good thoughts and info!
i do think big bass stay to them self, if not for there own comfort and easy of ambush(how many times have you been sneaking up on something and who ever was with you blew your cover?),or maybe the bass are not welcome in the pack cuz they sit on the bottom waiting for the others to do the work, a working bass doesn't git fat, a river bass and a lake bass can be the same size but that big fat one came from the lake, the other is leaner and full of mussel, in most cases anyway, yes a bass on a river can find a good amount of slack water and grow big & fat, but for the most part not moving as much can grow a FAT bass, chasing shad is exercise, sitting on bottom stealing easy food that your buddies knock out is not,
how long will your buddy throw you beers and food if he bought it all, i bet after 3 beers and a few hamburger your buddy will at least give you a look,and if you stay overnight and eat a few midnight snacks and drink the last of the milk plus leave your dishes laying around, and you wont git out of the recliner ever, you won't be staying long.... could bass kick a fat pig out if it freeloads to much...?
i do feel that big bass are more loners, or need to be do to ambush.....again...how many muggers go around with ten other muggers looking for something to steal? i bet you don't go in the store if you seen ten thieves standing out in front of a store, more likely you go in if it is one OK looking guy talking on the pay phone,or is it his ambush spot?
we fish this small river and i can hit bass around all types of structure, a dink here and dink there sometimes 5 dinks from one 5'X5' spot, but pull up to a log jam and drop a senko down in to one of it's dark holes and you will pull 3#'rs or more, fishing in 5' of water backed in to the logs and just letting that senko fall in to every dark hole, the trick is gitting the bass out of there when they hit....but i would rather sit on top of a log jam and jig a senko around for the 3+# than cast to targets that hold dinks, it seems like the dinks run off right when we git to a good spot but they stay more out in the open too, but if you fish a target log jam thurO` you might entice that bigger bass who seems to be alone and does not care that you are there, cuz it is so well hidden you can't see it & it can't see you, it may have even herd you,but it feels safe still, if you are half stealthy... i like it when i cast 3' away from the boat in to structure and hit fish that are just in a rat hole or small hidding place, while most buds cast a mile to hit nothing but they still laugh at me , till i pull in something worth while, right next to the boat... things like "bass won't hit that if they see you or hear us" then why do i git so many bass this way?
if your at the top of the food chain in your house, and you here a noise you may git up and look around, but you don't just run out the door in you underwear screaming and go hide somewhere else.....so i do think a big bass can be less spooked if in it's own home, or feels safe in it's hiding place! why run? it will be ready to bust some head if something comes threw the door, like a senko or lure, allthO` being somewhat quite is very helpfull for better chances of enticement....
i know we talked about ambush placement before too, and i still believe that the big bass will hold in the best feeding spot,like in a creek out flow or edie, but i do think the big bass will be pushed out by hungry bass once it is half full, do to less need to feed and being tired of other bass stealing easy food too?