Matt_Fly

Saying 99.9% don't ever grow over 12 lbs, ???ok,

If anything Matt, 99.9% may be an understatement, which is one 12-pound bass for every

thousand bass. It's the same as saying that most anglers who've boated only 1,000 bass

in their lifetime have not boated a 12-pounder. It's probably safe to say, that most anglers

who boated 2,000 bass in their lifetime are still waiting for their first 12-pounder.

I have a gut-feeling that the percentage may be closer to 99.95%, and if fingerlings are

counted, even higher.

Most lake records are caught in the area of the dams, some of the deepest waters are located near the dam areas.

That's a new one on me and seems to defy logic, let me explain:

The water near the dam is not only deeper, the water near the dam is cooler and

"less fertile", two negative factors for growth rate. The water near the dam supports

less plant life and less forage than water away from the dam.

In Florida, the majority of waters are 'natural lakes' which have no dam and no deep water.

In a typical Florida lake, bass spend their lives in shallow, warm water abounding with

vegetation and forage. In the North, bass that gravitate to a shallow water environment

stand a better chance of attaining Florida-like proportions, than bass that spend their time

in deep water.

For sure, most anglers are Bank-Beaters but for very good reason, bigmouth bass are shallow-oriented fish. Based on the notion that big bass inhabit deep water, I've wasted

a whole lot of fishing time combing deep water. Since that time though, several telemetry

studies have disproved the deep water theory. The studies have shown

that bass Do Not make daily migrations back-and-forth from deep to shallow water.

The majority of bass are homebodies that only make seasonal adjustments and daily shifts

(up & down) within the same water column. The small minority of bass that do migrate

horizontally, do so parallel to the shoreline without any appreciable depth change.

Like most everyone else, I've taken bass from both deep and shallow water, but my

biggest "largemouth" bass come from shallow water. In my view, small school bass

are better acclimated to deepwater structures, not large bass. Deep water in my opinion,

provides a hostile environment for a fat lazy overweight bass. The prolific vegetation

and strong forage base found in "shallow water cover" is a far more appropriate habitat,

than chasing migratory shad on an offshore hump (a schoolie situation). Furthermore,

the average water temperature of deep water is lower than the average for shallow water,

translating to a slower average growth rate.

On The Other Hand, if I could get every fishermen to move his game plan to deep water,

then I can have the shallow-water hawgs all to myself.........Nah, that ain't gonna happen

Rolo,

Point me in the right direction. I would like to read a couple of the telemetry studies you mentioned.  I am particulary interested in those that disprove the deep water theory. Also, I would like to know more about daily migration.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.  

Back on topic...If big bass spend all their time in shallow water (when they have another option), then the answer to the question must be that they are not very smart at all.

Point me in the right direction. I would like to read a couple of the telemetry studies you mentioned. I am particulary interested in those that disprove the deep water theory. Also, I would like to know more about daily migration.

I had a feeling someone was going to ask me that. If the shoe were on the other foot,

I'd be the first one asking that same question. Unfortunately RW, this is pretty old info.

I assumed that it was common knowledge, but I'm finding otherwise. Actually there were

several telemetry studies that established similar results, but the most notable

was conducted by "In Fisherman" (who else). I really wish I could tell you exactly what issue

it was in, but I'm afraid I can't, nor do I recall the title of the article. However,

since this article does exist, there may be a way of ultimately tracking it down.

Pictured in this particular article were several lake charts where the telemetry tracks

were color-coded. The movement of each color-coded track was described in the

chart legend. IMO, those charts soundly trounced Buck Perry's theory about Daily Migration

of bass from sanctuary to food shelf. He was the reason I wasted valuable time

fishing in deep water (his theories were published in Fishing Facts magazine). I hasten to add, that this

shallow-water discussion does not apply to smallmouth bass, which I know that you

of all people, fully understand (I copied-and-pasted your synopsis of smallmouth structure,

it was beautiful).

Back on topic...If big bass spend all their time in shallow water (when they have another option), then the answer to the question must be that they are not very smart at all.

For what it's worth. I tend to believe that at any given moment, largemouth bass inhabit

all depth levels normally associated with largemouth bass. Which is not the same as saying

they can be "caught" at all depth levels (enter the illusion). Some bass inherently,

genetically or for whatever reason, tend to gravitate to deep water, while others to shallow

water. All that I'm saying, is that bass that spend most of their time in deep water

are unimpressive, and that shallower water is the home of the doublewides. This might also

explain why true lunkers are so rare, because their only refuge is heavy cover

and anorexia.

If we can bring Doug Hannon back into this, this is what he professes. Doug maintains

that the biggest bass live in water less than 5 feet deep. He believes that the largest bass

are caught in summer, not during the pre-spawn. Doug also holds that during the summer,

plastic worms will outproduce live bait for both numbers and size. Fodder for the think tank.

Here are some numbers BassMaster Lunker Club:

Plastic Worms   141 catches    27.0%

Jigs                   70                 13.4%

Spinnerbaits       60                 11.5%

Lizards               54                 10.4%

Crankbaits          38                  7.3%

Time of year lunkers were caught:

Jan      13.2%

Feb      13.2%

March   20.2%

Aprl      17.3%

May        8.8%

June       7.4%

July        4.4%

Aug        4.8%

Sept       3.3%

Oct         2.6%

Nov         2.2%

Lures or bait used

Plastic worms   23.7%

Live Shiners     13.7%

jig/pig              11.2%

spinnerbaits      10.1%

Is this your log Chris, or the whole clubs inputs.    Keeping track offers valuable insight.   Very good info Chris.

This is out of a Bassmaster book I dug out. The date was not listed so I don't know how current it is. I know from my own catches and what I have seen brought into the bait shop I owned it is pretty close. Up north you might want to slide down a month or two. I think March is a high point because most of the water around the United States is in or around spawning mode by then.

big bass dont get to their size being dumb. they are somewhat smart by going into certain areas which make us anglers say s#$t quite a bit. my pesonal favorite is wrapping line around a tree or cutting it on an oyster bed

and i got a 128 on the test

Chris,

I have the exact same information on record,

only I rounded them to the nearest 1%:

TROPHY MONTHS

March: 20%

April: 17%

February: 13%

January: 13%

May: 9%

June: 8%

August: 5%

July: 4%

September: 3%

October: 3%

December: 3%

November: 2%

I also found some other stuff, but I didn't record any sources because it was for my own edification.

Now that I'm on the Bass Resource forum, I'll be documenting the sources:

TROPHY DEPTHS (Over 9 lbs)

Less than 5-ft: 54%

5 to 10-ft: 26%

11 to 15-ft: 13%

Over 15-ft: 7%

TROPHY TIMES OF DAY

10am to Noon: 22%

8am to 10am: 14%

2pm to 4pm: 12%

Before 8am: 11%

Noon to 2pm: 11%

4pm to 6pm: 11%

6pm to 8pm: 10%

8pm or later: 9%