Hey everyone, glad to join the forum! I got the PDF of the book that I thought was a holy grail but I realized it wasn't as interesting to me personally getting in the weeds of biology.

I dont think there are ebook versions available so I am going to have to spend a pretty penny and dont want to make the wrong move here— if my goal is to spend long periods of time with a very limited scope of tactics with the goal of catching a trophy, which book would you hedge your bet on to give you the right tools for the job and the right mindset?

It's hard for me to pick because I can't even scan the contents of the first chapter lol with all of these books being off the market. Both have a great reputation. I'm not a verse of the idea of using live bait, but that's the main turn off that I've heard people say about Bill Murphy. I like the idea, though of picking one book and just running with whatever it says even if I start saying that sounds outdated or whatever so if you have any experience with reading Bass books, these were the two I've pretty much limited to, but I'm open to ideas.

My goal is just to pick like a legendary source. I'm not even sure if Doug Hannon's book I think it was paired with movies and DVD so he would be a good option for me though as well. Even if it's cliché, I just don't know that which authorities used to rely on today so at least these are the tried and true ones. I'm gonna actually be having a lot of time but I'll be on the water because I have nothing to do. I'm not working for the next year or so and I want to focus my effort on low percentage but high possible reward fishing.

I want to get on this share list by the end of the year. I'm gonna do my d**n best here in Texas!

I would read less and fish more. There’s lots of info in the forums here. Search for big bass info and go fishing. Time on the water is your friend.

In pursuit of giants. Bill Murphy

Youtube has plenty of videos by pros who give some pretty good info on catching big bass if you don't really want to spend any money.

save the money on the books, get FFS on your boat, and spend all the time you can on the lakes that have the giants. That will get you as close as you can get to finding them as quickly as possible. Now you just have to get them to bite.

3 hours ago, newriverfisherman1953 said:

I would read less and fish more. There’s lots of info in the forums here. Search for big bass info and go fishing. Time on the water is your friend.

I absolutely agree, but at the same time it can’t hurt to get more informed on a subject and help get you in the right mindset once you’re on the water you know what I mean? But yes, I agree. It can be easier to spend too much time watching videos on how to learn something

Just now, casts_by_fly said:

save the money on the books, get FFS on your boat, and spend all the time you can on the lakes that have the giants. That will get you as close as you can get to finding them as quickly as possible. Now you just have to get them to bite.

I actually do have FFS I have live scope. I’ve actually never owned a watercraft until recently. I got a pretty nice kayak with spotlight and heading sensor trolling motor and I have not yet been to any major lake to speak of. So reading about how to find the fish actually helped me a lot because at first, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. And I recently bought a trailer for the kayak so within an hour or two of me there are some pretty good trophy lakes that are famous but I’m in a kayak at the same time so it’s difficult. I can’t just cruise the whole entire lake. I have to be really careful with planning before heading to the water you know?

1 hour ago, IYAOYAS said:

Youtube has plenty of videos by pros who give some pretty good info on catching big bass if you don't really want to spend any money.

Thanks for your response. Yeah, I’ve looked on YouTube. It’s just I feel like there’s a lot more information that can be conveyed in one video, not trying to sound snarky, but obviously if it was easy to watch a video and do it, everyone kind of would. I think from what I’ve gathered so far on the topic and I’ve caught on pretty quick going from bank fishing to on the water.

I think the biggest advantage of doing research to be hunt trophies is not that they tell you what spots to go to. It’s more like learning when it’s not worth the time to do something and eliminate variables that are not really putting you in the strikes zone of opportunity.

3 hours ago, strat54 said:

Hey everyone, glad to join the forum! I got the PDF of the book that I thought was a holy grail but I realized it wasn't as interesting to me personally getting in the weeds of biology.

I dont think there are ebook versions available so I am going to have to spend a pretty penny and dont want to make the wrong move here— if my goal is to spend long periods of time with a very limited scope of tactics with the goal of catching a trophy, which book would you hedge your bet on to give you the right tools for the job and the right mindset?

It's hard for me to pick because I can't even scan the contents of the first chapter lol with all of these books being off the market. Both have a great reputation. I'm not a verse of the idea of using live bait, but that's the main turn off that I've heard people say about Bill Murphy. I like the idea, though of picking one book and just running with whatever it says even if I start saying that sounds outdated or whatever so if you have any experience with reading Bass books, these were the two I've pretty much limited to, but I'm open to ideas.

My goal is just to pick like a legendary source. I'm not even sure if Doug Hannon's book I think it was paired with movies and DVD so he would be a good option for me though as well. Even if it's cliché, I just don't know that which authorities used to rely on today so at least these are the tried and true ones. I'm gonna actually be having a lot of time but I'll be on the water because I have nothing to do. I'm not working for the next year or so and I want to focus my effort on low percentage but high possible reward fishing.

I want to get on this share list by the end of the year. I'm gonna do my d**n best here in Texas!

I'd follow in the footsteps of Pat Cullen in Georgia who caught more than 1,100 DDs. He used an airplane to locate bodies of water and then traded his accounting skills for access. Perhaps most importantly, he fished about 320 nights a year.

3 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I'd follow in the footsteps of Pat Cullen in Georgia who caught more than 1,100 DDs. He used an airplane to locate bodies of water and then traded his accounting skills for access. Perhaps most importantly, he fished about 320 nights a year.

Attention all:

I also have accounting skills willing to trade for DD bass.

25 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

save the money on the books, get FFS on your boat, and spend all the time you can on the lakes that have the giants. That will get you as close as you can get to finding them as quickly as possible. Now you just have to get them to bite.

So is this like the "No Information Rule"?

Asking for a friend.

A-Jay

4 hours ago, newriverfisherman1953 said:

Time on the water is your friend.

Probably the best advice on this thread

2 hours ago, strat54 said:

I actually do have FFS I have live scope. I’ve actually never owned a watercraft until recently. I got a pretty nice kayak with spotlight and heading sensor trolling motor and I have not yet been to any major lake to speak of. So reading about how to find the fish actually helped me a lot because at first, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. And I recently bought a trailer for the kayak so within an hour or two of me there are some pretty good trophy lakes that are famous but I’m in a kayak at the same time so it’s difficult. I can’t just cruise the whole entire lake. I have to be really careful with planning before heading to the water you know?

Thanks for your response. Yeah, I’ve looked on YouTube. It’s just I feel like there’s a lot more information that can be conveyed in one video, not trying to sound snarky, but obviously if it was easy to watch a video and do it, everyone kind of would. I think from what I’ve gathered so far on the topic and I’ve caught on pretty quick going from bank fishing to on the water.

I think the biggest advantage of doing research to be hunt trophies is not that they tell you what spots to go to. It’s more like learning when it’s not worth the time to do something and eliminate variables that are not really putting you in the strikes zone of opportunity.

No offense taken. Everybody learns different. For me youtube is a gold mine being as im a very visual learner. Good luck on your quest!

You could sell that 54 strat and just spend the rest of your life having the best big fish guys take you out

23 minutes ago, IYAOYAS said:

No offense taken. Everybody learns different. For me youtube is a gold mine being as im a very visual learner. Good luck on your quest!

I am the opposite lol but I need structured method of learning because when there's a lot of moving parts often times they're not brought up all at once in an organized way, so I often find one YouTube video leading me to figure out another and then googling blah blah blah you know how it goes sometimes.

I was having trouble when I first got live scope and you might think I'm an idiot but I paid like 50 bucks or something for a PDF guide to live scope. I won't mention the name so I don't look like I'm being a shill.

But everything I mentioned has some sort of planned structure. It was not you know a guy talking for an hour remembering what he wants to say as he goes. The issue I'd have with life scope was that don't tell you in the video sometimes like if you affect color gain it messes with other things and then you might feel like you want to change the noise level or the ghost reduction, etc. like when in reality, you probably didn't need to do the color game or maybe lower it. You see what I'm saying there's 1 million moving parts I want someone's explanation to be like one continuous thing

Anyway, that's why I really want to get one of these books and have you even been so much that they're gonna hand me the answer and I'll be expecting a gigantic bat my first time after reading of course not it's just one approach followed diligently sometimes works better, especially for me than getting a little tan bits here and there.

So before I chop down hundreds of dollars for Bill Murphy I was hoping to get insight from everyone. Because I'm kind of glad I didn't have to buy the other book. Everyone says I must read witches, knowing bass because it was not what I was looking for informationally.

I recommend checking out Josh Alwine's books "High Percentage Fishing" and "Lunker Lore".

5 hours ago, strat54 said:

I actually do have FFS I have live scope. I’ve actually never owned a watercraft until recently.

I have not yet been to any major lake to speak of.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

As you mentioned above, you were hoping to get some insight.

Well, here's mine, and it's going to be straight up.

From what you've told us so far, focusing your efforts on Lunkers might be a little tricky just yet.

Bass fishing can be a blast, but having reasonable expectations is also part of it.

Having little to no experience on your rig will most likely hold you back until you get some.

Reading about catching big bass is fun but quite different from the reality of actually applying the 'knowledge' on the water.

Having equipment and knowing how to use it are separate deals as well.

Once you get out on a big body of water, where do you start?

It seems you are so fortunate in that you are at the very forefront of the bass fishing learning curve. Such an awesome time, but perhaps not when it comes to trophy hunting.

Sort of like entering the Daytona 500 with your learner's permit.

As mentioned above, time on the water.

IME, there is NO one book or one video that's going to magically answer all our bass fishing questions and put us on fish easy peasy.

It doesn't work that way.

At best these things are all just starting points.

My advice is to do some light reading here, then go out and locate & catch some bass.

And then think about what might be next.

Enjoy the journey.

A-Jay

Just an opinion that's worth what you paid for it - lol. There are no 'holy grail' books on big bass fishing. I've got, read and studied about all of them, and a lot of related non-book media from them and a lot of other big bass chasers over many, many years. They are almost all interesting; I can just about guarantee you'll learn a thing or three from all of them; and they are all equally worthless at the same time (meant in the nicest way possible)...unless, possibly, you literally live near and fish the same waters as the author. That said, if I had to pick one, I'd say Bill Murphy's book (In Pursuit Of Giant Bass) is still considered the 'big bass bible' by most trophy chasers. Still my favorite.

5 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I'd follow in the footsteps of Pat Cullen in Georgia who caught more than 1,100 DDs. He used an airplane to locate bodies of water and then traded his accounting skills for access. Perhaps most importantly, he fished about 320 nights a year.

Not going into any details, but take the Cullen 'legend' with a grain of salt. Might just be legit, maybe, but might not. Even the MA state record bass story lived a life of 50 years, until...

@Team9nine

This man knows.

A-Jay

19 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Not going into any details, but take the Cullen 'legend' with a grain of salt. Might just be legit, maybe, but might not. Even the MA state record bass story lived a life of 50 years, until...

Since you're suggesting a dead man was a liar, you should absolutely go into details.

7 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Since you're suggesting a dead man was a liar, you should absolutely go into details.

I'm waiting to have that discussion with Ken Duke first...phone calls have been made ;) Not calling anybody a 'liar.' I believe he did catch all those big bass. Just suggesting there have been a lot of big fish catches and catchers questioned over the years, and in some cases the stories or accusations have proven true, or info later came out that shed a different light on the matter. Nothing wrong with a bit of healthy skepticism when any of these record stories or catches are involved. I'm guessing you're aware of the incredible mess all the musky record catches and catchers have become for this very reason, or the on again-off again nature and controversies around the WR smallmouth, largemouth and walleye catches, as just a few examples. And then there's Mike Long... :)

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

As you mentioned above, you were hoping to get some insight.

Well, here's mine, and it's going to be straight up.

From what you've told us so far, focusing your efforts on Lunkers might be a little tricky just yet.

Bass fishing can be a blast, but having reasonable expectations is also part of it.

Having little to no experience on your rig will most likely hold you back until you get some.

Reading about catching big bass is fun but quite different from the reality of actually applying the 'knowledge' on the water.

Having equipment and knowing how to use it are separate deals as well.

Once you get out on a big body of water, where do you start?

It seems you are so fortunate in that you are at the very forefront of the bass fishing learning curve. Such an awesome time, but perhaps not when it comes to trophy hunting.

Sort of like entering the Daytona 500 with your learner's permit.

As mentioned above, time on the water.

IME, there is NO one book or one video that's going to magically answer all our bass fishing questions and put us on fish easy peasy.

It doesn't work that way.

At best these things are all just starting points.

My advice is to do some light reading here, then go out and locate & catch some bass.

And then think about what might be next.

Enjoy the journey.

A-Jay

Yes that is quite true, and I agree if I intended to make my goal 'learn how to catch bass on a lake' but I

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

As you mentioned above, you were hoping to get some insight.

Well, here's mine, and it's going to be straight up.

From what you've told us so far, focusing your efforts on Lunkers might be a little tricky just yet.

Bass fishing can be a blast, but having reasonable expectations is also part of it.

Having little to no experience on your rig will most likely hold you back until you get some.

Reading about catching big bass is fun but quite different from the reality of actually applying the 'knowledge' on the water.

Having equipment and knowing how to use it are separate deals as well.

Once you get out on a big body of water, where do you start?

It seems you are so fortunate in that you are at the very forefront of the bass fishing learning curve. Such an awesome time, but perhaps not when it comes to trophy hunting.

Sort of like entering the Daytona 500 with your learner's permit.

As mentioned above, time on the water.

IME, there is NO one book or one video that's going to magically answer all our bass fishing questions and put us on fish easy peasy.

It doesn't work that way.

At best these things are all just starting points.

My advice is to do some light reading here, then go out and locate & catch some bass.

And then think about what might be next.

Enjoy the journey.

A-Jay

Yeah, I agree and I know you're giving solid advice to many people who study hobbies without actually doing them. I understand my experience is limited in scope by putting me in a reservoir so I need to learn these reservoirs, but I'm not interested in simply learning how to put up numbers or how to have a good day on the water.

I think this quote from BILL SIEMANTEL in BBZ is on the nose here— "Strangely enough, someone who is just getting started in bass fishing may have a better chance of utilizing this information than a veteran angler. Without preconceived notions and ingrained ways of doing things, a neophyte could easily be the one who excels. So it is not ability—or the lack of it—that holds anyone back. It is simply an unswerving devotion to the cause of catching big bass."

Maybe it's me romantic exercising it, but I truly respect specialization in whatever field it's in. I don't think the Indy 500 reference necessarily is accurate but either way I'm not a beginner. Sure I'll be in for a lot of surprises, but I understand structure. I understand how to avoid dead water by using sonars mainly for depth and then nowhere I should be targeting and if the fish aren't there, then I try to find out why. So basically I don't know everything about being on a bass boat, but I know what I'm getting into. I know what path different fisherman can take.

I think a better analogy than the Indy 501 would be if students decide between medical school or law school. Neither of them can perform law or medicine, but they have to make a decision about what they want to do and understand you can't really be both at once. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm coming off rude but when I've talked about trophies and 10+ pounders and stuff so many people will give me advice like I've been getting in this thread which I know is good hearted and well-intentioned. When the topic of 10+ pounders comes up they always seem to tell me there's no need to study and buy live scope and all that fancy stuff just hit the water and a giant will come, that's just how it is. And usually they maybe have one or two trophies to their name, but are so adamant that they know enough to catch consistently.

So I guess maybe I'll fall my face and not succeed but my goal of learning trophy catching is not of naïve or thrillseeking mentality it's about really trying to understand as much as possible something which is already extremely unlikely and how to at least maximize the chances even if that means spending hours and things with no activity and that's perfectly fine with me and pretty much how I've approached fishing anyway. If I want to catch a 30 pound fish, I'll put some corn and catch a carp or something for the thrill of it.

Thanks for your response. I know this is a great form and I'm just trying to add to the conversation even if I hardly disagree. I truly just wanted to start a conversation with how trophy hunting was going with other people in the bass fishing community and how they learned what they knew. Trial and error is great and necessary inefficient even when the stars align fish sometimes don't bite. But at the same time when your goal is already pretty unlikely to happen even when you do everything right it's best to have some sense of direction when choosing how to approach it.

So just my final thoughts on that is that I think the right approach is to make sure people at least know what they're getting into, but not discouraged an entirely different type of fishing strategy. Most of the pros seem to tell you at the beginning of almost all of their books which is it is gonna be really hard, take a really long time and nothing is going to happen. And that's it means for days weeks months you won't be putting fish on the boat you show up every day and after a year, you might catch nothing. But if you really want to catch a giant you're being increasing your chances from tiny to very little, but with enough time, hopefully that increasing odds will put a giant in the boat one day, but don't count on it

Anyway, just wanted to share my two cents. I realize my answers have been super long. I just figured out voice to text lol but appreciate the comments you made, and thanks for welcoming me!

7 hours ago, A-Jay said:

So is this like the "No Information Rule"?

Asking for a friend.

A-Jay

Kinda something like that. Half truth, half tongue in cheek. The truth is that being in a place where there are really big bass (like Texas) and having live scope (with an idea of how to use it) is an express code to finding big fish. Cover water, look for what’s there, and fish for it. That model has been proven by more than a few people the past 5 years or so. Which is more efficient- finding high likelihood areas that a book says to check (by fishing throughout the year with various lures) that you then have to put the time in to fish OR motoring around with a camera showing you what is actually there and then using the time to focus on what you see and what those fish eat? (I didn’t say more fun/enjoyable, i said efficient). The tongue in cheek is that you need an idea of where to look in the first place and what they might eat. Not to mention how to present that thing and when.

Still, there is finding fish and there is catching fish. I think the first is the hardest part. In the past you would fish high productivity locations, put in the hours on the water over years and maybe build up a knowledge base of where they should be. You could only learn the first by proving the second though. If you were in a place where there are active fish but throwing something they were definitely not interested in, then you couldn’t tell if you were in the right spot or were fishing ‘wrong’. You had to get A and B both right to learn something. Now, you can know A by looking around. You can learn B by trying something and seeing how it does (then adapting). As a way of learning, it is definitely more efficient. So I agree time on the water, but there are ways to cut the learning curve that aren’t books.

Reading books related to finding structure, locating big bass, and everything related to fishing is beneficial in my opinion.

You absolutely cannot go wrong with reading books.

You can’t always be on the water 24/7.

Reading these forums, other resources and books are a good way to improve your knowledge base.

With me, I love reading so when I got into fishing when I was 17, one of the first things I did was pick up a book related to fishing, Roland Martin’s 101 bass catching secrets(great book).

The Infisherman concepts with largemouth bass are good reads. There are 3 of them.

4 hours ago, strat54 said:

Trial and error is great and necessary inefficient even when the stars align fish sometimes don't bite. But at the same time when your goal is already pretty unlikely to happen even when you do everything right it's best to have some sense of direction when choosing how to approach it.

Books and pointers are fine, I suppose. However, there isn't a book written that'll shortcut you into achieving a blackbelt though. That takes a lot of time on the mats, azz whoopings, the ability to visualize and process data, and a degree of innate talent for the game. Without the latter and a developed instinct, catching bass, whether big or small, will mostly be the result of random dumb luck.

Learn to be consistent, fish in lakes with big fish in them, and it'll happen. Once it happens it tends to keep on happening, if you have the head for it.

I think you said you’re not interested in learning to catch bass you just want to catch the big ones (paraphrasing).

They’re the same thing. The specialization that you need to work on is locating bass and making them bite - big ones and small ones are often biting the same things in the same areas and are “patternable” and there’s no book or piece of electronics (yet) that can tell you where to cast and how to jiggle your bait - heck guys in boats paying a guide thousands of dollars for them to literally tell them where to point and shoot have days where they can’t figure it out - and you kinda learn that fishing every day for a few years.

I consider myself a big bass hunter - people here know my success and can attest that I am probably am one - but for every big bass I catch, I probably catch 50 smaller ones and it’s not because I’m bad at catching big bass. It’s because that’s how fishing works.