How do you find Big Bass

[bullmerc]

I honestly believe that the really BIG BASS are near extinction on most of our major lakes here in Kentucky. Sure you can catch a few 5's or an ocassional 6 lb bass and maybe even a 7 lb'er but the 10 pound plus fish are about gone.

With the pressure the fish are getting now from both casual and tournament fishermen I don't think our fish now have an opportunity to reach Mega size. After numerous hooking incidents on these fish eventually disease will take it's toll if the fish is not fileted in the first place. The odds have always been against a bass reaching mega size and now with the added pressure put on them they really don't stand a chance.

I have personally caught 10 pound plus bass out of Kentucky waters but that was before the MASSIVE PRESSURE the lakes get now. I don't think I have even hooked a bass over 10 pounds in the past 10 years. Before the MASSIVE PRESSURE ( up to the early 1990's) you would get an opportunity on a Mega bass at least once duirng the spring season. I also remember back in the "good old days" that bass over 12 pounds were caught on a fairly regular basis in Kentucky waters. Not every spring but enough were being caught that you knew they really existed. The last one I pesonally have knowledge of was a 12 plus caught out of Barkley in 1992. This was no rumor because I actually saw the bass weighed and the fish was released alive.

To answer you question I would look for isolated waters, such as farm ponds that have a healthy population of bass and start as early in the spring as possible. If you want true TROPHY CALIBER BASS stay away from the pressured public waters.

[smuckey41]

A big bass to me is any thing 3lbs or bigger just my thoughts and I like to fish any point or cut or cove that has a channel running by. Or a cove with a big creek running into it. I also like to find isolated cover or deep structure like rock piles or road beds. As far as baits I try to use something a little diffrent then what everybody else is throwing weather it be bigger or smaller. I am no expert but these are some of the things I do if I can get a limit of 3 pounders or better that is a good sack in alot of places. That is my 2 cents it seems to work good for me. I also go to a web site called www.bassresource.com I might have spelled it wrong becouse I always search it but any way they have alot of real good articals that I have read and printed out and keep them in my bboat for refrence with my bass logs.

Thanks
Chuck

[HURRICANEBOB]

Under "B" in the yellow pages.

[Col Forbin]

After numerous hooking incidents on these fish eventually disease will take it's toll.

Gives a new meaning to the term "Jon boat." If it is regulated and monitored like the bunny ranch - the chance of disease is greatly decreased.

On a serious note, I think to find truly big bass, the conditions have to be right. Those conditions are rarely found in dam regulated reservoirs as most of ky fisheries are. Your natural deep lakes will stand a better chance for trophy lunkers. Most of lakes that are capable of growing number of bass in that "trophy" range will have a good supply of trout in them too - which is a much better food source in terms of growing very large bass. They have higher fat, more protein, and require much less calorie burn to intake ratio than the shad that most of our lakes here in ky provide as a primary food source. Fishing pressure does play a role, but not as much as environmental, ecosystem and food chain factors do.

[Dave Stewart]

The secret to consistantly getting bigger bass is to get your lure in front of more of them...period. Sometimes you find a spot with only short fish and sometimes you find a spot with only big fish...fact is most of the time you find spots with both.

Now if you are after one big trophy fish...that is different...you can do this..but you are going to spend the majority of your time in the hunt and be focused on that one big bite. From what I have seen on here with Andy...this is what he does. I am sure he will tell you that he has spent a lot of hours in each of those big fish he has targeted to have the opportunity to get one.

Kentucky has never produced big numbers of 10 lbs bass. I have noticed that there are less 10lb bass taken in Ky/Barkley than there used to be but there was never a time they were out there for the taking like candy. There are still over 10's being taken each year here...just not as many as years ago...but all lakes go thru cycles...and these lakes are on the upswing in numbers of LM so don't be surprised to see more big fish taken here again in the future.

By the way, our best fish in the boat this past week topped 8lbs and she was a post spawn fish. She ate a jig. We had taken a number of short fish on the spot before she hit.