i fish a lake where alot of 6-8+ pound bass are caught. pretty regularly. the best i've done is 2 around 6. i've talked about this lake in previous posts. it's a small lake of limited resource, i believe.

there's another lake that is pretty big. it is loaded with bass in the teens. but no one ever catches them. they're there though, they have been caught. and shocked up. but it is highly pressured and i never see anyone catch alot of bass and every time i go, i say i'm done with this lake.

last time i was there i missed one bass. one time last year i had a really big fish hit and almost jerked the rod out of my hand when i set the hook. it started stripping drag and got hung up in some logs and broke my line. i never saw the fish, i like to think it was a huge bass, but it could have been a catfish. i was using a berkley gulp worm, those things stink like catfish bait.

so, do i fish a lake where i have an excelent chance of catching a trophy bass (in my book). the lake is starting to get pressured. and i don't think it can handle it.

or force myself to learn to fish the other lake and maybe catch a bass big enough to get my picture in a magazine?

i don't have a depth finder.

to elaborate on not having a depth finder. i feel like i would need one to be successful at the other lake. the one i've been doing well on is small enough that you don't really need one.

 el_jewapo,

GO FOR THE GUSTO. I personally would go for the BIG FISH... It's fun and perhaps more productive to go for smaller fish but, are you learning anything by catching all of the smaller fish?

 To put it another way... I deer hunt, I hunt for monster bucks. Huge deer. I have to let a lot of smaller bucks walk. If I don't see Mr. Monster over a period of time, I begin to get a defeatist, depressed mentality.

 That's when I begin to hunt for meat. That sharpens my skills,senstivity etc.

Does anyone stop searching for what they are "looking" for? If you look just for the "bite" you'll get bit. I look for a particular bite... BIG FISH

  GO for the BIG BITE! :-*

i'm getting more and more ready for the big bite. i fish with lower percentage baits where i fish now, because i expect big fish. i can tie on a worm and catch little ones all day, but i settle for quality fish over quantity.

you ask if i am learning anything? not really, other than confidence. the same question to myself is why i started this thread.

i was sitting here thinking about fishing that lake for a learning experience. the other lake has more long term benefits to my fishing the rest of my life. but the lake i fish now is an instant gratification fix.

I would purchase a low end depthfinder, and fish the big lake.  I have a Cuda 168 on my aluminum boat.  It is inexpensive and works great.  I would use the depthfinder to look for structure and cover away from the shoreline.  I'd be willing to bet that most people fishing these lakes are throwing to obvious cover/structure along the shoreline.  They are probably keeping the fish run out of the obvious places with their electric motors and other noises.

Back at ya, el_jewapo,

One thing I did different this year is I had large custom crankbaits made. Large baits that run shallow to 5ft. deep. If there is a large fish on shallow stick-ups, it will bite. I've had bigger and better hook-ups this year, even on lakes I've always fished where the fishing was mediocre at best. I'm always looking for a new "confidence" lure. This year for me are the above mentioned...