How to fight a bass - wear out vs horse 'em in?

[snake95]

1 hour ago, PaulVE64 said:

Sounds like the OP has experience with LMB but caught smallie fever.

Yes. It was a fantastic experience. They are crazy fighters. This guy was my first ever true monster smallie. I thought I had a 10+ walleye at first. 

 

I will use a heavier leader.

[Darth-Baiter]

i have never heard myself, but my friends tell me i sound like i am having sex when i am fighting a fish.  i think they are effing with me...

 

my friends are jokesters. 

[TOXIC]

Smallmouth. Don’t. Give. Up. 

[snake95]

3 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Most big smallies are lost at the boat when they start digging for the bottom. That is the time to slightly loosen your drag & wear them out before netting.  

Thanks Dwight this is exactly what happened and where I went wrong.

[Woody B]

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

My objective is not to bring a wild, jumping & thrashing brown bass boat side.

I prefer to slip the net under a 'controlled' fish.

 

Yep, not just brown bass, but any big fish.   If you're fishing in a boat with a foot controlled trolling motor use it to get away from a big fish that's close to the boat before it's "ready"    Close to the boat takes most of the stretch out of the line.  It's harder to keep a fish pinned, and it's easier to snap the line.   If you're near cover a fish could get tangled in get the boat away from that cover and lead the fish away.    

 

Disclaimer, I'm not an expert.  I rarely fish where Smallmouth Bass are.  However, most of the fish I lose are small ones.   I have a good track record of getting big fish in the boat once hooked.   

[greentrout]

5 hours ago, Mobasser said:

A well known Missouri angler Guido Hibdon, spoke of leading a bass away from cover into a safer area to land them. Get a good hook set, then keep steady, but not overbearing pressure on the fish to play them. Especially with spinning gear/ lighter lines this can work. I've had moderate success with this.

I remember Guido Hibdon's Guido Bug and his teaching of spinning gear with light line and small lures. King of Finesse early 90's. Read his Bassmaster magazine articles. That was a great time for Bassmaster Mag.  

 

I look for my drag to be right and make up for some of my errors. Especially with spinning gear.

[thediscochef]

I'm not horsing with anything less than 14lb line, and even then if it's pulling drag I'm gonna let it. I have a tendency to back off my drag after a hookset into a good fish, I had way too many snaps at the bank when I first started because I was using the drag to horse the fish, not the rod. I try to get them in my hand ASAP because the longer we fight the more likely it is that something will go wrong, and in the summer time heat stress becomes a concern. I just try to keep the fish pinned and get it in as soon as I can will it. Those techniques are responsible for the 4# SM I caught in May, and one of the 7# I caught in June. The 7# was on 6# line with a tiny light wire crappie tube jig through a bunch of invasive milfoil. There is no horsing in that situation lol

[Swamp Girl]

17 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I have caught my share of big bass especially smallies.

 

Dwight, you've got the shares of ten fine fishers. A-Jay too.

 

13 hours ago, Woody B said:

 If you're fishing in a boat with a foot controlled trolling motor use it to get away from a big fish that's close to the boat before it's "ready"    Close to the boat takes most of the stretch out of the line.  It's harder to keep a fish pinned, and it's easier to snap the line. 

 

I like ^this^ tactic.

 

Rocks do abrade line and next time, you might try clipping off a few yards once or twice mid-fishing. 

[Bazoo]

I lost what I estimate to be a PB largemouth by horsing him. I was used to catching 2-3 pounders, and this one came in just like the others... but when I went to lift him out with my rod the line broke, at the same time I saw how large he was. Probably 6 pounds, which I know there are fish at least that large in this pond.

 

Fishing with 10 pound mono, I should have known better, but I wasn't thinking.

[txchaser]

I've lost more fish from horsing than from not being aggressive enough. Often heavy cover though.

 

All the big fish guys I learned from in person pushed me to back off the drag a little once the fish (largemouth) is moving the right way, if it's a big fish.

[Swamp Girl]

12 hours ago, txchaser said:

I've lost more fish from horsing than from not being aggressive enough. Often heavy cover though.

 

All the big fish guys I learned from in person pushed me to back off the drag a little once the fish (largemouth) is moving the right way, if it's a big fish.

 

I tried less drag, but my bog bass just plunge faster and deeper into weeds and then I lose them. 

[Darth-Baiter]

why did this get moved to the Fishing Reports area?   curious.

[pdxfisher]

I am somewhere in the middle. I have lost big bass I fought too hard and lost big bass I fought too long. In the end each battle is different and how hard I fight the fish depends upon how they are acting. 

[txchaser]

On 9/15/2023 at 9:40 AM, ol'crickety said:

 

I tried less drag, but my bog bass just plunge faster and deeper into weeds and then I lose them. 

in fairness I'm using 17lb and 20lb in similar situations so less drag is relative

[thediscochef]

On 9/15/2023 at 9:40 AM, ol'crickety said:

 

I tried less drag, but my bog bass just plunge faster and deeper into weeds and then I lose them. 

I find that "less drag" in this situation is often like, one click on the star, not much more than that. Maybe two clicks on my spinning reels. Just enough to gain some extra forgiveness from the bass gods if she decides to dive into something sharp or give a real hard kick/run, but not enough to change how the rod loads or make a particularly noticeable difference in the ability to fight the fish. As my mono loses stretch it also loses a little strength, and the pressure on the knots starts to cause them to abrade the weight bearing lines regardless of how well they're tied. A little extra give is insurance. I would note that I don't do this at all with my topwater, finesse, 110s, and lighter wire presentations. The ned rig, topwater (non-frog), 110, and light wire tubes get set at the lightest drag I think I can easily set a hook with

[Buzzbaiter]

Green fish, I horse them in. Brown fish get played out.

 

Of course, it all depends on tackle and fish size. If I pull into a school of 8-10 inch smallmouth using my general purpose wading rod™️ (M-F spinning rod with 15 braid and 8lb mono leader), I wind them back. If they decide to act up and go for a run, which they tend to do, I let them peel off and pull them back in control with my rod. Bigger fish get the reel down, lift up treatment, but I (unfortunately) rarely catch fish big enough to warrant that. That’s more of a rockfish technique. The beauty of smallmouth is that you don’t have to use super heavy gear to get them out of cover, at least where I used to live and fish for them. I can comfortably land a solid smallmouth on 4lb test, as I have many times before. Just let them run when they want to and don’t fight your line strength. If you tighten your drag on a big fish using light line, you will lose that fight. Be patient. The other advantage of playing smallmouth is that it keeps their heads down. I’ve lost plenty of smallies because they jumped; I can’t recall a smallmouth that has broken me off. I’m fine letting them dive because I generally don’t fish around heavy cover, to there’s not much to get wrapped up it (at least where/how I fish for them).

 

Largemouth are the opposite. I grind them in whenever I can. Unless it’s a big fish, largemouth are hard to fight because they don’t do on long runs like other fish do; they tend to head shake and jump. This makes them easy to grind in, so that’s what I do. Additionally, I use heavier gear to target largemouth so I’m not worried about pushing my line past its breaking point.

[FishTax]

Yesterday I lost 2 to head shakes and one wrapped up on timber and broke the line (17 lb mono). I'm now leaning more towards horsing them in. It's just hard to get a photo when they're going crazy in the boat but I think I'm going to get a donkey leash to help with that. 

[The Bassman]

I'm betting a lot of you guys don't remember Homer Circle but he was a wise and witty dude. His take on this was to get the fish in the boat then you can play with it.

[The Baron]

Tons of great advice in here, that I totally agree with.  Fish size, in cover or open water, hook types (trebles or single) and size, line type... all factors. but @Buzzbaiter's opening sentence describes the difference between largemouth vs. smallmouth for me - lmb are more likely caught on heavier gear anyway, but they can usually be netted or lipped fairly quickly.  Smallmouth, especially the 3-4# fish, need a lot more time.  All those crazy jumps and hard digging runs are best managed a little further away from the boat.

[snake95]

17 hours ago, The Baron said:

All those crazy jumps and hard digging runs are best managed a little further away from the boat.

Thanks Baron, I was bank fishing this particular case and that wasn't an option but I get what you are saying. I live down in Georgia and mostly fish largemouth in GA and FL, but went to school in your neck of the woods and love to fish smallies every year in Ontario. Will give 'em more rope next time.

[thediscochef]

I lost the only decent bite I had this morning because my drag was cranked a bit too far. Horsed the fish around and one of two barbs came loose about half way through the fight. Didn't snap off, but didn't allow me any forgiveness at the bank. My hand was maybe 18" from lipping that bass before it jumped and threw the last hook. Looked like a solid 3.5-4.5# fish. I landed one other dink but I got gilled so no pics. It takes so long to get a bite right now, it's a bad time for painful reminders. Stupid morning. One of these days I'll actually post a catch pic again but those have been in short order this week. Confidence is way low 

[Captain Phil]

10 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

I lost the only decent bite I had this morning because my drag was cranked a bit too far. Horsed the fish around and one of two barbs came loose about half way through the fight. Didn't snap off, but didn't allow me any forgiveness at the bank. My hand was maybe 18" from lipping that bass before it jumped and threw the last hook. Looked like a solid 3.5-4.5# fish. I landed one other dink but I got gilled so no pics. It takes so long to get a bite right now, it's a bad time for painful reminders. Stupid morning. One of these days I'll actually post a catch pic again but those have been in short order this week. Confidence is way low 

 

I learned that lesson in my youth.  Back then I was bank fishing when I hug a six pound bass. To me, it looked like a ten pounder, but I know better now.  I broke off that fish when it surged against the drag on my Mitchell 300.  After that, I always kept my drag a little looser than most.  Today, I never use the drag when bass fishing.  I know what the fish is going to do before he does it and I'm ready. Learning to back reel or when to free spool line is much better than counting on a drag that may or may not work.   Don't try this when salt water fishing. Bass are not long strong runners. 

[thediscochef]

5 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

 

I learned that lesson in my youth.  Back then I was bank fishing when I hug a six pound bass. To me, it looked like a ten pounder, but I know better now.  I broke off that fish when it surged against the drag on my Mitchell 300.  After that, I always kept my drag a little looser than most.  Today, I never use the drag when bass fishing.  I know what the fish is going to do before he does it and I'm ready. Learning to back reel or when to free spool line is much better than counting on a drag that may or may not work.   Don't try this when salt water fishing. Bass are not long strong runners. 

I learn this lesson every six months or so, it's getting old. I usually keep it backed off but I just respooled that reel a few days ago and I forgot to re-check it. I know what I'm doing I just get regular painful reminders and I don't like it.

[PaulVE64]

1.5# drag for me.

Yesterday I had a 6-6 lite fast rod and a 1/0 ewg into an 18 1/4" smallie out of 3 fow.

That's my PB on a lite rod.

[einscodek]

You wanna lose big fish just go ahead and play the line like I used to long ago before I lost many good fish.  A couple head shakes later and they get off you can't get it back and you reason to yourself hey I still caught her but deep in yer heart you know you didn't.  I horse the piggies in say hello and goodbye quickly improves survival.