Catching other species when targeting bass. 2024

dodgeguy reply :

Ok if I catch anything other than bass it's an accident. I've caught 2 trout in my entire life. I've caught a few pickerals while bass fishing. I've caught 2 walleye and some white perch and a catfish. This is from 1967 to now. Is this normal for most of you guys? I never use live bait . That probably has something to do with it.OK let's here about you guys.

DogBone_384 reply :

I'll catch trout in cold water months while still targeting bass. I also catch pickerel in a lot of waters around me while bass fishing. Lastly, there's a SMB pond about an hour from me that coughs up 1 to 1 1/4 pound yellow perch regularly.

Overall, I welcome any species to my kayak, especially when bass don't cooperate.

WRB reply :

It's not common to catch other species while bass fishing and not that unusual either.

I have both big channel and blue cats over 30 lbs on jigs, crankbait, soft plastics and structure spoons. Rainbow and brown trout* on plastic worms, trout swimbaits* and structure spoons. My PB 37 lb musky on a 1/4 oz hair jig fishing for Smallmouth.

Walleyes like crankbaits, soft plastic worms and grubs and catch them often when bass fishing in Canada.

Big snapping turtle at Bull Shoals on a jig and snagged a giant sturgeon on the Green River that looked about 8' long when took off.

Crappie on several lures and a 2 lb Redear on a jig. Carp on small crankbaits occasionally.

Stripe Bass eat bass lures so it's not uncommon to catch them.

I would say structure spoons are the all around lure that every game will strike.

Tom

Finessegenics reply :

I regularly catch pike when targeting bass. If I want to throw a spinnerbait (which I love doing for smallies in dirty water) I'm basically forced to tie a wire leader on it. The chances of a pike hitting it and cutting my line is way too high. I dont tend to catch that many walleye while bass fishing, but I fish for them from when the open water season opens until the second week of june, when bass opens here.

I also once caught a really nice rainbow on a storm arashi crankbait. Was quite the surprise.

gimruis reply :

What he said. In some cases I can’t keep the pike off here and they ruin tackle if they don’t bite me completely off. And 90% of them are the small slime hammer handle type.

Scott F reply :

Pike, musky, walleye, crappie, bowfin, and yellow perch are some of the species I get while bass fishing in Wisconsin. This was one of my accidental catches last spring.

A-Jay reply :

I am a Big Fan of the By-Catch opportunities locally.

It's a bit of a gamble though.

Never know what you might bump into.

Needless to say, I always spool on plenty of quality backing.

:smiley:

A-Jay

Sam reply :

Catfish

Black Crappie

Striped Bass

Yellow Perch

White Perch

Smallmouth Bass

Warmouth

Bowfin

Snakeheads

C4Dave reply :

Fishing below Pickwick Dam can get you multiple species. I caught LM, SM, spotted bass, white bass, yellow bass, drum, blue catfish on the same day! Also have caught crappie, bream, sauger, skipjack, and stripers there.

Koz reply :

Lately, catfish have been my nemesis when I'm bass fishing. They seem to hit anything.

There's nothing like getting a bait hammered by something big and for a fleeting second you wonder if it's your PB largemouth bass and by the time that second is up you realize it's the pull of a catfish on the end of your line.

Not_Here reply :

the reel ess reply :

Catfish, white bass, crappie, white perch, all kinds of bream, gar, stripers, a monster gold shiner, turtle and just recently, oscar. I feel certain I've forgotten some.

Dwight Hottle reply :

While fishing for smallies on Lake Erie I have caught: steelhead, brown trout, lake trout, channel catfish, perch, walleye, sheep head (drum) pike, rock bass, gobies & largemouth. While fishing for largemouth I have caught pickerel, bowfin, tilapia & cichlid & crappie.

TnRiver46 reply :

On 1/19/2020 at 7:13 AM, Frog Turds said:

its very frequent getting by-catches, especially the waters i fish...which most are welcomed and a nice treat...only a couple are not, bowfin & pike are the 2 i could do without...if one isnt totally wrecking my bait, the other is stealing it...and both bring chaos aboard...

Hahaha that’s for d&$@ sure! Those bowfin have dynamite in their veins. I enjoy them but that’s because I’ve only boated one , I imagine you would sustain serious bodily harm after landing several.

Not_Here reply :

The Bassman reply :

The HOA lakes I fish give up a decent channel cat every so often. Hasn't happened during the cold months yet. Also get a bullhead cat every now and then. Some of the ponds I fish have hybrid bluegills which are very aggressive and have no trouble getting hooked on larger baits.

billmac reply :

I'm most likely to catch pike when bass fishing. Trout, walleye, musky, various panfish, occasionally. Fortunately I like catching pike.

MIbassyaker reply :

Bycatch is pretty normal, but depends entirely on which waters I fish. Some places I can virtually guarantee catching pike, bowfin, crappie, rock bass, or other sunfish on any trip. At others, I've never caught anything but bass.

NittyGrittyBoy reply :

We catch a good bit of big Warmouths which are a welcomed bycatch. What we call Jack's, is Pickrel, there not to bad of a bycatch, just mangle up lures

But my most dreaded, and absolute least favorite catch is... Mudfish. Ugh cant stand them fools. I do release them, but sure do hate em.

soflabasser reply :

It is normal for me to catch other species of fish while bass fishing since South Florida is a multi species fisherman's paradise. I can catch a largemouth bass on one cast, a snook on the next, a peacock bass on the next cast, or any of the dozens of species that live in the same waters bass live in. Have had several +100 fish days all on artificials so that is another nice thing about fishing in South Florida.

slonezp reply :

Walleye, pike, musky, crappie, cats, drum, carp, wipers, rock bass, mud puppies, whitefish, gar, sturgeon, bluegill, trout, salmon, perch, maybe some others.

Bluebasser86 reply :

If I go fishing for bass and don't catch a different species, I'm pretty surprised. Most of my PB's of other species have been caught while targeting bass.

Flathead catfish-68lbs, finesse jig

wiper-11lb 2oz, jerkbait

crappie-2lb, spinnerbait

walleye-4.75lb, keitech

drum-22lb, blade bait

white bass-4lb, squarebill

warmouth-1lb, beaver

grass carp-50ish, Swaver

Saugeye-4lbs, finesse jig

Sauger-3lbs, squarebill

yellow perch-ned rig

Bowfin-pitboss

shortnose gar-jerkbait

Rock bass-ned rig

I'm sure there's others, but all those were PB's I caught while fishing for bass. Some days the bycatch far outnumber the bass.

schplurg reply :

I caught a bullfrog with a frog last summer. I'd post the video link but you can't actually see the strike. The frog jumped out of shallow water vegetation and grabbed it from the air about 3 feet from me (bank fishin). Was barbless at least and barely hooked. I mentioned this in another thread (in case anyone gets deja vu).

Manly Studson reply :

On 1/19/2020 at 2:13 PM, schplurg said:

I caught a bullfrog with a frog last summer.

I did too. Sorry, my pictures always upload sideways.

Bankbeater reply :

I usually catch bluegill, crappie, catfish, carp, hybrids, and an occasional muskie while bass fishing. Last year I seemed to be catching warmouth on every trip.

Chris at Tech reply :

Thinking back, my bass fishing bycatch has included bream, catfish, walleye, perch, hybrid striped bass, pickerel, crappie. I think that's it...

Bird reply :

I'm a diehard Bass fisherman and actually detest catching other species.

I've caught many pickerel and Musky while bass fishing and seems to always happen with Jerkbaits and Magnum flukes.

I always give slack line in attempt to lose these voracious predators, works about 50 %.

Don't mind the occasional Crappie.

BassinCNY reply :

Wow. You aren't that far from me and I've caught just about everything that swims in our local lakes while targeting bass. The only local fish I can think of that I haven't caught targeting bass are salmon, rainbow and brook trout. The memorable ones were a huge carp. Definitely the heaviest fish I've ever caught. I somehow hooked him with a texas rigged trick worm in the eye socket. It took about a half hour to fight him on 8 lb test line and get him unhooked. Amazingly his eye seemed fine. Then there was the 40" tiger musky on a tube on that same 8 lb fluoro. That was a mean and very unhappy fish. I was surprised the first time I caught a gar on a crankbait. I think the most beautiful fish I've ever caught are spawning male bowfin. I know where they spawn now and I reluctantly stay away.

OCdockskipper reply :

Big bluegill (typically on topwater or ned rigs), carp (almost always snagged in the head with a crankbait) and catfish. Like others said, the first few seconds after a catfish strike, your brain is going "Be a bass, be a bass, be a bass!!".

Loads of 10 - 20 lb channel catfish in my lake, this 14lb not only hit my crankbait, but had another crankbait (left side) and a jig (right side, lower) hanging off him. Apparently he was a lure collector...

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