By Andrew Ragas Bass thumb is what many of us strive for, and beyond these battle scars there is a lot to like about catching several bass in a day. However, if you fish often, there comes a certain point in the season where action fishing and routinely catching numbers becomes stale. Pursuing fish of average size isn’t challenging or motivating anymore. This boredom hits every year, occasionally becoming chronic in my boat once late summer and fall rolls around. I love the fast action of rod benders and 50+ fish days, but nothing challenges and satisfies me more than the high risk and high reward of trophy hunting. One single bite from a giant fish will make or break the trip. When targeting the largest specimens in the lake, we purposely weed out the small fish. Fishing becomes increasingly difficult and challenging. It is what we make of it. Throughout the country, lakes are managed for different purposes and fishery goals. Lakes could be managed for numbers and high density bass populations where average fish sizes are commonly 12 to 16 inches. These action fisheries dominated by a bass biomass can provide quality fishing as well as harvest opportunities. Meanwhile,