When I go fishing, be it at a pond or a huge reservoir, my intention is to catch big fish. There have been days when the only rod/reel I take would be a 8' xh swimbait rig, and throw only 8" and bigger baits. Gettin a bit to old to be doing that nowadays, but I still have the same intentions.. 

I'll take anything over 10 LBS, compared to 20 1 lb'rs. That's not to say that landing 10 2,3 or 5 lb bass isn't a blast, but a guy  has to have goals..

Some of us dont have a choice weather to catch small or big fish!!! In my case its almost always quantity but I dont care I love bass and a bass is a bass to me anyway ☹️ 

i just go fishing

For me I am just looking for a bite, our lakes in my area get hammered and it is very tough to find the bass let alone get them to bite.  So if I catch some no matter how big that is a great day for me.  But like someone said above, we keep fishing because we enjoy the hunt of the next big one.

3 hours ago, lo n slo said:

i just go fishing

Likely the Post of the Day!

It's all situational. Tournament time 5 bites don't care about dinks. Our lakes around here you better bring it or your wasting your time during a tourney. 

 

 Fishing with certain friends or my son it's all about numbers. We have numbers lakes and size lakes we fish. The lakes with bigger fish if we are fun fishing we fish for 3 or 4 bites a day for each person (2). Numbers lakes we just try to catch how ever many we can 

It really depends on the day for me. I'm fortunate I get to fish enough that it allows me to pick and choose based on my mood. There's days I'm on the water just to relax and I catch what I catch and there are days I'm out there focused and challenging myself trying for the biggest 5 or biggest bite. Tournament fishing it's definitely about the biggest, but there can be stretches in tournaments that catching a fish regardless of size helps to kind of regain a little confidence and momentum.  

That's the great part about fishing though, there's no right or wrong and you can pick your own path to enjoyment. 

11 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

I begin every day with the same attitude, "Go big, or Go home".  

Before day's end however, that attitude is subject to change  

 

Roger

 

In college I had some buddies who used the inverse of that philosophy when going to the bars

I’m a numbers guy with a short memory. If I caught a very big fish in the first hour, by the second hour, if I haven’t caught anything else, I’d be antsy for the next bite like the first one didn’t happen. I need something tugging on my line frequently enough to keep me interested. One “bigun” doesn’t make up for a lack of action in the other 7 hours and 55 minutes of the day.

1 hour ago, Hower08 said:

It's all situational. Tournament time 5 bites don't care about dinks. Our lakes around here you better bring it or your wasting your time during a tourney. 

 

 Fishing with certain friends or my son it's all about numbers. We have numbers lakes and size lakes we fish. The lakes with bigger fish if we are fun fishing we fish for 3 or 4 bites a day for each person (2). Numbers lakes we just try to catch how ever many we can 

I wish you would unlock a few of those secrets for me!?? I believe we may fish a lot of the same lakes!  haha  

Numbers

 

Just one time, I would like to have a numbers day of 3+ and say, 30 fish.

I go after the big ones. I'd rather catch one big bass than a bunch of small ones.

Size, and that is relative.

Numbers. Catch enough fish and one them is bound to be big. Happens to me many a time during the season.

 

I like multi-species fishing as well. Some species are relatively small but still fun to catch.

12 hours ago, lo n slo said:

i just go fishing

X2

I start the day planning on catching lots of big fish, on top water.  Sometimes by the end of the day, I am  questioning the intelligence of the governments decision not allowing dynamite as a legal fishing method.  Most days, if I'm catching lots of small fish, I try and change tactics to see if I can get bigger fish.  If I'm not having any luck, I switch to trying to catch anything, and plan on lying to make them bigger.

Like most everyone I’m looking for a monster. I’ll take what I can get though. Just happy to get bit some days. My favorite days have been when I got a big one but my most memorable days have come when I caught a quantity of fish in the 3-4# range. Again I’m just glad to get a day on the water and hook a few.  

22 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Zero is a number...

 

'Zero' is fine, as long as it's the 2nd number and not the first  ?

Roger

 

 

 

With numbers comes size .Went today and caught  40 with 10 over 15 inches . Nothing over two and a half lbs but had one in the 6 to 7 lb range  .

I like big bass and I can not lie...

 

If the lake is pressured and holds mostly small fish, a big bass is like manna from heaven

Considering I never catch big fish or lots of fish, I would take either or....

Other than using large lures , I dont know how to target large bass . They could be anywhere .Looking back at where I have caught them  the covers and structures run the gamut .  Fishing in waters that harbor a good population of lunkers is the best way to catch them . Put lures in likely spots and  one will catch both , numbers and size .

I fish for neither numbers nor big ones.

I fish for that excitement of when a bass hits a topwater

I've had a couple of years where my most memorable bass is one that blew up right at the boat, blasting my toad out of the water, soaking the deck and startling me 

I dont have a most memorable 3 or 4 pounder unless it was on a topwater bite.

Most of the memories around those fish are in regards to the situation and not that specific fish

 

This past weekend I landed 2 right at 4 lbs, both on a chatterbait. respectable fish in my book

However, the most memorable bass came from about 10 inches of water with a huge blow up and it put on several acrobatic displays before being caught. That one was a 2lb 4 oz. Not the biggest, but the most fun by a lot.

i guess it really depends on the day. it's always nice to catch a biggun, but it's also nice catching numbers to keep the blood flowing. tournament day i am always happy to have a limit in the livewell, but fun fishing i am happy if i catch one fish in a few hours that's 4-5 pounds

17 hours ago, J Francho said:

Size, and that is relative.

This right here. Some places I fish it's 3lbs others it's 5plus. I like catching fish so I'm happy with whatever but I've done this a while so I'm in the hunt for good ones.