooper.
telmomarques reply :
i prefer going for .001% for world record bass
Bassin_Fin@tic reply :
Only caught two in 25 yrs of living in Ohio but a couple hundred since living in florida and 3 10lb or greater. This isn't a bragging thread,it is saying how I obviously take for granted where I live. That said I am going to miss these ladies when and if I move back to Ohio and am going to greatly appreciate the occasional 3lber! Or I could just take up cartfish and carp fishing again!!!
Nitrofreak reply :
On 2/5/2012 at 9:49 PM, .ghoti. said:It pays to think of Mark Twain when one encounters statistics.
He said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
For those of you who believe that the 5% figure is low, I submit the following statistic.
97% of all 5 pound bass aren't.
LMAO!! I know a few people like that too!!!
So where did that statistic come from ?
Since it too is a statistic does it make that one a lie or a damned lie...lol
Cool post I like it...even though it did make it seem as if you are a party pooper as slonezp so eloquently put it.
Alpster reply :
Maybe another way to considder the statistics..... I too, have caught a 1/2 dozen 5lb + bass and my PB is 6.5. As I look at my personal statistics (and they are only estimates as I haven't documented every fish) I have spent 45 or so years fishing and have caught a lot of fish in that time, the number of 5+ bass are almost none as a percentage of total bass caught. I grew up in the South (Louisiana) where all but two of my 5lbers were caught. I have been in New Jersey for 26 years and have one 5lber and my PB. So for me, I have caught one 5+ bass on average, every 7 1/2 years. As to RW's question, small bass are relatively easy to catch and 95% catch them. Larger bass are not so plentiful and I don't find the 5% statistic hard to believe. I have known and fished with tounament pros, and some of the best bass fishermen in the country, including many members here. Methinks some of the guys who claim to catch dozens of 5+ fish a year would not if a good scale were involved (see Ghotti's post above). 
JMHO
Ronnie
K_Mac reply :
Living in So. Illinois, 5 pound fish are not too unusual, but since buying a good scale my 5# plus fish numbers are down a bit. 
I suspect .ghoti."s 97% statistic is not far off. I have seen "7" and "8" pound fish that probably wouldn't go 5 lb. 
I wonder what the percentage is for those who consistently catch the bigger fish on public water in their locale? I am guessing that is a small number.
Bankbeater reply :
Something else to consider. How many people were actually going out and serious about catching a 5+ pounder vs. just going out to drown worms.
.ghoti. reply :
I do like RW's original post. It sums up his attitude very well. I've fished with him several times. and can tell you he is a great guy to share a boat with. He truly wants to help others advance their knowledge of this game. My post about stats came off a bit snotty. Some of my posts just seem to do that. I'm not really a snotty bastage, but I will admit to being a wise-*** from time to time.
My approach to statistics varies from a healthy skepticism down to outright disdain. That was what my first post in this thread was intended to convey. Then I got into wise-*** mode and made the 97% statement. A little BS with a large grain of truth in it.
I've caught two bass a little over 8, three 7 pounders, six 6 pounders and maybe ten 5 pounders. Those are fish that made it onto a scale, not eyeballed. About twenty trophy sized fish for the areas I frequent. And that's over a thirty+ year period. Way less than one trophy per year. I couldn't tell you how many days fishing that is, much less how many hours.
So, put me in the 5% group through sheer perseverance.
FishinDaddy reply :
14 fish over 5 pounds in the boat in the last 2 years. I only caught about half of them. It's more fun to help others catch them.
<==== Taylor, boated 3 this year including this 7 pounder.
Living in central Florida and having access to many "not so public" lakes certainly helps. It think it also helps that we target larger fish both in tactics and location. Even if the little ones are biting we always wind up with a flippin stick in our hands punching the really thick crap trying to get a big one.
RLinc07 reply :
5% here for largemouth. Last summer I caught a 5+ and another right around 6 - both public water too!
gobig reply :
I would have to say this is a regional thing and even varies lake to lake. This weekend I am fishing a pro-am at Oroville where 10-12lbs a day will most likely take the tournament. Then there is Clearlake, which is just a few hours away. I know in the last three Anglers Choice team events up there 25lbs (for one day) does not even cut a check and half the field weighed a big fish over 5. Right now its taking a 30lb sack to cut a check up there. Not to mention if you went up there and fished shiners this time of year your almost guaranteed a 5 or better.
Hooligan reply :
On 2/4/2012 at 5:37 AM, flukemaster said:<-------------Yea, Yea, Yea...... Just read what it says above my avatar.
I've said it for years, too. Can't remember where I heard that line first, but I've loved it ever since.
Definitely a 5% guy, likely higher. I wonder what the total percentage of anglers catching fish over 10, 12, and 14 pounds is. It would be neat to see that breakdown, really. Multiples of those big fish, too, would be interesting...
I caught seventeen fish over 5 last year, certified weights only, not counting those fish that I've caught and weighed fun-fishing. I know this because I just looked at my little book of tournament stats that I keep. I caught well over 2000 fish last year in tournaments, again in the black book. Considering the small number of fish over five that I caugh in comparison to total number, that 5% mark may be quite generous.
retiredbosn reply :
Definitely in the 5%, and I will attest that using this forum helped me break into that club. Up until I started using this forum my largest LM was 2 1/2 pounder, and about 3 on the smallies. Within a year I broke the 5lb mark and within two I broke the 4lb mark on smallmouth and had caught my current personal best 8lb 14 ounces which is good for the area I was in. Now that I've moved to SC I hope to break the double digit boundary on LM this year. Once you figure out what you are doing wrong, get the right equipment catching LM in the 4-5 pound mark isn't difficult. I can't wait until I can catch multiple double digit bass every year. I credit this site for the plethera of knowlege I have assimilated, and my retirement to having the time to practice and fish. It's really a numbers game, spend the time on the water and your odds go up. BTW I lived in WV where the state record LM is a 12lber, anything over 8lbs and you could literally make the newspaper. After using the info here and being able to fish more I caught several fish over 6 lbs every year and a few over 8. Not bragging just saying the info to help all of us break into the 5% club is here on this site. Thanks BTW I own and use a scale
Nitrofreak reply :
QuoteI do like RW's original post. It sums up his attitude very well. I've fished with him several times. and can tell you he is a great guy to share a boat with. He truly wants to help others advance their knowledge of this game. My post about stats came off a bit snotty. Some of my posts just seem to do that. I'm not really a snotty bastage, but I will admit to being a wise-*** from time to time.
My approach to statistics varies from a healthy skepticism down to outright disdain. That was what my first post in this thread was intended to convey. Then I got into wise-*** mode and made the 97% statement. A little BS with a large grain of truth in it.
I've caught about two bass a little over 8, three 7 pounders, six 6 pounders and maybe ten 5 pounders. Those are fish that made it onto a scale, not eyeballed. About twenty trophy sized fish for the areas I frequent. And that's over a thirty+ year period. Way less than one trophy per year. I couldn't tell you how many days fishing that is, much less how many hours.
So, put me in the 5% group through sheer perseverance.
Thanx for the post, I consider myself to be very lucky to have found this site and to have made a couple of new friends from here along the way.
I wish I had the time and money to go on one of the roadtrips and catch up with a few of you guys.
RW has tought me a lot, as well as others have on here, as far as the 5% is concerned, I live close to a lake here in Va. that does produce a fair amount of fish 5 lbs and up, it has a record fish of 13.0 lbs, this past summer there was one caught 12.9 lbs, the reason I put myself in that 5% is due to the fact that when I fish this lake and "target" big fish only, I most always come home empty handed, BUT when I find the schools of larger bass I am successful with pulling in a large 4, 5, 6, lb bass or two, granted it is not one right after another as we all know how it truly works, but I feel successful in going after a specific goal and making it happen, not while I am just fishing in general and lucking into a big one, with that I would have to consider myself to be in the other 95%.
There is NO WAY IN HELL I would have been able to do such a thing as this if it were not for having EXPERTS like RW and many others in this forum, I am going home empty handed less and less when I go there to specifically target big bass, the largest so far when I have done that is 6.9 lbs and the most that I have caught in one outing over 5lbs is two, all were weighed at the launch with tournament scales.
My PB so far is an 8 lb bass that was caught while fishing with my youngest daughter that came from sheer blind luck, not while I targeted large fish...but you know I wanna take credit for it anyway...lol.
Snotty, wisea**, or whatever mood you are in on a given day I always enjoy your posts!!!
Raul reply :
Catching big fish can be divided into two separate groups:
1.- The lucky ones: yeah ya´ll know the kind, most probably belong to this group, you go and have never caught anything over pan sized fish and one day you luck out and catch something really interesting just to spend the rest of your life waiting to luck out again.
2.- The perseverant ones: let´s call them the obsessed ones, less belong to this group, why ?, because in order to catch big fish consistently first of all you have to get rid of the mentality of the weekend warroir where anything you catch is fine and take into consideration that you are not after whatever is willing to take your offerings, you are after 1 fish worth all the time you have to spend in the water in order to get that one bite ........... and after hours maybe you didn´t get that bite.
Location is important, but location where or what location is the right one ? the first location you have to be in is not a drop off or a flat, or a weedbed, the first location you have to pay attention to in search for the big ones is the body of water you are going to fish, there´s no point in me going let´s say going to La Laborcita ( a small lake near my hometown ) is search for a bigun cuz there ain´t no biguns at La Laborcita simply because the place doesn´t have the forage base to produce big fish, the "biguns" of La Laborcita aren´t THAT big ( 4-5 lbs ) and they don´t appear that often, I´ve fish that lake for more than two and a half decades and the biggest one I´ve caught there is 4 and a half pounds.
With what ? simplicity, it takes a single, well selected bait fished to perfection to catch big fish, the jig & trailer has caught me more double digit fish than all my other baits put together ( even though my first 10 pounder and my PB were caught with ajerkbait and a crank respectively I don´t use them to hunt for big fish ).
When ? there are few windows of time during the year when big fish are more vulnerable, down here we practically don´t have that second window so I focus on the one I´ve got and that´s the pre and actual spawn, the fish are going to be there because mother nature demands them to be there, they just have to spawn and because they have to be in particular places that fill the requirements of the spawn you have to know them in order to be there. I mentioned that there´s another window, well, that window is during the fall, I can´t comment on that, I´m unfamiliar with it because as I said, down here we don´t have "fall", the the water doesn´t get THAT cold.
So, you might think, "well I choose location, the right bait and the right moment I should catch big fish", pal, it don´t work thata way, you might have the right bait, the right location, the right moment but ...... YOU HAVE TO BE THERE. So one of the most important things is being there. Instead of being here reading what we have to say .............why ain´t you there ? grab your stuff cuz big momma is there waiting for ya. 
tstone reply :
Catching a good number of 5+ lb fish is not uncommon in Florida, especially during this time of year. If the stats really are acurate, I must be doing pretty good. 
Dwight Hottle reply :
On 2/9/2012 at 7:56 AM, Raul said:Catching big fish can be divided into two separate groups:
1.- The lucky ones: yeah ya´ll know the kind, most probably belong to this group, you go and have never caught anything over pan sized fish and one day you luck out and catch something really interesting just to spend the rest of your life waiting to luck out again.
2.- The perseverant ones: let´s call them the obsessed ones, less belong to this group, why ?, because in order to catch big fish consistently first of all you have to get rid of the mentality of the weekend warroir where anything you catch is fine and take into consideration that you are not after whatever is willing to take your offerings, you are after 1 fish worth all the time you have to spend in the water in order to get that one bite ........... and after hours maybe you didn´t get that bite.
Location is important, but location where or what location is the right one ? the first location you have to be in is not a drop off or a flat, or a weedbed, the first location you have to pay attention to in search for the big ones is the body of water you are going to fish, there´s no point in me going let´s say going to La Laborcita ( a small lake near my hometown ) is search for a bigun cuz there ain´t no biguns at La Laborcita simply because the place doesn´t have the forage base to produce big fish, the "biguns" of La Laborcita aren´t THAT big ( 4-5 lbs ) and they don´t appear that often, I´ve fish that lake for more than two and a half decades and the biggest one I´ve caught there is 4 and a half pounds.
With what ? simplicity, it takes a single, well selected bait fished to perfection to catch big fish, the jig & trailer has caught me more double digit fish than all my other baits put together ( even though my first 10 pounder and my PB were caught with ajerkbait and a crank respectively I don´t use them to hunt for big fish ).
When ? there are few windows of time during the year when big fish are more vulnerable, down here we practically don´t have that second window so I focus on the one I´ve got and that´s the pre and actual spawn, the fish are going to be there because mother nature demands them to be there, they just have to spawn and because they have to be in particular places that fill the requirements of the spawn you have to know them in order to be there. I mentioned that there´s another window, well, that window is during the fall, I can´t comment on that, I´m unfamiliar with it because as I said, down here we don´t have "fall", the the water doesn´t get THAT cold.
So, you might think, "well I choose location, the right bait and the right moment I should catch big fish", pal, it don´t work thata way, you might have the right bait, the right location, the right moment but ...... YOU HAVE TO BE THERE. So one of the most important things is being there. Instead of being here reading what we have to say .............why ain´t you there ? grab your stuff cuz big momma is there waiting for ya.
Thanks for the words of wisdom, Raul.
urp reply :
I've been fishing for bass since the '60s. Not bad for a NW boy who never heard of a bass 'til he went in the service. If it's not a salmonoid in the NW it's a junk fish. I've caught a ton of big bass but a 5lb SM is my white whale. Best I've managed to do is 4 1/2.
Hooligan reply :
On 2/10/2012 at 10:40 AM, urp said:I've been fishing for bass since the '60s. Not bad for a NW boy who never heard of a bass 'til he went in the service. If it's not a salmonoid in the NW it's a junk fish. I've caught a ton of big bass but a 5lb SM is my white whale. Best I've managed to do is 4 1/2.
There's this place in CA, just a little south of Medford called Shasta. There's some pig smallies in there. 
Great topic on the whole.
Diggy reply :
I made it last year into the 5%
J Francho reply :
The 5% nation of Casiotone.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 2/10/2012 at 11:55 PM, J Francho said:The 5% nation of Casiotone.
J, I am just a good ol boy who lives in the sticks and loves country and southern rock, so please look over my redneck ways.
If you don't mind me asking... what in the world was that? LOL !! nice beat but I just couldn't connect.
I know you play the drums is that your group?
J Francho reply :
No, that's a slacker jazz beat band from the 90s, LOL. You might know the song "Circles." That had popular radio play.
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