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4 Attachment(s)
Size Matters
I have found it interesting this year at our cottage lake.
Maybe I just never noticed but it seem the smaller the bass (smallmouth) the more splashy the hit.
I have had smallmouth that probably are not much more than twice the size of my little STP frog hit it like they were 20 lb Musky .
Conversely the biggest bass I have caught this year sipped it off the surface like a shy trout taking spinners.
Maybe I just have mutant bass in the lake. Any body else notice this?
I couldn't get to my camera for a picture of my big bass this year but here are some of what I caught last year.
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Very nice and I bet you had big fun too.
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I would have to come visit and fish the lake myself to form an educated opinion... ;)
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It's not just bass, either. I've noticed the same phenomenon with almost every species I've fished for, including trout. I think it comes down to the fact that smaller predators have to be more competetive and aggressive in their feeding, whereas bigger fish know they are big fish and are more matter of fact in their feeding.
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They're all monsters in my book.
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Have noticed with all species also. I think with bigger bass, they will just open their mouths and kinda create a mini vacumn that sucks the fly in.
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It's simple physics. To have the same energy as a fish 2X as large, the smaller fish must move at 1.414 times as fast. Thus, a bigger splash.
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I've also noticed it with larger LM bass. I sometimes think that the small fish have to "stun" their prey when they hit it, especially when the prey is large. A larger fish doesn't have to so they don't waste the energy. I've had them sip it in so quietly that it seemed like something just pulled the popper/slider/gurgler down from beneath the water. Just one other possibility for this behavior.
Jim Smith
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I've got to agree with Jim Smith on this one. I notice the same behavior with LMB. The little guys have got to hit by surprise and hit hard if they want a meal. If the fight goes a couple of rounds, the question of who wins a meal suddenly becomes a lot more questionable. Stun your prey quickly or lose them to escape or to another fish competing for your food. I learned pretty much the same lesson in high school, often the hard way. If there's going to be a fight, hit first, hit quick and hit hard----you can talk trash later.
I also believe that size matters in another way with LMB. Big fish like big flies. I know, we all have our story about 4-5 pound bass that hit a size #12 Gurgle Pop or a size #14 Minibugger but day in and day out, I catch my bigger fish on 5-7 inch poppers and streamers. Just my 2% of the size dollar. I'm sure others will disagree. 8T :)
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In my bait fishing days, which I still revert to from time to time, many times the bigger fish simply hit they bait and they have it but, by contrast, lots of time the smaller fish take a little while to worry the bait and get it into their mouths deep enough for a good hookset. No hard & fast rule but a lot of times I could tell when I had a big fish just by the way they hit.