You guys are kidding about boat bass being different than shore caught fish I hope.

A fish is a fish is a fish, doesn't mater to me how it's caught

so damn true, it's just the icing on the cake!

This thread is funny.A large fish is just that.....It has to be big,fat and long.I guess the bottom line is you can't say you got a large one today without being worried that someone will say it isn't large.It was nice.It was big but...wasn't large.

to me, its about the hit and the fight. I remember how a fish wacked the eel, bunker, plug, etc and how much it fought. Some of my most memorbale fish were ones I did not land or even hook. I've had days where schoolies are knocking plugs out of the water and hitting with reckless abandon, thats more fun to me than a large fish that doesnt even fight. If I had to put a rating out there, I'd agree with Zacs.

Nice!!



I'd say over 30lbs form shore is large

Nah, just trolling for ladyfish.

Large is 35# +++

A large bass from the surf, is anything over 25#'s. IMO. :)

Best to check with the OTW folks about this, they make the rules.
Of course, there is that whole "experienced fisherman" handicap factor we choose not to consider. All I know is that 28# fish I caught at age 13 was one helluva lot bigger than the #49's I caught at age 40?

The definition of "A Big Fish" from the BigFish is subjective at best! To a 12 year old a 28 inch fish is HUGE! To someone who lands his share of 20-30 pound fish, a 40 would be his bench mark! It all depends on the person on the butt end of the rod.;) To each his own, boat/surf.....there is no difference!

read the post....it is simple (in my best Larry voice).."what do YOU consider to be a large fish" :smash:

Alright...large? Ummmmmm..........Anything over 30 pounds! SLOB.....anything over 40 pounds!:)

I'd take #25 all day long and consider it a big fish on plugs. I think that the tackle you use also needs to be considered. I love light tackle. I got a #28 on the fly last year, that was a big fish.

I think this really does come down to personal choice and feeling. I consider that I haven't broke the 30# mark even though I caught a 34 lb fish off a charter boat. I just happened to be the guy who picked up the rod and reeled it in. I didn't research the spot and the rod wasn't even mine. To me this isn't all that personally gratifying. I guess if you have your own boat and catch large fish you can feel satisfied about it and more power to you.


My personal opinion is that 20 # bass off the beach is better than catching a 30# bass off some charter boat. I would rather catch a 15 # on my fly rod than a 20 # on my spin. It's all personal feeling

35+ by land and 40+ by sea is large in my book, but it is in the eye of the beholder IMO. I just classify them all as decent.

any fish above the 20lb mark is a large fish for me wether it be canal or surf.

okay I am changing my tune :angel:.... I have got fish to 45lbs and thought this over while reading all your postings...
a 25lb fish is a decent fish....but 30+ is Large....:btu:

it depends on the angler

for #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, mckennan and captain white.....a 25 lb fish is an average fish, more or less a schoolie...because these people have caught LARGE, which to them would be 40 + lbs

to a person who is fishing for the first year....a 25 lb fish would be a fish of a lifetime

to me.......a 35+ lb fish is large

whether it be surf caught or from the boat

Biggest fish I ever caught was 25lbs on a salt shaker shad. It was and still is huge to me. I quite pleased with anything over 32" inches with my light tackle. I agree with some of the other posts,its subjective. I don't get into really big fish often

Stick with the tall guy and go trollin' for colon

when i was a kid fishing with my father,on the boat 50lbs was a large fish, now fishing from the beach a 30 lber is a large fish for me.but it is all subjective to what is around.last year on the cape a 25lber from the beach was large

30 pound fish always seem big to me. In the canal , a 30 pounder can give you a good pull if the current is at full tilt.

while i completely respect everyone's opinions

and find these interpretations MOST interesting,

it seems to me that a BENCHMARK, by definition, is
a benchmark that IS NOT subject to change. we use them daily
when we plumb the columns of our structural buildings and if we allowed
for fluctuations from one benchmark to the other, one surveyor/angler to the other,
then ALL the buildings in Boston would resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa :bl: :bl:.................

a STANDARD is a standard for ALL to aspire to;
regardless of whether or not you've ever hit that MARK, and
defined by the same definition that the people for generations
have considered to be LAHHHGE from then to today.

in other words, while it may "feel" subjective until you reach said BM, once you "get there" don't most people aspire for something more and BIGGER??? likewise, by having a uniform weight we can ALL be measured by the same BM and not by what your best friend or yer Momma says to enable your relative mediocrity..................

i don't think that Today's surfcasting legends were sticking
40#'ers out of the womb ~~*though sum have suggested that Mr Nolan was born part Striper, that's how he knows the way they think*~~ so at some point they also had to aspire to the lofty weights, at that particular time of their individual angling developement, of 30#'s and up. for example Newbie, Hungry, Sharpie. the point being, they started somewhere and through due diligence and many moonlit haunts they've angled themsleves into the Striper Coast's Legends that they've become by fishing hard and not settling for 20# to 25# as LAHHHGE. still a dink at that weight, if ya ask me.

AND, just because large and up is a regular weight for them that doesn't change the standard it just means that their levels of expertise have them landing more trophies/monstahs than the rest of us schlubs that don't have the experience and know-how that they do................still the standard remains the same ~~30#'s and up is LAHHHGE, imho.

my own scale goes a li'l sumthin' like this:
0" - 28" ;;;; schoolie
28" - 30#;;; rats to big bass
30# - 40#;; LAHHHHGE
40# - 50#;; SLOB
50# - 60#;; TROPHY
60# - 70#;; COW
70# - 80#;; IGFA World Record
80# - 90#;; MONSTAHH
90# - 100#; FISH OF A LIFETIME

those are the goals for me, so far so good,
and i LOVE the challenge and the mindset that
is required to not settle, and TO go for sum Big Gurls.

5- 10 lbs- "schoolies"

10 - 20 lbs- "school bass"

20 - 30 lbs- "decent fish"

30- 40 lbs- "large"

40-50 lbs- "trophy fish"

50+.. fish of a lifetime.

What Species of fish?

a 6 lb. Smallmouth is a slob
a 10 lb. Largemouth is a slob
a 20 lb. Bluefish is a slob
a 40 lb. Striper is a slob
a 100 lb. Tuna is a slob
a 225 lb Anglah is a Slob (at least thats what my wife says) :hihi:

Now answer the %$#@ question.......What's Large??:deadhorse:

For me

Large is 35# +
NiceFish 20-35

"LARGE" ?????? WHO-T-F cares? I mean, I caught a bunch of 20 to 25 pound fish in the last couple weeks (on plugs:kewl:) from shore and my skiff and they all fought great, cartwheeling through the sky and rolling and thrashing just after the hook-up ( my mentor Art Crago said to me once after losing a good fish after a tremendous but brief hook-up on a Danny"You got what you wanted out that fish right? So don't be disapointed" he was right, as usual)

I have caught a lot of "large" fish in my time but the to me the mark of a good fish is not the scale weight but the fight and twenty to 35 pound fish 99% percent of the time will fight the pants off of a 45 pounder.

Thats the large for me, the fight not the fat.

Depends
 

Whether any one else saw it or not..:bl: