Pat Brown Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 I have enough trips where I either don't catch anything or just catch a couple but on days when I catch them well, I usually catch them very well. I have had lots of days where I get 3 bites and they're all 6 lbers. I have days where I catch 20 fish and they're all 2 lbers. Oddly enough the days where I catch around 5 fish, not too many more and not too many less tend to be my best days. If I'm on a pattern where I'm gonna get 6-7 bites all day, I'm probably on the big fish pattern on my lake and any fish over 3 lbs usually tells me I'm fishing for the bigger ones at my lakes. I don't think my averages are going to be an indicator of much but I will say I'm getting much more efficient at finding patterns on my lakes even if I don't always have the success to show it. Thankfully I fish for fun so it's all good. 🙂🎣 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdnoble84 Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 Smallie fishing mostly so i would say 7-10lbs, although last couple years there has been an influx of 8-12” fish (theory is dry springs leading to really good year classes in 20, 21 and 22. So I expect my “bags” to go back up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 5, 2023 Global Moderator Share Posted November 5, 2023 If I catch 5 keepers, I’m writing a letter home to momma and throwing a party. SMB under 18” have to be released. LMB aren’t as frequent and they have to be released under 14” the guy that won the bassmaster classic here only had two keepers on championship day so im not the only one 😂 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MIbassyaker Posted November 5, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 5, 2023 I don't weigh every fish, but I can estimate a 5-best weight based on a conversion formula from length. Keeper size minimum for bass in MI is 14". This year, out of 31 trips, 8 times I caught five keepers, and 12 times I caught no keepers. Six times I had a bag of 10lb or more, and my biggest bag is estimated to have been 14.2lb. My average bag of all trips would have been 4.6lb. Average bag of just the 8 trips where I caught 5 keepers is 10.6lb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Columbia Craw Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 Day in and day out considering both largemouth and smallmouth the average is about twelve and a half pounds. My biggest five ever just broke thirty two pounds. That was over nine years ago. If I can get a sixteen pound limit in a trip, I’m pretty darn happy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Hit about 25lb's just the other day with two of them coming in at just over 15lbs! Average is anywhere from 20-25lbs. I've done 35lbs on a few occasions. Everglades never disappoints! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 1 minute ago, Zcoker said: Hit about 25lb's just the other day with two of them coming in at just over 15lbs! Average is anywhere from 20-25lbs. I've done 35lbs on a few occasions. Everglades never disappoints! Wow! I'd love to fish the Everglades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: Wow! I'd love to fish the Everglades. Just don't plan on camping while your there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 17 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: Wow! I'd love to fish the Everglades. You'd love it! The bass are wild, vicious, and you just never know when that 10 pounder gonna hit! It's a ever changing world, like a living organism in itself. One day everything can be a certain way and then, the next day, completely different. I fish the glades day and night, and each time has it's own special offerings. Nighttime is humbling, to say the least. The everglades is just so different, unique, and so very rewarding when it comes to bass fishing! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 12 minutes ago, Zcoker said: Nighttime is humbling, to say the least. Hey, the far south, i.e. the Everglades, isn't that different than the far north, i.e. the swamps of Maine, for I too am often humbled in the dark. @Dwight Hottle: C'mon, Dwight! I'm guessing one of those pythons would be happy to cuddle with me around 3:00 a.m. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said: Hey, the far south, i.e. the Everglades, isn't that different than the far north, i.e. the swamps of Maine, for I too am often humbled in the dark. I'm sure it's different. The everglades in Florida is very diverse. It can support virtually any form of life, including our unwelcomed friends like pythons. In and of itself, it's a living organism. It's fragile as well. Florida has wiped out many acres of it due to agriculture and over development. Not to mention the controlled water flow, hundreds of mile of manmade canals. At one time Lake Okeechobee (which is part of the everglades) naturally drained south. Now the water is channeled off to holding areas to remove the phosphorus. There's many systems in place to improve the quality, which I'm starting to see more and more. Unless you're out there all the time, it's hard to know what's really going on. One thing that they do that I hate is spray, or nuke, as we call it. They kill off vegetation along with just about everything else. Once a lake or area gets nuked, it takes a while for it to come back to the way it was before. All in all, there's so many miles and miles of unfished areas that are still pristine and untouched, thank goodness! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 6, 2023 Global Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2023 Virtually any form of life….. how many caribou you seen down there @Zcoker? 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Raider Bob Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 On 11/4/2023 at 4:58 PM, bass_smith said: I pulled 24lbs on 5 fish this morning from shore. Unfortunately no one cares cause I wasn't in a tournament Outstanding!!! I've had three 5 lb plus in my entire life! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: Virtually any form of life….. how many caribou you seen down there @Zcoker? 😂 I see a lot of deer, just a different species, south Florida style, tons of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Everglades in action. These two fish were caught 10 minutes apart in the exact same spot with the exact same bait. Who said big bass are solitary creatures lol I actually thought it was the same fish but it wasn't. Sure does help make those heavy bags! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Brown Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 I just gotta have some family in Florida I'm forgetting. 🤣 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MIbassyaker Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said: Outstanding!!! I've had three 5 lb plus in my entire life! It's tough out there. It's been 2 years since I caught a 5lber (pike, bowfins, & catfish excluded). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 6, 2023 Global Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2023 2 hours ago, Zcoker said: I see a lot of deer, just a different species, south Florida style, tons of them! Alright how many badgers you got? Otter doesn’t count 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User A-Jay Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 Most every trip I'm targeting a specific size of smallmouth - 4 lbs is a good starting point for me. Super early Pre-Spawn is really the only time I'm actually anticipating being able to catch 5 of that class of brown bass. The rest of the year, I'm almost always hunting individual fish. Late summer and in the early fall, the numbers of plus size fish can & usually do pick up. But even then, 2 or 3 over 5lbs is a Really good day for me. So while I love to look back at what my biggest bag of the season was and what my 5 biggest bass of the year weighted, my per trip yearly average weight is always going to be weak, and for my style of bassing somewhat misleading. Either way, this is what it looked like in 2023. I was on the water right about 50 times during this campaign. (about 20 or so lower than the past several years) Many trips included some smaller bass, even no fish or 'other species'. Notable catches for the year were: 27 over 4 lbs, 13 over 5 lbs and 1 over 6 lbs. Using some real rough monkey math, that's not much more than a 3 lb 'average' per trip. Hardly worth writing home about. But you know who's not bummed out about that. This Guy. Because in my world, it only takes ONE CAST to make the whole year. Fish Hard A-Jay (btw-this is an old thread). 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User roadwarrior Posted November 6, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 6, 2023 15 minutes ago, A-Jay said: ...my world, it only takes ONE CAST to make the whole year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcoker Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Alright how many badgers you got? Otter doesn’t count Well, since otters are in the same family as badges, then i guess we got them as well, one big happy family lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 7, 2023 Global Moderator Share Posted November 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Zcoker said: Well, since otters are in the same family as badges, then i guess we got them as well, one big happy family lol Salmon (I would say speckled trout doesn’t count but clearly that’s not stopping you 😂) Florida also lacks groundhogs but I’d consider that a net positive 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Baron Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 I find smallmouth extremely moody, either on or off so I may catch one or two early but most often I target largemouth most of my day. 5-10 fish is a “good” 3-4hr. outing for me most days, less is very common, more not so much. The lakes I fish have a nice average with plenty of 2-2.5# largemouth and adding a 3-4# is common. So I’d say about 12# is what I can expect if I’m able to catch 5. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User N Florida Mike Posted November 7, 2023 Super User Share Posted November 7, 2023 It depends on where I fish. Best bag in recent years was 15 pound s. Average is probably around 8 pounds… 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Raider Bob Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Zcoker said: Well, since otters are in the same family as badges, then i guess we got them as well, one big happy family lol Wish you guys would quit mentioning otters, I'm having cold sweats again!😁 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.