If most everyone practices catch and release. Then why aren't there plenty of big bass?

There are plenty of big bass....in certain lakes across the Unites States. Not sure where you were going with this.

Because there are more lousy fishermen than big bass...

Why Not More Bass = In most cases more bass equals smaller bass due to over population and less forage.

 

Less Bass = more big bass due to more forage.

 

It is a balance act. Find areas with the "most forage year around" conditions and you should find the most big bass. That means water that is the most fertile for that lake or river. Fertility is the key to holding large numbers of forage and forage is what makes bass fat. Forage will migrate and change patterns within the year. Understand bait, and you will increase your odds of catching big bass. That is my humble opinion.

What's a "Big BASS"? It's all relative.

Because there are more lousy fishermen than big bass...

I bet it would really surprise most fisherman at how lousy they are at catching big bass. I have some underwater lights around my pier and I can watch the bass strike my lures or just ignore them because they can tell it's fake. It is amazing to me, how many times a bigger bass will hit my lure and recognize it is fake and spit it out before I can even set the hook. They are so fast that sometimes you don't even feel the strike. I am almost to the point where I believe most of the bigger bass are caught by pure accident. I cant stress SHARP HOOKS enough.

Tons of factors play into this.. not just catch and release.

What's a "Big BASS"? It's all relative.

To me it's 5lb. 6lb. and up.

One of my lakes is a 'trophy management' lake.  It allows  a creel limit of 5 bass in any combination of 12"< and over >22".  The only problem is that not enough people keep what they catch.  In the end, I average 3/4-1 lb bass per catch. 

To me it's 5lb. 6lb. and up.

That true.  New England hawgs are 5-6 lbs.  Southern toads are in the range of 10+.

Gotta be a good fisherman to catch big bass

As a big fan of Skeeter Davis, I can only reply.......

 

I wake up in the morning and I wonder,
Why everything's the same as it was.
I can't understand. No, I can't understand,
How life goes on the way it does.

More monsters than ever before are being weighed in this region and around the country. 

Perhaps the OP is basing his observation on a specific body of water because that is not

generally the case.

Ive been lucky enough to fish in lakes and rivers with good bass populations and little fishing pressure. The catching in these waters were phenomenal .Introduce fisherman and they become ordinary. Bass may not have brains but they do become more difficult to catch . I've been lucky enough to find populations of unpressured bass on heavily fished lakes. Once  boats start showing up on these spots the place is ruined.  

 

I try to be a stealthy as possible especially with the trolling motor .  A real good thread on this forum  is the fattest bass thread. There are an awful lot of big fat bass caught from kayaks .

If most everyone practices catch and release. Then why aren't there plenty of big bass?

Just because you can not catch em don't mean they aint there!

We got lakes here in Florida with huge bass, lots of dinks, plus many sizes in between. All being caught in the same lake.

I have found the better fisherman you become and more techniques you learn, the more chances of you catching larger fish increase as you learn to read the water, the conditions, and past experiences which you can fall back on.  Certain bodies of water I fish have lots of big bass in them.  Dropshotting and wacky rigged Senko's will catch a few, but mostly fish in the 1-2lb range which a lot of people are happy catching.  Swimbaits, jigs, umbrella rigs, and frogs fished at the right times consitantly produce fish in the 3-9lb range although there are fish over 10lbs, just going by my catch size.  Now if I didn't  learn new techniques, be able to read the conditions, and use them at proper times and locations then my average fish size would be in the 1-2lb range and could say that there aren't that many big fish in there.  But knowing how to eliminate unproductive water and fishing a bait that will catch bigger fish  greatly increase the odds of catching larger bass more frequently. But then to catch big bass you need to fish where they are and if the body of water is overpopulated with smaller fish then the odds of bigger fish are decreased by the lack of food and only way to get bigger fish is to remove lots of the little guys.

It is all relative. Each pond has its own specific carrying capacity. Overpopulations tends to lead to stunted bass and few larger fish. Typically the smaller the bass population is, given that they have adequate feed, the faster the growth rate is which tends to lead to more larger fish. There are "big" bass everywhere.

I think the original poster is right for more of the country than not. First catch and release has "educated" bass to an extent. There are many articles in older magazines by fisheries biologists explaining it. Current press won't bring that point up, maybe even refute it. It doesn't promote the "sport" and doesn't sell advertising. Plenty of other reasons too. Here unbridled development has ruined what is left of natural waters. The current state administration is only concerned with giving $ to industry to come here and even gone to the extent of disbanding state agencies that enforced pollution laws. The state game commission is ordered to spend their majority of time and resources towards homeland security rather than wildlife law enforcement. Rampant growth brought more and more pasture pool clubs there runoff of fertilizers and weed killers goes directly into the watershed via drainage systems that dump directly into local freshwaters. Just as destructive has been the invasion of tilapia. I see hundreds of them during a 5 hour trip. Just running to fishing grounds it's common to strike several with the boat at plane as they lay at the surface slurping for air. Their excrement has changed the oxygen/nitrogen levels. They spawn year round multiple times. They aggressively possess the basses spawning areas and their bomb crater beds ruin the grounds for future bass usage. They eat bass fry and grow big, fast, not providing much of a forage bass for bass. The landlocked tarpon and snook cannot even keep them in check. Bass fishing has little future in my area.

How many state record bass have been caught in the past 2 years in the US? It's been quite a handful. I'm also pretty sure that the world record spotted bass has been broken twice in the past year. 

I think the original poster is right for more of the country than not. First catch and release has "educated" bass to an extent. There are many articles in older magazines by fisheries biologists explaining it. Current press won't bring that point up, maybe even refute it. It doesn't promote the "sport" and doesn't sell advertising. Plenty of other reasons too. Here unbridled development has ruined what is left of natural waters. The current state administration is only concerned with giving $ to industry to come here and even gone to the extent of disbanding state agencies that enforced pollution laws. The state game commission is ordered to spend their majority of time and resources towards homeland security rather than wildlife law enforcement. Rampant growth brought more and more pasture pool clubs there runoff of fertilizers and weed killers goes directly into the watershed via drainage systems that dump directly into local freshwaters. Just as destructive has been the invasion of tilapia. I see hundreds of them during a 5 hour trip. Just running to fishing grounds it's common to strike several with the boat at plane as they lay at the surface slurping for air. Their excrement has changed the oxygen/nitrogen levels. They spawn year round multiple times. They aggressively possess the basses spawning areas and their bomb crater beds ruin the grounds for future bass usage. They eat bass fry and grow big, fast, not providing much of a forage bass for bass. The landlocked tarpon and snook cannot even keep them in check. Bass fishing has little future in my area.

 

Wow. Sounds like Florida bass fishing has no future ? I am glad that the scenario you speak isn't happening anywhere near me. For some reason I had heard that the amount of Trophy class ( 10 lbs plus ) largemouth caught so far this year had been significantly up in Florida. The fishing is still great where I fish and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Private waters and fish management areas funded by Mosaic Mining in effort to sway public opinion to support their business most likely. Like Beinville once was.

I don't know all the inside info as far as how the current status is on Florida fishing but from my experience down there last month and seeing numerous pics of 10+ lb bass from several guides and fishermen there doesn't seem to be any lack of big bass being caught. This winter according to some put a lot of hawgs in the boat in Central Florida even with the crazy unstable cold fronts.

I don't know all the inside info as far as how the current status is on Florida fishing but from my experience down there last month and seeing numerous pics of 10+ lb bass from several guides and fishermen there doesn't seem to be any lack of big bass being caught. This winter according to some put a lot of hawgs in the boat in Central Florida even with the crazy unstable cold fronts.

 

I had heard the same. It was a better than average year for big, 10 pounds plus, bass in Florida.

Big bass depend on a lot more than just numbers. There is genetics, forage base, length of growing season, competition with other aquatic predators and just plain ole good luck needed to grow giant bass.