“Bassin for Giant Largemouth”
By Terry Lacoss
I began chasing largemouth at the young age of ten and have come to the conclusion that certain fishing techniques consistently catch trophy size bass. There is also certain times of the season that produce more giant, bucket mouth bass than others.
My largest bass weighed 14.8-pounds and was caught with a huge wild shiner. However that 12.8-pound largemouth that I caught on a “Rattle Trap” and with light tackle, is the bucket mouth bass that I remember more often.
And every winter when a warm front arrives, I get the urge to chase giant Florida largemouth bass!
Northeast Florida offers excellent trophy bass fishing where some of the largest bass are caught with large wild shiners!
One of the more productive fishing techniques for catching giant bass, is fishing with large, wild shiners. Nine out of every ten Florida trophy bass guides, fish with wild shiners. Plain and simple, wild shiners are at the top of the food chain for giant largemouth bass.
In most Florida lakes and freshwater streams, wild shiners are numerous and oftentimes, easy to catch. Many south Florida bass guides will actually chum up a shallow flat with soybean pellets, then come back later in the day and toss a cast net over the chummed up shiner hole. You can also catch live shiners by fishing with a number 20-hook and a small piece of bread.
It is actually cheaper to catch your own shiners, but if that fails, you can purchase wild shiners for around a dollar each.
Anchoring your fishing boat next to a shallow flat, with heavy vegetation located along the shoreline, is a deadly technique while fishing with wild shiners. Heavy casting, or spinning tackle is preferred, testing from 20-40 pound test. A number two-kahle hook is tied to the terminal end of your fishing line and the shiner is hooked under the stomach and towards the tail. This allows the shiner to swim freely under the thick vegetation without snagging the large bass hook.
Finally, a small balloon is tied to the fishing line, two to three feet above the wild shiner.
The wild shiner is then cast towards the heavy vegetation and allowed to swim freely along the edge and under the weeds. Once a big bass takes the wild shiner, the bass is allowed to swallow the live bait for a slow count of ten, then the line is tightened and the hook is set with a locked down drag setting!
Slow trolling wild shiners out in open water is also a deadly fishing tactic for giant Florida largemouth bass. Simply remove the balloon from the fishing line and free line the wild shiner some 30-40 feet behind your bass boat. Drift with the wind, or use your boat’s electric motor to slow troll wild shiners in the open sections of the lake, or close to shoreline cover.
There are also several artificial lures that seem to consistently produce giant Florida largemouth bass. Included are the “Rattle Trap”, “Plastic Worm”, and “Spinner Baits”.
However I must warn you, that many fishermen become disenchanted with artificial lures when they spend hour, after hour, casting for bass without any success.
The key to catching giant bass with artificial lures, is to first locate a portion of the lake, or stream that big bass are holding in, then use the right lure.
If the day is overcast, cast a spinner bait that is rigged for buzzing the surface. These bass lures are frequently called, “Buzz Baits”. Casting tackle works best, when rigged with 20-pound fishing line. With your rod tip held high, buzz the spinner slowly over bass cover and hang on!
If you are fishing on a sunny day, cast a ten-inch plastic worm and work the plastic worm slowly close to bass cover. Dark colored plastic worms work best including black-grape and black with a blue tail.
Finally if the bass are located in deep water, cast a ¾ ounce “Rattle Trap”, using the same twenty-pound casting tackle and a fairly fast retrieve. Many trophy bass fishermen prefer the chrome with a blue back color pattern.
Look for largemouth bass weighing over the ten-pound mark to become active in many of Florida’s lakes and rivers during the next few weeks.
