Ok, I would like y’all’s thoughts. I am fishing on a 16 acre private lake/pond. I have been told that there are fish over 10 lbs and even seen pictures but they are from 2 years ago or more. I have caught 35 bass in the last month and a half. One was 3.5 and one was 4.28 but the other 33 were under 2 lbs. my big question is I can’t seem to catch a fish on anything other than senko wacky rigs or Texas rigs. I have tried all kind of other stuff without much success. The 4lber did come on a bladed jig fyi. I have even decided not to use worms and try only other stuff to commit. Yesterday I had fished for 3 hrs with all kind of stuff without a bite and as I was headed in put on a senko just to see. I immediately caught three. Obviously I’m blessed to catch a fish at all but is this normal?  Seems like if they were hungry they would hit other stuff too. Appreciate your thoughts. 

Fish at night yet?

 

Try using large baits?

 

Are you limited to just the shore?

It could be fleeting. I caught the vast majority of my bass for the first month with a spinnerbait. Then it was an underspin. Then a crawdad. Now it's the spinnerbait again. So, where I fish, what they want changes, much like I like a lot of pizza and then I crave hamburgers and then....

Just because they're there, doesn't mean every fish is that size. 

 

You've caught less than 40 fish and haven't cracked the 10 pound mark. TBH (even in Florida), I would be happy if one in every 400 fish was a 10 pounder. 

I know, I know. 😃 it just seems like the ratio is off based on what I was told. I haven’t tried at night yet and I have been fishing with my Bass Raider boat.  Biggest lure I have tried is a 6” magdraft and Daingerous. I forgot to mention that the water is very murky. 

1- you're catching fish up to 5#. It is a private lake in one of the most fished states. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

2- It's still the back end of summer for you.  Summer bass can go into a funk.  When they tell you they are eating plastics, then throw plastics!

 

3- There might have been fish caught that were 10# from that lake, but a generous population curve might say that is a 1 in 10,000 fish as far as the population is concerned.  In a 16 acre lake I'd be surprised if there is more than a handful of fish that are over 6-7 lb unless it is being managed for that (in which case you wouldn't be catching many 12-15" fish like you are.  It is great knowing they are in there.  I have a small lake that I'm told has fish to almost that size (and I'm in NJ) so knowing that any cast might produce that fish keeps you excited to fish that place.  But knowing I'm not fishing during big fish times of the day or times of the year says I'm very unlikely to catch that one right now (next April, here we come).

Most 10 lb bass caught by anglers who estimate the weight weigh 7 lbs on a scale!

This will sound silly at 1st but to catch the biggest bass in your pond/small lake you must fish for them.

The first thing I do is determine what is the primary prey source and where is that prey located. The big bass are located near the prey source.

Use lures that mimic the prey the bass are eating where they are located.

Now you are fishing for big bass.

Focus your time during pre spawn for big bass, NWFlorida that could be in December-January.

Tom

There are tons of possible variables. But I can tell you the stick bait is the best bait ever. I caught my PB on one and it's my leading lure for bass over 3 lbs. It's not even close.

 

Some other big bass lures:

Whopper Plopper, especially on less pressured waters, buzzbaits, spinnerbait, lipless crank, frog/toad, jigs, T-rigged craws/beavers/creatures. I don't doubt that really big lures work. But if the main forage is 2" bluegills and you're throwing 10" swimbaits, expect a good interval between bites. 

 

It can just be a case of getting the bait in a big bass's face. They will be in shady areas and gnarly cover. I think that's far more important than a supersized bait. 

 

Florida Strain bass love plastic worms.  I don't know why but they do.  I prefer to fish other baits, and am very stubborn about it, but there are days when I am forced to throw the worm exclusively and they work.  Try a 7 inch Senko insead of the regular 5 inch size.  I don't know about bass in Florida, but transplanted Florida Strain bass in Mexico love big Senkos.

 

Most important is, fish where the big bass are.  Find where the big ones live, and you will catch them.  Many times the big bass are at a different part of the lake, pond, eating different prey than the smaller bass.

So many questions-

Depth?

How much pressure?

Weeds?

Fishing from the bank? 

Is there structure? 

What species are in there? 

 

 

 

Those bigger fish got big because they're cautious.  Try being a little more stealthy when arriving and walking around the lake. 

Dont slam your car door when you arrive, avoid bright colored clothes and stealthily walk up to and around the lake.

Try figuring out what those fish are feeding on, whether its bluegills, craws or baitfish and go from there. 

Without knowing any other information, try deeper. On smaller private lakes/ponds I find thats were all the big ones go in the summer and if youre in FL they'll prob be there unless spawn or pre-spawn, although they'll occasionally cruise shallow they rarely live shallow. In warm sunny weather big ones like HEAVY shade or depth, especially if youre in a BOW with no current, and on small private lakes the heavy shallow shade cover is an obvious target for anyone that fishes the pond and likely gets hammered. Find deep areas, if possible with a fish finder, to look for good contours or even structure, and use some plastic rigged a way you can fish effectively down there depending on the bottom composition(c-rig, drop shot etc)