In Search of Monster Bass
MOST ANGLERS ASPIRING to catch that bass of a lifetime, whether targeting largemouth, smallies or spots, have heard the cliché, “Big fish don’t get big by being stupid.” Bass, of course, are not likely to have different levels of intellect in the same sense that we do. But they certainly have the ability to become conditioned.
“Years of familiarization with what’s going on around them,” explains San Francisco biologist Peter Banash, “makes older bass tough to catch. The biggest fish have probably been caught and released multiple times. At some point, they begin associating boats, anglers and even specific lures with being hooked — it’s that conditioning that prevents them from making the same mistakes.”
Banash admits, however, that trophy bass can still be fooled into eating something that they shouldn’t regardless of how conditioned they are to anglers trying to catch them. The secret is to avoid fishing just anywhere, at any time or with any bait.
“There are above-average bass in terms of weight everywhere,” say Banash. “Fish long enough and you’ll eventually catch one or
