The bass are getting bigger and bigger!!

[Float Tube 27]

Sorry no pictures this time. I've been catching more and more LM bass. The bass that I caught in the past were all so small that I had to rush to get it back in the water before someone saw me it. However, the ones I caught the other day seem like they are very healthy and have a belly on them. I actually switched my fishing to half bass fishing. Don't get me wrong I love sight fishing for the big Tucs but it just started to get a little old. Needed a change a lucky for me the LM have been hungry.

We went the other day and the normal Tucs were out hanging by the shore. I don't know if they are still spawing but they sure were acting like it. They would swim up to the lure and just sniff it like they were on some power diet or something. We managed to get a few Tucs and a handful of bass. I went on this three cast bingo run catching a larger bass on each cast. The last one was about 2 1/2 lbs. They were all strong from the strike all the way to the fight. The strikes were like a battle ax so I knew there was more than one bass in that spot. A bass that is competeing for a lure with another bass will hit harder, I sound smart right! Nah, I just learned that on a bass show that I was watching the other day. The show also said that when one strikes it excites the other fish so hurry up and get your lure in the same spot. I did and sure enough bam,bam and BAM!!

[skunked]

Nice to know the bass are healthier now, not skinny and easy to water ski to the shore (or boat) like in the recent past. I also caught a decent bass the other day and it was healthy. Funny how I was more excited catching that 14" bass than the 4.5 lb tuc I also caught that day (only caught 2 fish )
Caught the bass on a 1/4 oz. Red Eye Shad and the tuc on a Daiwa DB minnow (suspending jerkbait). I didn't see any nest, but it was obvious the tuc and its partner were guarding a specific area. I was happy to see it return quickly to that spot after I released it. Congratulations on your catches!

[roadwarriorsvt]

I'm sure the spawning Tucs are glad someone has stopped catching them!

As far as the bass go, according to Stan's excellent length/weight records, most of the smaller bass are pretty healthy, by national standards, but when they hit a certain length, they start competing hard for forage and get less food. His records show this trend over and over. Thats probably why our state record is only 9 lb. XX oz. for both the Tuc and LMB.