Do you surf them in trying to break speed record ..... OR.... Do you play them until they are tired and ready to give it up?

I play them and enjoy the fight. I use relatively light line (10# braid with a long 10# mono leader). I let them take their runs if they feel so inclined and wear themselves out. I just try to control the chaos and try to keep them from making any jumps. If it makes a difference, I fish with crushed barbs, for their benefit and my safety.

Depends on the environment and the type of rod/reel. Bait casters have power, spinning generally doesn't.

If I am targeting largemouth around things like weeds, pads, timber, or docks, I am getting them out of that as quick as I can. I want to land them and the easiest route to doing that is to remove them from what helps them escape.

When I am after smallmouth (lakes), there is nothing for them to get hung up on. There is no need to horse them in. I can get away with using lighter tackle overall in this type of setting.

I tend to get excited and haul them in surf style. Then I back justify my actions by claiming it's for the health of the fish.

For LM, I give them what the gear can deliver. The larger the bait, the quicker I want them in the net. Spots, I just play the power surges.

What Gim said. Anything around cover and I’m putting the beans to it as much as I can to get it out. If it is open water smallies over 40’ of open water? I’m going to give him pressure but I’m not afraid to let the drag out either. i catch a fair few channel cats in the same conditions (open water, 20-40’ deep, 6-8lb line) so I have a pretty good feel for how much pressure I can put on one. With smallies you just have to absorb the lightning turns and runs they will put in at the boat.

When in vegetation which I am 90% of the time, I get her head up and out as quick as I can.

If not and she runs, I do the same without the urgency.

I see no reason to play around…The hunt and set is why I’m there.

Mike

I prefer to use light tackle so when the hook is set , it’s rodeo time.

I generally try to go somewhere in the middle. If I catch it over 30’ deep, I’ll take it as slow as possible to let it acclimate. I’ve found that if I take my time getting the deep fish in, I don’t have to fizz them too often.

Conversely, if I’m in the Salt Cedars, it’s going to be as quick as possible.

Depends on the cover, gear, and how they are hooked. In general, I play them hard when I have to, but back off and let them get tired before I try to land them. A bass wrapped on a branch is gone, but one that is too hot close to the boat can quickly become a fish story instead of a picture. A bass can pull as hard as any gamefish, but does not have the endurance for a long fight. A little patience can bring them to the net with not much left in the tank. If given a chance they can bulldog into cover and defeat even the heaviest tackle. An angler must have both the skill to turn a big bass instantly on hookset, and the finesse to not pull a hook close to the boat. There is not one way to fight a bass. Every situation calls for a different strategy, and sometimes they will break your heart when you least expect it.

I do want needed to get them away from cover and possible snags. I do a controlled reel in , not surf them in but not, dilly dallying ether, can’t really explain it. Gators can be bad about taking your catch.

There’s really not much of a fight with the smaller bass so I get them in as quickly as they come, hopefully to shake them off even, but nothing out of the ordinary like surfing them over the water or torpedoing them into the air or slamming them onto the bank. As far as the big ones go, I don’t baby them. I’m more conscious of their direction along with the line tension and the reel thumb button as well as the net. Get ‘em in quickly, catch, measure, photo, and release. All those factors come together fluidly to the land the fish without incident.

I only fight a bass for a long time if I absolutely must. Fish build up lactic acid in their muscles during a long fight and poor water quality and high temps + tired old fish = dead old fish. I try to get em in and take a picture and let em go as quick as possible especially right now.

I like to enjoy the battle and not rush it, though I have fewer fish get off when I do rush things a bit. After reading @Pat Brown talk about lactic acid I think I will change my tactics.

Smack em hard and winch em in. #STRAIGHTBRAIDBRIGADE

Depends on what lure/line/rod I’m holding

Try and get her in asap. Release asap. Good stuff >>

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bassconserve.phtml

Good Fishing

Most of the time I'm throwing a Ned or drop-shot on a 8# leader and ML rod so have to be careful around cover and choose my spots wisely.

I do lose several good fish per year taking the bait into heavy cover but it comes with the territory.

The fight is what I'm looking for so never horse a fish in.

Spinning gear I usually play them a bit, especially finesse technqiues with lighter wire hooks. Same goes for certain baits like jerkbaits, can't horse them too much. But if I have the line, hook, and rod to do so I want them in the boat as quick as I can.

12 hours ago, Crow Horse said:

How Do You Play Your Bass.....??? Play Them Till Tired or Surf Them In.

Do you surf them in trying to break speed record ..... OR.... Do you play them until they are tired and ready to give it up?

For me, landing any fish, and in this instance, LM & SM bass, is all about pressure.

Whatever pressure I apply and whatever pressure the fish applies.

Regardless of how big or how hard a fish might pull, or what gear I happen to be using,

I am always in control of the level of pressure.

It's called drag.

Small fish are brought to the boat with little fanfare, as they are not usually capable of applying much,

if any pressure. It's all mine in these instances.

Hooking & landing the type/size fish I'm actually targeting; it's a different story.

My standard and time-tested preference is to only apply the pressure needed, especially right after the hook set.

Minimal amount of force necessary to compel compliance.

This does many things for me, and most all of them are good.

It goes without saying that the lighter the tackle, the less pressure I'm capable of applying.

I net all my 'better' fish, in particular treble hook bait-eating bass. I prefer not to bring a green or supercharged bass boat side if I can avoid it. Slipping the net under a gassed bass has a considerably higher success rate IME than taking several wild one-handed stabs with the net at a streaking all-over-the-place hot fish.

I've been fooled more than a few times by what I initially believed to be a smaller bass. These wise guys often come right to the boat like a puppy on a leash. However, once the proximity is reduced to where we can both get that first glimpse of each other, the entire situation changes, and fast. When the circumstances allow, I will try to feed Miss Berserker some line and let her lose her mind a little further away from me. But sometimes, that's not an option, and we both just have to ride it out. About half of these fish make it into the net.

The other half, well, I'm usually left standing there staring out over the lake with that WTH just happened look on my wet face while water slowly drips from my sunglasses.

As for any morality concerns, most of my better action happens in depths where barotrauma is never a concern.

A-Jay

I usually try to land them as quickly as possible but nothing I'd consider skiing them in. Spinning gear usually takes a little more wearing them down and so does treble hooked baits. Single hooked baits on baitcasting gear they usually get cranked in and landed pretty quickly.

I will add that if I get one showing any signs of bleeding or distress, I’ll put them in the livewell with Rejuvenade and the aerator running for a little while. 15-20 minutes of rest/recovery will usually have them perked up and ready for another round.

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I only fight a bass for a long time if I absolutely must. Fish build up lactic acid in their muscles during a long fight and poor water quality and high temps + tired old fish = dead old fish. I try to get em in and take a picture and let em go as quick as possible especially right now.

While I greatly appreciate your concern for the long term survival of the bass, I'm not too worried about lactic acid build up. If a bass can survive being skied on top of the water, boat flipped into a boat, drove around in a live well all day, transferred to a tank, held up high, weighted showed off to a crowd of spectators, transferred back to a tank, then released miles from it's home, and live to be caught another day, I think it can survive an extra couple of minutes getting tired enough to land without making a big show of it at the boat. I do agree very light tackle, making for an extremely long fight resulting in complete exhaustion is not helping the survival odds, but backing off on the pressure, while lessing the chance of pulling a hook and insuring a quieter experience at the boat is not going kill the bass.

Another element of concern for those fishing in a yak, getting a bass who's still has her afterburners lit presents a real safety concern for me. A last minute launch that splashes down in my lap is a real hazard that I've had some close calls with, especially with toothy pickerel. Sharp teeth and treble hooks have no business being anywhere near my lower chassis. Either way, having a fish dance in my lap flailing treble hooks around is nothing I want to experience. I try to "boat" them so they are controllable for their safety as well as mine.

I try to follow what @Pat Brown stated. I try to get them in as fast as my gear and fish will allow. I won’t skim them across the water but, try to land them quickly.

Fish have a very very hard time getting rid of lactic acid build up. This is why they say to land a musky as quickly as possible. I am very against BFS for bass.

@king fisher there is a higher morality rate than we will ever know. The whole swam away it will be fine is old logic. It has been disproved through science.

Never intentionally "playing" fish. Lactic acid, etc. Especially pike. Don't play Esox. They'll lock up and you'll be wasting your life holding that bladed jig-stealing a-hole upright for seemingly endless minutes.

End the fight as quickly as possible, meet, greet, release.