You are consistently picking up 18in to 24in bass. But you are looking for larger.

Do you move on? Is 24 the biggest of the lot in this area or do you think there may be some big girls mixed in?

this was my problem the other day. i ended up staying and having a blast with the fish we caught but kept hoping the next one would be a little bigger. :D

what type of bait was present? Try throwing a big danny to try to raise a bigger fish. If nothing hits it in a few casts and you want bigger fish, move on.

I have a problem with this question every time, I am out to catch fish so leaving fish to find larger fish is a tough choice for me. I usually leave when it slows up

There are so many days where you catch nothing for stretches. I say fish until they stop biting. As long as you are enjoying your time, stay.

Beats sitting in an office.

what type of bait was present?

pollen :tooth:

If your fishing were I think your fishing, I have had schoolies all night then a big school of larger fish cruse in there are fish in and out of that river mouth all the time

You are consistently picking up 18in to 24in bass. But you are looking for larger.

Do you move on? Is 24 the biggest of the lot in this area or do you think there may be some big girls mixed in?

this was my problem the other day. i ended up staying and having a blast with the fish we caught but kept hoping the next one would be a little bigger. :D
Catch a few and then leave for sure, I pass up schools of blitzing bass pretty often. The main goal is catching a trophy.

Neva leave the fish :)

I ran into the same situation this past saturday, we were catching
16"to20" fish one after the other, I was having a great time on light gear, we then moved on down river to hit some even better action,
40" + fish busting on the surface, it made an already good day great. Everybody was hooking up.
It seems to me that I very seldom catch a large when all others are small, it is also the same when catching
12" to 16" schoolies there does not seem to be any 24" fish mixed in, I believe the smaller fish are to much competition for the larger. I have had limited success going deeper below feeding fish to pick up a larger one but mostly under bluefish!

It depends if i'm having a bad stretch of fishing then all of a sudden i start nailing small I stay.If I have been doing well over a stretch i'll leave.

Its all about the fish for me.......fish them until your arms fall off! Enjoy it! I just like hooking up on wood so I would stay and play!:fishin:

Everyone has a different goal and for some , that goal changes from year to year. I've been thinking lately that an occasional trip , specifically for small fish on a fly rod would be fun instead of always bouncing the bottom for Moby #^&#^&#^&#^&. I also think going for some bluefish on the long rod would be fun and there are plenty of places that hold small blues all year so maybe that's todays goal.

If you want big fish , you should probably leave the smaller fish school but maybe sometimes , changing the technique to catch the small fish would be fun and sometimes worth passing on hunting for large.

I would move. IMO, smaller bass are no BLAST!:kewl:

There are usually bigger fish feeding below the school or even more likely on the outside edges of it. I would have first tried getting as deep as possible with a bucktail or a big ol' chunk, then I would have moved, but just down current a little bit to get to an area where larger fish may be on "clean-up" duty.

spin

Quality, not quantity.
you can pull the bigger ones out of the school with a large shad crept along the bottom. but the biggest fish in that school might be only 33 inches.

Throw a big horse sized eel out there to cull for larger stuff first. If nothing takes it, move on. :think:

Mike....just so I know when I am buying eels......how big IS a horse???:eek5:

My likelyhood to move would depend on where I was and at what time. My mobility would enter into it too. For example if I was on footpatrol on the outer coast at night in a spot that has access to nice water and produces good size fish, I would not venture too far from that area because I know there is most likely a fair amount of bait in the general area, and my lack of mobility limits my time and options. I would tend to fish areas where the better ones are likely to hang as the ffreak and spincognito mentioned.

My answer would be different if I was up inside an estuary or even a bay, where usually smaller fish hang, with no access to deep water.

(If your in a boat it doesn't matter because as we all know, boat fish don't count :smash::bl: Really though it's what ever makes you happy, and you said you had a blast so it's tough to do much better than that)

There are so many days where you catch nothing for stretches. I say fish until they stop biting. As long as you are enjoying your time, stay.

Beats sitting in an office.

Agreed.

Mike....just so I know when I am buying eels......how big IS a horse???:eek5:

I dunno if John would appreciate me posting a pic here. :angel:

Its somewhere between barely castable to uncastable. If we were talking cigars, it would have to be a 60 ring minimum.

I like to change my gear accordingly. If the fish are small, I break out my lightest twig or get some valuable experience with the fly rod. I hate to leave fish to find fish. Who knows, maybe you'll be surprised by a monster hitting your light tackle and really have a fight on your hands.

thats a nice fat belly. nice fish!

If your goal is a big fish, then leave if you are convinced the one you are looking for is not there. Reeling in schoolie after schoolie on an 11' surf rod is not fun IMO. However, if you just want to fish and don't really care about the size..go back to the truck and get your fly rod or ultra light, that is a lot more fun. Make the most our of what is available.

If your goal is a big fish, then leave if you are convinced the one you are looking for is not there. Reeling in schoolie after schoolie on an 11' surf rod is not fun IMO. However, if you just want to fish and don't really care about the size..go back to the truck and get your fly rod or ultra light, that is a lot more fun. Make the most our of what is available.


excellent point... thats why i always have a couple of rods in the truck :jump:

depends upon yer definition of "good"............

if you are targeting Trophies, like others have said,
after making some bottom of the water column offerings
~with negative results~ i would definitely MOVE..........

schoolies just doan "move" me anymore and i find them
boring at best. light gear for light fish is machismo BS and
time you've wasted by not COW hunting, if that IS yer goal.

verrrry goood suggestion to move either up/down the coast/river
to a place where you would be more likely to FIND the biggurls.
never hurts to try another spot, especially when you know what's
going on where you are and they aren't what you are "really" out to score.
:bl: :bl: :bl:

I've moved
I've stayed
I've found no fish way more times than bigger fish.

light gear for light fish is machismo BS

Thats too funny! Everything you have ever posted is "machismo BS". "Gonna go laaage, yo, trophy hunting cowhunas, aarg matey" :laugha: I think you've been to too many seminars

Bill,

it's not too many seminars, it's a case of an internet hero......... :jump:

Old Adage- Never leave fish to find fish. There has been alot of times that a big fish will sneak in while your catching small ones. I once had a 44 lber. in amongst a bunch of dinks.