My 2nd largest bass was just under 24" and weighed 6-12, Florida bass

I read the topic heading and before clicking and reading, my smarty pants answer was “by eating”

The cause ~

 

And the effect ~

 

A-Jay

 

How does my bass get big… I have my daughter hold it out as far as she can then take the picture. 

18 hours ago, Alex from GA said:

My 2nd largest bass was just under 24" and weighed 6-12, Florida bass

 

I caught two Maine bass in 2024 that weighed exactly 6-12 and both were 22.25". Different builds at different latitudes.

My bass seem to get bigger every time I talk about them.

 

 "The story grows with the telling."

On 9/18/2025 at 4:43 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I read the topic heading and before clicking and reading, my smarty pants answer was “by eating”

 

My first thought was “they don’t”.  Big NJ bass are hard to come by.  I still have yet to land a 5# fish.  4-15 is my biggest but plenty of 4# fish.  But, within the bounds of length vs weight in the intention of this thread, I think my get thick with girth and bait.  A 20” fish is right at 4.5-4.99lb. I weigh every one in that 20” class and that’s right where they are. I have some that are big heads, some that are thick guts, but none are overachievers. 

My profile pic notwithstanding, most of the bigger bass I catch are long and thin. I like to say they have a 7 lb. heads and a 4 lb bodies. You see the big mouth when they jump and you start thinking "Potential PB!" until you get your hands on them. They do get a little more beefy in very early spring and leading up to the spawn, but they are rarely fat fish. The bass in my pic was an exception and it was not in the spring. It's pretty conspicuous looking and I believe I caught it twice a couple months apart in the same area. I wish I could catch it again because it's apparently a very gluttonous fish. 

 

 

My PB was 26.25" and was just under 13 lbs. Shoulder width of about 5" as far as I can tell. Quite the healthy specimen, she was.

 

I remember an after work outing many years ago where I caught three bass that all weighed 3.25 lbs, but were 16.5" 17" and 18" in length. All from the same spot on the same day. 

I’ve only ever fished one lake where the quality bass were all built like linebackers. Never got a giant from this small lake, but the amount of thick, solid creatures more than made up for it. They were all “hump-headed!”
 

Bass like those shown by Team9nine ^^^^with bodies out growing heads ie “footballs” could be a result of reduced growing seasons or lakes that freeze over. When the bass get a chance to feed in warmer water they gorge themselves and grow fast for several months then slow down during the cold water period.

Big Bear lake where grew up in SoCal freezes over a few months and the LMB look like footballs when the get over 3 lbs.

Just a thought!

Tom

Kate, sent you a photo of a older fat girl.

Tom

It depends on where I am fishing, but most of the time I don't even think about it.

On 9/24/2025 at 8:44 PM, WRB-2.0 said:

Kate, sent you a photo of a older fat girl.

Tom

 

I got it, Tom. Thanks! She is beyond my ken.

This is a 16 inch bass that weighed 4# 9 oz!

Bellied up to the bluegill buffet!

Katie says this bass was eating softballs!

 

Lookit the size of her mouth and compare it to the size of her belly!

I love that bass, Al. Before seeing your photo, I might have said that a 16-inch bass couldn't weigh 4.5 pounds, just like I wouldn't have believed that a 19-inch bass could weigh 6.5 pounds, but then I saw Clayton's pic and now I'm a believer. These guys sang a song about seeing a fat bass's face and becoming a believer:

 

Certain prey sources provide more calories and fat content than others.

 

Bass don't normally feed on tulibees/cisco because they are too big, but larger fish like walleye, northern pike, and muskies can grow to epic proportions in lakes that have them here.  They require cooler, deeper, well-oxygenated waters.

 

One 12 inch tullibee provides as many calories as a double cheeseburger.