Why is bass fishing so popular

[sickbayer]

Ive gotta ask, as ive no desire to go fish them. and i love fishng...?

[Amx]

Because you have to hunt individual fish, make them bite/find out what they want. Not just troll around a lake and fish schools.

[Mike Carey]

Because you have to hunt individual fish, make them bite/find out what they want. Not just troll around a lake and fish schools.

I agree, for me I become totally engaged in the hunt. I find myself thinking and problem solving a lot more than other types of fishing. Not to say there aren't times I wouldn't rather just troll around. We're fortunate we have such a varity of fishing here in Washington.

[Amx]

And just because we can see a fish, doesn't mean we can make it bite. That can be quite frustrating to see a BIG bass and it just ignores everything you toss at it. It just swims along or in circles and thumbs it's nose at you. Last spring I had one do that. It finally 'hid' behind a stalk of pencil reed facing me and looked like it was hiding with the reed directly in the middle of it's nose. I laughed and went home.

[Marc Martyn]

Their aggressive nature. My experience taken from one of my other posts in fly fishing.......

One evening out at Chapman I was fishing the shoreline with poppers for bass. During the twilight hours, I had caught and released about 10 SMB averaging about 10". As daylight faded and the stars were showing brightly, I thought I would just stay on the lake awhile longer. It was a beautiful evening and the temperature was in the mid 70's. As I was kicking along in my pontoon boat gazing at the stars, I heard a large splash over in the stump area. Not seeing what made the splash, I thought, it might be a fish so I made a blind cast over to the area where I thought the sound came from. When the popper hit the water, I popped it twice and all hell broke lose. My rod was almost jerked out of my hand and I looked up to see a fish jump out of the water. It jumped 3 times and finally after a minute or two, I got it up to the boat. I grabbed my penlight flashlight and put it between my teeth and reached for my net. Landing it successfully, I sat in my boat with my heart racing staring at about a 5# LMB. I didn't have my camera with me, so I put the net back in the water and the big guy swam off into the darkness. I think my pulse rate returned to normal about the time I drove back through Cheney. What a fun memory

[Amx]

Yup, night time top water fish strikes will do that to you, expecialy the big fish strikes.

[sickbayer]

Nice story marc so do they fight as hard as a steelhead or a salmon or what ???? I think a 5lb trout fights pretty well and a 10lb rufus is a blast! But the best part is i get to eat it. That is one of my reasons for justifying a expensive boat, (gotta feed the family). However ive never caught a bass to appreicate what you guys are saying here so how hard they strike. Will they tear line off your reel etc etc..

[Marc Martyn]

Bass are very strong and will take your line into the backing quite fast. They swim exceptionally hard and fast.

[spindog]

Pound for pound a smallmouth is probably the hardest fighting fish of all time. Largemouth tie you up in cover and are hard to wrestle out.
Bass hold in all forms of cover, from shallow to deep and its fun to figure them out.
With all the different tackle and techniques its quite addictive!

[YellowBear]

They make some fine table fare as well.

[Mike Carey]

They make some fine table fare as well.

Inflammatory Catch & Release Post Alert!!!!!

just the little ones, right...?

[sickbayer]

They make some fine table fare as well.

Inflammatory Catch & Release Post Alert!!!!!

just the little ones, right...?

Funny quote Mike..:bounce:

[Bodofish]

Bottom line. Major TV coverage, tournaments worth thousands of dollars. The equipment = as many rods and reels with associated baits as one can stuff in a shiny sparkly boat with an OB that's way too big. Lots of Pros and wannabe's so, what do you think would be more alluring to a budding fisherperson? TV fortune, fame and glitz in your chosen hunt or standing knee deep in a river on a snowy December morning with no one else for miles, casting into the riffles of your choice.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching Bill Dance, he's a funny guy and articulates his passion well. Now if you want to talk sportsman! Tred is the man! It doesn't matter if it's 10" grayling or a 200# tuna, it's a hunt, stalk and takedown with passion, conviction and respect for the quarry.

I just don't think bass fishing would be nearly as popular without the media coverage and the glitz.

[Bodofish]

They make some fine table fare as well.

Yeah if one likes to eat mud pies!

[YellowBear]

Sorry Mike, and yes just the little ones.

[Mike Carey]

Sorry Mike, and yes just the little ones.

NP, it's all in good fun. I like a small slot bass once in awhile. Has to be from a clear water lake though!

[wolverine]

Eat those stinking ditch pickles? No way. They do make good fertilizer for my roses.

[Bodofish]

Eat those stinking ditch pickles? No way. They do make good fertilizer for my roses.

[sgpwayne]

The only freshwater fishing that I have done is for BASS. I dont know a thing about fishing for trout,salmon, etc.,etc. I have managed to keep myself interested since 1969 with the BASS EXPERIENCE and noe I am too old to change LOLOL :#-o

[hewesfisher]

You know, I think it really boils down to the type of fishing you like to do. I guarantee you, trolling isn't a mindless drive the boat around activity, and if you're serious about catching what you're trolling for, there's as much hunt and stalk involved in that as there is in sight fishing for bass. The main difference is you can't see your target and you are usually fishing a much deeper body of water. I enjoy bass fishing, SMB & LMB, but it isn't the "be all, end all" that many anglers make it out to be.

I enjoy being a multi-species angler, and enjoy all of them as table fare, bass included. What I don't do, is keep the "big ones" of any species I fish for, most spiny ray panfish excluded. As much as I enjoy fishing for trout, there are many lakes I refuse to fish for them due to water quality and the resulting affect it has on the potential table fare.

Room for all on Washington lakes!