Tips on catching bigger fish?

I only know bass, walleye, pike and muskie, so I'll throw in my .02 here. Bass, it's simple. Go bigger. If you're using 4" worms now and catching small bass, start throwing 7" worms. Using a 1/4oz jig, step up to a 1/2oz jig and bigger trailer. Throwing a 3" stick bait, start throwing a 5-6" stick bait. Same pretty much for Walleye as well. I use jerkbaits as big as 7-8" for walleye. Pike and Muskie, again go big. I usually start at 5.5-6" lures and will cast up to 10" or larger for big ones. They are freshwater barracuda basically, so fast baits. They can catch any lure you can throw no matter how fast you're reeling it, so a fast retrieve can help. They do like spinnerbaits and buzzbaits...but beware, you have to use looped wirebaits...that is, instead of a basic bend in the wire, there's a loop where it completes a circle first. This is to stop the fish from straightening the lure and pulling it apart..yeah, that's an issue.

Excellent tips from Squach. It should also be pointed out that location and bait size can make a difference. Bass can eat other fish up to half their length, I believe. They generally like a touch smaller, 3-4 smaller fish digesting in their stomach rather than one giant one. They also want the biggest meal with the least amount of effort, so adding trailers to your jigs can bulk them up a little. Catfish seem to like other fresh fish the best, so catching a bluegill or other fish used whole or slicing off a long chunk (depending on state regulations) and using that as bait can attract the big cats who are used to eating other fish. For Trout and some others, location might be a bigger factor. Only a large fish can eat a large lure, but quite often you will have lots of trout behind a rock in the river where the water swirls and takes less effort, but the biggest and strongest fish will sit in front of a rock and get first choice on food, even if that is a tiny fly or a little piece of worm.

Of the fish you just listed, catfish, bass, walleye, pike, and muskie can all grow to enormous sizes. You just have to find a deeper part of the river to get the big boys, as they like to hang around the bottom. It's dangerous because of snags, but a slip-sinker will help you get to the bottom, but you will have your fair-share of snags along the way. This is the only way to get the big ones, however, because they never hang around the surface, especially during the summer months.

Use bigger guys baits like Creek Chubs and large Minnows as well as Shrimp for Catfishing and Carp Fishing.