Yesterday I was on a roll catching dinks off shallow (1-3ft) wood near pads, I don't mind catching dinks but I was on the hunt for the girthy girls. While I was on the water, I thought to myself am I just on a small fish pattern? Did I need to switch it up more and get out of my shallow ways? 

The old saying goes "don't leave fish to find fish."  I do think that perhaps moving a little deeper and upsizing your presentation might help target slightly larger fish.

Fish school by size. Big fish don’t run with small fish unless they are trying to eat them. Finding big fish is harder than finding schoolies.  When I was guiding, I called them “client fish”.  

27 minutes ago, BustedSwimbait said:

Did I need to switch it up more and get out of my shallow ways? 

Who knows ? I dont mind catching dinks . Larger bass might be close by . If I tire of catching dinks then by all means I'll get a move on . Maybe deeper ,maybe  fish down the bank .., just got to make some decisions and act on them . If the dinks are shallow then there may be a lunker shallow too , maybe elsewhere .

13 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Fish school by size. Big fish don’t run with small fish unless they are trying to eat them. Finding big fish is harder than finding schoolies.  When I was guiding, I called them “client fish”.  

 

Need to keep moving on when the dinks are dominant.

I have got on massive schools of small bass where everyone is the same size . Cast after cast catch a cookie cutter fish . Now if the dinks are shallow and spread out then there are probably bigger fish mixed in to . Thats been my experience . Find cover and try to picture where a nice bass may be . Dont complicate bass fishing more than it needs to be .

Location, location, location followed by timing being at the right place at the right time with a lure the bigger bass are willing to strike. 

Big bass are the lowest population density in every ecosystem they occupy. Big bass is also relative to where you fish, they need to be in lake you fish.

Big bass could be in 2’ of water or 40’ or anywhere in between. Depth is probably the most critical factor to determine where big bass are located. Lure choices depend on where the bass are located and what they are feeding on.

Catching small bass hoping bigger bass will show up rarely works out well.

To catch big bass consistently you should fish for them, it’s that simple.

Tom

All good points and appreciate the feedback. Next time I'm out and in the same scenario, I'll be sure to switch it up and make moves. As long as I'm on the water making casts I'm just happy to be out there catching whether it be dinks or bigguns.  Granted fishing in WA anything over 3lbs is a biggun to me.

OP, great post!

I always try to look at where I am catching them at.  Are they schooling in open water or are they all in heavy cover.  If they are in open water then they may be schooling on smaller fish.  If they are tight to cover then they may be trying to hide from larger fish.