My premise is that some lakes grow harder-fighting bass. At the pond where I own property, the bass there are beserkers. Here's one I caught this past week:

 

 

And here's a bass I caught this morning at a bog:

 

 

They're about the same weight, but if I'd tied them tail-to-tail with a couple feet of rope, the bass from my pond would have shown the bog bass what backwards water-skiing is like. And the bass from my pond consistently pull harder and longer than bass from other water. 

 

So, I'm wondering if you have noticed this phenomenon, if you've fished a body of water that harbors harder-fighting bass?

Noticeable difference between northern strain vs. Florida strain largemouth bass.

Deep water bass fight harder, they're on the bottom, I want em on the surface, they get ticked cause they don't wanna be on the surface. 

I know people wont believe me, but at a couple lakes I fish in Mexico, the largemouth bass fight as hard as any small mouth bass I ever caught.  I don't know if they are Florida strain, or a mix between Florida, and northern strain, but they are the hardest fighting bass I have ever caught.  Anything over 5 pound's will jump completely out of the water a minimum of 3 times, and will not only bulldog like a freight train, but at times will go on blistering runs.  The bass in other lakes I fish close by, fight more like largemouth I have caught in northern waters.  It doesn't sound logical, but that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

11 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Noticeable difference between northern strain vs. Florida strain largemouth bass.

 

Kent, which strain do you think fights harder? I watch Old Lady Angler's videos on YouTube and she spends winters in Florida fishing and summers in Maine fishing. She thinks Maine's bass fight harder. 

The only time I notice this is when fishing for river fish, or fish that live their lives in current.     

 

The biggest thing I've observed that makes a Bass fight harder is the actual hook placement.    Foul hooked 2lbers can feel like 8lbers.    A fish hooked in the gills acts like a Marlin.    Hook a big fish on the outside of its mouth, especially towards the top.......game on.    

 

ETA: Pound for pound I think a NLMB pulls harder than FLMB.   To me FLMB are much more of a "lazy" fish.   

 

Last year I went to a Bass ranch that stocks Tiger and Gorilla strain bass.....just F1 hybrids, but no doubt about it they pull harder than either of their parent.   Hybrid vigor is very real.  

6 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I know people wont believe me, but at a couple lakes I fish in Mexico, the largemouth bass fight as hard as any small mouth bass I ever caught.

 

Oh, I believe you. 

 

@AlabamaSpothunter: All great points, Alex.

Well, since I have never caught a Maine bass, I don't know from personal experience.

What I do know is that "Southern" bass fight much harder than the northern bass I have

caught. Of special note are bass I have tangled with at Lake Fork in Texas.

5 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, since I have never caught a Maine bass, I don't know from personal experience.

What I do know is that "Southern" bass fight much harder than the northern bass I have

caught. Of special note are bass I have tangled with at Lake Fork in Texas.

 

Kent, I too can't compare them. I have caught some Florida bass, but my Dixie data base isn't large enough. I'd only trust myself if I'd caught hundreds of bass north of the Mason-Dixon line, which I have, and hundreds of bass south of it, which I haven't. However, I have caught hundreds of bass in Pond A in Maine and hundreds in Pond B in Maine and hundreds of bass in Pond C and they don't feel the same to me. 

 

5 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Of special note are bass I have tangled with at Lake Fork in Texas.

 

^This^ supports my premise, a particular lake where the bass fight harder. 

I think it's the full moon.   Every bass I hooked this past weekend was insane.  I lost three giants Sunday that each jumped completely out of the water.  My hands are a mess.  I'm glad I wasn't in a tournament....I quit trying to measure them

15 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I think it's the full moon.   Every bass I hooked this past weekend was insane.  I lost three giants Sunday that each jumped completely out of the water.  My hands are a mess.  I'm glad I wasn't in a tournament....I quit trying to measure them

 

What a blast. I've had a few fishing trips where I caught so many big ones that if I lost a big one, I just couldn't care.

Oh yea… our Bass wear capes and eat jig heads and poop split shots…. I dip my plastics in kryptonite, just do get them in the boat. Just kidding….

The smallmouth I’ve caught I think fight harder than the Largemouth here in the warmer river. When I go up in the springs or fish Ocklawaha river where the water is noticeably cooler I feel they fight harder and  jump more often. The part of  river by the house was 88+, the springs were 10+degrees cooler.

The lighter the rod, the harder they fight. River fish smoke lake fish.

51 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

The lighter the rod, the harder they fight. River fish smoke lake fish.

 

I fish with MH rods and I couldn't land many of them without that backbone. 

 

1 hour ago, GRiver said:

When I go up in the springs or fish Ocklawaha river where the water is noticeably cooler I feel they fight harder and  jump more often.

 

Interesting. 

I agree 100%.  I fish a public lake 15 minutes from home that is an excellent bass fishery with very good size bass.  I am used to catching bass from that lake.  I am also blessed to belong to a private club 25 minutes in the same direction.  It's basically a private fishing reserve with a lot of water and a very limited number of members.  I just got accepted this past May. The fish there are a different breed.

 

I am not exaggerating when I say that four or five times now I was certain I had hooked a smallmouth only to find a LM at the end of my line.  I also noticed that I rarely catch a bass with a hole in it's lip.  I firmly believe I've caught some bass that have never been hooked in their life and those are the fish that fight like a Tasmanian devil.  That's my theory, at least.  Not very scientific.   

@BigAngus752: Congrats on joining that club!

I believe bass that haven't been caught fight harder.

 

River bass fight harder than pond/lake bass. I don't see any difference between the largemouth and smallmouth that I catch on the river, they all fight like their life depends on it.

I agree on the river smallmouth versus their lake cousins. They are generally more elongated while lake residents are chunkier, shaped more like a football. It’s the constant current that generates this fighting ability.

 

Cant comment on comparing northern strain vs Florida strain. Never caught Florida strain.

I will put the susky small mouth up against any other region of bass there is. They are extremely hard fighting and strong. 

31 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

I will put the susky small mouth up against any other region of bass there is. They are extremely hard fighting and strong. 

 

This reminds me of what kids used to say: "My dad can lick your dad!"

 

However, I wouldn't take your bet because I think all of us agree that smallmouth that live in current could hold their own at tractor pulls. 

@ol'crickety I’ve caught these river smallies on musky gear and at first thought they were small musky. I’ve had those fish swimming up stream pulling drag!  The LMB are like wet socks here. 
 

it would be interesting if we could get all these different fish in a tank, tag them and see who is king! 

1 minute ago, Susky River Rat said:

it would be interesting if we could get all these different fish in a tank, tag them and see who is king! 

 

Heck, yeah! 

 

8 hours ago, gimruis said:

It’s the constant current that generates this fighting ability.

I think this might be true…..but a have only caught one lake smallmouth.

 

14 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

However, I wouldn't take your bet because I think all of us agree that smallmouth that live in current could hold their own at tractor pulls.

Haha ……. I remember the first LMB I caught, I thought it was a snag, then saw the line going to the right, then I thought it was a catfish.  When I landed it I was like “this isn’t like what I saw on tv”

4 minutes ago, GRiver said:

Haha ……. I remember the first LMB I caught, I thought it was a snag, then saw the line going to the right, then I thought it was a catfish.  When I landed it I was like “this isn’t like what I saw on tv”

 

I hooked a LMB in a narrow river yesterday, perhaps eight feet wide flanked by thick reeds and she ran at me, ricocheting from one reedy edge to the other, trying to punch into the reeds. When that didn't work, she leapt and threw the hook. I did not mistake her for a snag. 

7 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

hooked a LMB in a narrow river yesterday, perhaps eight feet wide flanked by thick reeds and she ran at me, ricocheting from one reedy edge to the other, trying to punch into the reeds. When that didn't work, she leapt and threw the hook. I did not mistake her for a snag. 

This scene right here is what it’s about, “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat”….