It seems to me that all the big bass caught in south eastern Michigan are smallmouth. So my question to everyone is what do you consider a big bucket mouth?
This was probably one of my biggest large mouth I got this past summer and the biggest anyone caught out of my raft it weighed in at something like 2lb 4oz which is really a dink.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67/witnessofbron/Fishing/HCS33-1.jpg)
On the lakes I fish I consider a 4+ pounder pretty good, a 5+ would be a very big one to me.
For some reference you can look at some of the local clubs' websites that show results and see what size took Big Bass in their tournaments. Some of them say if it was a LM or SM.
I've caught very few over 5lbs. My best last year was 4.14.
i'd say anything over 3 is a good fish, over 4 a great fish, and over 5+ outstanding.
Yeah, I would agree. Anything over 4lbs is worth noting. 3lbs is good and 5lbs is really quite rare in our waters. I think I caught less than 10 fish over 4lbs this year. 0 over 5.
A trophy is in the eye of the beholder. If its your personal best then it is truly a trophy! A big buckethead? HUH really depends on the body of water. Never fished a body of water in SE Michigan so i couldnt tell ya. 3# is always a good fish. Now you start fishing places like PawPaw Lake or White Lake, id say a very good buckethead would be 5. But those are exceptions to the rule. I personally have took numerous 5's out of both those places this year. I was shooting for 6 and seen almost a 7 weighed in during a touney there(PawPaw) its the land of giants! I feel that those big fish are complete loners and to search out the areas they can seclude themselves and feel safe. Set your goals and shoot for them. dont let what everyone else does influence you. Im a true believer in that. This is a great place to learn things but take what U learn and make it fit you! Then you reap the benfits and there so much sweeter. Good luck and stik a big one.-skeeterman-
Tournament 2.75lbs
Fun Fishing 5.00lbs ;D
Anything over 3 lbs is a good fish.
I was just going to say I really appreciate any largemouth bass that is nicest enough to bite my lures... ;D I like them all and a 2-4 is not a dink (I'd of killed for 'dink' like that many a time in a tournament). Someone did a feature article a while ago that showed if you consistently caught limits of bass weighing over 2 pounds that you would have ended up winning a PILE of money in tournaments...!?!
Like the latter statements, it all depends on the mindset of the fisherman or woman.
First, let's clarify one thing. Not all SE MI bass are smallies. I live in SE Michigan and most all bass I catch are largemouth. I'd say 9.5 of 10 bass I catch are of the latter species.
To me though, a big michigan largemouth is somewhere upwards of 5 to 5 and a half pounds. I think my biggest this year is around 6, but my father caught a 7.97 and last year I caught a 7.67. They're out there, just hard to come by.
A question that I ponder a lot though is this: How many bass, large or smallmouth, over ten pounds are caught in Michigan each year? Over 50? 100?
Always keeps me guessing!
Good post though.
-NBB :)
Over 10?? id say very few if any. i seen where a kid caught one near the gun lake area. good for him that will hook him for life but dont expect that! the fish have such a shorter growing period around here, a fish like that is a true giant! smallies over 10?? id love to hook one. im sure there are a few swimming around erie and st.clair! My personal best is a 6lb11oz giant largie caught out of Lake Monroe in Southern Indiana. after that i got 2 smallies from michigan. one @6lbs8oz out of Lake Leelanau and a 6lb3oz hog from crooked lake.-skeeterman-
Quote from: Northern Bass Bum on October 30, 2008, 07:23:28 PM
A question that I ponder a lot though is this: How many bass, large or smallmouth, over ten pounds are caught in Michigan each year? Over 50? 100?
-NBB :)
Actually weighed, photographed and verified? Less than 1 per year (and that's probably too high). However, if you talk to any one who doesn't have a scale, a tape measure or a camera...I'm guessing thousands...daily.
2lbs decent, 3lbs good, 4lbs big, 5lbs+ toad
cheetam: isnt it so funny that everyone that fishes the lakes that we all go to are so much better than us! ive heard it way too many times.things from guys @ the ramp there tell me i cant catch s*&^%???? im a nice guy and pretty much say oh yeah thats awesome! saddle up your horse and compete That will show u-SKEETERMAN- WEVE ALL CAUGHT A 10LBER!!!! JUST ASK US
(SADDLE UP YOUR HORSE AND COMPETE IS IN MY HEAD!!!) I truly think it funny when i talk to people @ the ramp that say yeah there here and there but have nothing to show for it?? I love meat fishermen but give me a break!!!!! stick to the perch and crappies. i dont need any advise about how bad i suck and how far off i am.-skeeterman-
I got two in one day. Look at my picture. one was 10.8 and the other was just over 11. but I did forget my scale that day. ;)
i dont think it was 'your' sense of humor that was dry. i got it.
Thanks I thought I was going crazy! ::)
Quote from: McCarter on October 31, 2008, 09:56:05 AM
i dont think it was 'your' sense of humor that was dry. i got it.
+1
I got it too, but LMAO at the comment below I think I have to use that one.
Quote from: UAWBigDog on October 31, 2008, 05:55:28 AM
If B.S. were music.........you'd be a brass band. :D
BD ;D
I got it also
Also got it!! u funy !!! haha those might be 3 -skeeterman-
I am willing to bet there is a 10lb smallie swimming around in Lake Erie somewhere???? I thought all you guys on this site were serious. Silly me.........what was I thinkin'!!!! :o
BD ;D
Quote from: UAWBigDog on November 01, 2008, 05:14:20 AM
I thought all you guys on this site were serious. Silly me.........what was I thinkin'!!!! :o
BD ;D
Us? Serious? Are you serious? :D
randy vandam caught a 9-8 out of erie, so a 10lb is out there somewhere
But the one randy caught in erie died on the way home. he was going to put it in his aquarium but now it is on his wall. I have caught 6 fish in michigan over 6 pounds numerous 5s> but havent caught one over 5 in 3 years. these were all from one lake in northern michigan. Martiny flooding.
i didnt say it would be alive haha thats an old fish, but if a fish like that grew in erie there is a chance that a 10lb smallie could exist out there
you are right and from the gene pool there should be more out there. I also heard a rumor this was a few years ago that the DNR was doing lake shockings checking fish and shocked a large mouth out of Wabasis lake that was over 10lbs but that was a rumor.
I would verture to say that there are at least a few out on erie over 10! big water grow big fish so much to fish she could be anywhere! i think the next world record could come from there! although the southern impoundments have a larger growing season?? it has been a long while since the record was caught.-skeeterman-
My partner caught a 6.1 largemouth in Ford lake last year , a lake that is not known as a lake with big fish in it ,IMO, and it looked like a monster . I still haven't caught a largemouth over 5 , but I did catch a 6.42 smallie in the SC river this summer and it didn't look as big as the 6.1 largemouth . I think about all the private lakes that don't get fished as hard as the public ones and I'm sure theres huge fish out there somewhere . But a ten lb largemouth ? I don't know .
Quote from: CR on November 03, 2008, 09:57:32 PM
My partner caught a 6.1 largemouth in Ford lake last year , a lake that is not known as a lake with big fish in it ,IMO, and it looked like a monster . I still haven't caught a largemouth over 5 , but I did catch a 6.42 smallie in the SC river this summer and it didn't look as big as the 6.1 largemouth . I think about all the private lakes that don't get fished as hard as the public ones and I'm sure theres huge fish out there somewhere . But a ten lb largemouth ? I don't know .
You're right about the private lakes and ponds Charles. My two biggest largemouth have been caught out of a private pond (one @ 26 inches -not weighed, and one 6lb 15 oz). The owner of the pond has caught a lot of fish over 5 lbs from the pond and has caught a couple over 6. The 6 lb 15 oz fish I caught there this year was huge! I couldn't imagine what a 10lb fish would look like...
I have caught several over 5 on Long Reyerson lake in Fremont! It is a private lake. They stocked it with perch the last few years I think this helped the bass. I caught a 6.7 pound smallie out of the Grand Traverse bay this spring as well.
I would say any fish over 4lbs is a good michigan large mouth. For those who say that big largemouth are far and few? I have put 10 largemouth 4lbs and larger in my boat in the last two weeks.Lake Erie ROCKS!
Im sure ERIE ROCKS. But who really cares i hope this man make good on some promises. I think were all screwed... thank god for the minority vote that have no clue what they are voting for!!! -skeeterman- im sure im way out of place on this one but come on gimmie a break are u serious??
I hope we can all fish next year but i doubt it!! hopefullly im wrong??? but i think im not!!!!!!!!!!!!! goood luck... this world is DONE!!!!!!!!!! -skeeterman- hey i might be the a hole but oh well ill be right.
I LOVE GLB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#################
And we take you back to the topic at hand ;D
This is the link to the Master Angler Awards on the DNR site. At quick glanc, I see onw 10lb fish, several 9lb and quite a few 7 and 8's since 1994. Most are listed in inches, so it is hard to guess how much they weighted.
http://www.michigandnr.com/MasterAngler/MasterAngler.asp
I thought there was a picture over in the Grand Rapids area of a young boy who caught a 10 pound largemouth last summer?
Years back, a 10-pound largemouth, also caught by a young boy, was taken out of Diamond Lake... before the dam blew out. I do not doubt that one at all, picture or no picture. I've talked to a few big bass hunters in Michigan who have some tales to tell including a 12 pound bass that was supposedly caught and then lost out of a canoe on a lake that has one verified 9-4 largemouth from it previously.
I'll have to start tracking down some of these guys again... haven't checked in in a while. All I know, is I lika da catcha all of the bass (but especially 3.5 pounds and above... especially in a tournament ;D).
Yeah dont mind me i had to many .....um pops last night...
lawl, i got lost on how you went on to the election from 10lb bassies, makes sense now :D
Quote from: bassmandan on October 30, 2008, 11:02:58 PM
2lbs decent, 3lbs good, 4lbs big, 5lbs+ toad
that sums it up pretty accurately. my personal best here is a couple of 6lb'rs out of maceday lk. for tournaments thou 3-4lb fish a number of times.
Quote from: bassmandan on November 05, 2008, 04:45:40 PM
lawl, i got lost on how you went on to the election from 10lb bassies, makes sense now :D
I thought he was talking about global warming...?!? ;D
theres a few lakes around me that give up some pretty big largemouth we put two that went bigger the 6# this yr but i fish just about every day. there was a 7#2oz smallmouth taken out of the same lake and it was weighed on a meat scale at the market.
A good bucketmouth in Michigan is one you can put your whole fist in its mouth and has a tail............ :P
BD ;D
Biggest Michigan largemouth I ever caught was 4.8 on Belleville 2 years ago, it was part of a 14lb. limit I got during my club 2 day outing. There are also some decent largemouth at Moullie Point.(I think thats what it's called, big rocked in area some people call the bird sanctuary on Erie). Club member took a 15lb. bag out of there last August on a Zoom Brush Hawg. Down here in Ohio, all I have to fish thats close is our above ground, featureless reservoirs. I found that using a heavy football jig probing the bottom for the rocks the kids throw from the bank can be very productive for the biggest fish in the lake. I've taken some 5's and a couple 6's from those isolated rocks out in the middle of nowhere. Same thing on Erie I'm guessing. There is probably a pack of 10's that hold on an isolated rock pile thats so small, and so far from anywhere that it's never been found. Some of my biggest fish in San Diego when I lived out there came from areas that I never would have thought would hold any kind of fish, just decided to check out these places at the end of my day. Most big fish come from the most unlikely places.
A good largie in Michigan? Anything over 4 lbs is definitely noteworthy. Personally I caught 6 fish over 4 lbs this season...biggest one was 4 lbs 13 oz. ... it's too bad only 2 of those came in a tourney! Didn't catch a single one that topped 5 lbs though. My biggest largie to date is a 25" monster I caught in Glen Lake on opening day 1983 trolling a rattletrap. Didn't have a scale but the tape measure said 25" on the button. Big spawn filled female that if I had to venture a guess was well on her way to 7.5 - 8 lbs. It's one of those memories I will NEVER forget. And the fish went back to finish her job. Biggest smallie was caught that same year... 22 1/2" caught on the same bait in the same lake. Again, back then I didn't have a scale so I'd guess that one on the + side of 6 lbs for sure. 1983 was a great year for me!!
Any bass over legal limit siaze is good bass for Hunlee!!!!!!Preferance wise 3,,,4,,,5,,,6 pounder is best eating size for Hunlee
hunlee
Quote from: hunlee on December 05, 2008, 02:09:13 PM
Any bass over legal limit siaze is good bass for Hunlee!!!!!!Preferance wise 3,,,4,,,5,,,6 pounder is best eating size for Hunlee
hunlee
So happy your parole came through... congrats!