Any thoughts on how to get into larger bass?
I'm about a year into almost exclusively bass fishing from my first ever bass boat. I'm having better and better success at landing more fish, but I don't see any improvement on increasing the size of the fish? I have the most success catching bass using finesse tactics (ned rigs, texas rigs, wacky rigs) but can't seem to break through with hard baits....which is what I see a lot of guys using in videos catching the larger fish. I would love to hear some of your thoughts out there on how to get into larger fish. I live in Rocklin, CA and have access to the Sac River Delta and tons of lakes. Looking forward to hearing what some of you might think.
I live near a clear lake where finesse tactics are dominant. I usually catch a better class of fish on soft plastic swimbaits, like the Keitech FAT swing impact, or the Megabass Magdraft. We have spotted bass as well, not sure if you have them where you are fishing. Also, where I am, fall forage is very small, so small baits still catch big fish. As Thrift recommends in his more recent video, the Damiki Vault makes a really small blade bait. The other technique that may work well for you if you are doing well on the finesse techniques you listed, is to bulk up the profile of the bait with something like a micro or finesse jig, when they skirt flairs they just have a bigger presence in the water. I hope this helps.
Here are some videos that come to mind that might be helpful:
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/swimbait-fishing-success-skeet-reese
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/targeting-big-bass-ish-monroe (this video will be remastered soon, so this link will probably not work in the coming months)
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/top-5-giant-baits-to-catch-kicker-bass-fred-roumbanis
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/small-swimbaits-for-big-bass-ott-defoe
https://bassu.tv/bass-fishing-video/how-to-fish-big-baits-for-big-bass-davy-hite
Thank you Jason - I'll definitely check out those video links. I'm heading back out this upcoming Saturday and see if I can't put some of this into action.
