Big bass I’ve been after for years

[gielo]

I was recently fishing off a boat on a small urban lake with my friend when I made a cast to a shallow log that was off shore in shallow water. I hooked a fish on a neko rig that was a solid pound and a half and while I was reeling it in towards the boat I saw this massive fish closely following the bass that I was bringing in. Only seconds later I realized that it was trying to eat the distressed bass on my line and I could clearly see that it was a massive bass. It almost looked like a big carp and I handed the rod with the bass still on it to my friend to try and cast to the big bass, this is when it saw the boat and left. Still shaking I quickly tied on my baitsanity explorer and made a handful of casts but never saw the big bass again. This is the fish I’ve been after for years now but I am honestly convinced it has to be near impossible to catch knowing that the lake gets pressured day in day out by every lure in the book. This is at my home lake and I’ve caught hundreds of bass there without catching a fish over 5 and a half pounds. 
Does anyone have any tips for me that could help me chase a fish like this thats very smart and seemingly only eats live bait?

[BASS_SWINGER]

47 minutes ago, gielo said:

I was recently fishing off a boat on a small urban lake with my friend when I made a cast to a shallow log that was off shore in shallow water. I hooked a fish on a neko rig that was a solid pound and a half and while I was reeling it in towards the boat I saw this massive fish closely following the bass that I was bringing in. Only seconds later I realized that it was trying to eat the distressed bass on my line and I could clearly see that it was a massive bass. It almost looked like a big carp and I handed the rod with the bass still on it to my friend to try and cast to the big bass, this is when it saw the boat and left. Still shaking I quickly tied on my baitsanity explorer and made a handful of casts but never saw the big bass again. This is the fish I’ve been after for years now but I am honestly convinced it has to be near impossible to catch knowing that the lake gets pressured day in day out by every lure in the book. This is at my home lake and I’ve caught hundreds of bass there without catching a fish over 5 and a half pounds. 
Does anyone have any tips for me that could help me chase a fish like this thats very smart and seemingly only eats live bait?

Make the ultimate sacrifice young grass hopper

Edited August 30, 2023 by BASS_SWINGER

[gielo]

Lmaooo

[Fried Lemons]

Maybe try deadsticking. Now that you know where the fish is throw either a floating or suspending bait and just let it soak. Highly pressured fish get accustomed to lures splashing down and then swimming a set distance, usually from the same angle every time. When a bait splashes down and then doesn’t move it’s something they probably haven’t seen as often.

I’ve had success doing this with a gantarel jr tuned to suspend at a highly pressured pond. I just casted it out on a drop off and let it sit about 2ft down. Probably waited about 30 seconds and the fish came up and just stared at it for another 10 seconds before taking a nibble and barely getting hooked. I had never seen a fish over 1.5lbs at this spot so I strongly suspect this was the biggest fish in that pond.

[gielo]

1 hour ago, Fried Lemons said:

Maybe try deadsticking. Now that you know where the fish is throw either a floating or suspending bait and just let it soak. Highly pressured fish get accustomed to lures splashing down and then swimming a set distance, usually from the same angle every time. When a bait splashes down and then doesn’t move it’s something they probably haven’t seen as often.

I’ve had success doing this with a gantarel jr tuned to suspend at a highly pressured pond. I just casted it out on a drop off and let it sit about 2ft down. Probably waited about 30 seconds and the fish came up and just stared at it for another 10 seconds before taking a nibble and barely getting hooked. I had never seen a fish over 1.5lbs at this spot so I strongly suspect this was the biggest fish in that pond.

Cool story thats a giant. Those definitely seem like good ideas, I have a bunch of lures I can try like that. Im gonna go try that soon with a floating swimbait or something from the bank.

thanks for the tip!

[Mossypumpkin]

Go night fishing…..

[Hooksets_arefree]

I had a very similar experience this summer. Instead of casting at it right away I continued fishing down the bank for 2 more hours. Came back and threw a glidebait in a bass pattern and stuck him

[gielo]

6 hours ago, Hooksets_arefree said:

I had a very similar experience this summer. Instead of casting at it right away I continued fishing down the bank for 2 more hours. Came back and threw a glidebait in a bass pattern and stuck him

That’s awesome, I wish I was been able to hit the spot again that night but my buddy wanted to move and then we had to get off the water. Definitely going to try and give it another shot this weekend with a swimbait when I can use a boat again. This makes me more hopeful hahaha

[FishDr]

13 hours ago, Mossypumpkin said:

Go night fishing…..

Deadstick something big, at night.

[gielo]

On 8/31/2023 at 6:36 AM, FishDr said:

Deadstick something big, at night.

I’ll go try that out, thanks!