minnow size for crappie

[mactheaxe]

i was crappie fishin the other day and when i was gettin my minnow and saw i had different size minnows, it made me think. does minnow size matter? i get my minnow from the only cheap gas stations around here and when i get them, they range from small, to medium. does this affect my fishing or does it affect me catchin bigger ones? if i have a bigger minnow, i could catch a bigger one right?

[blairarnold]

I like bigger minnows. I usually use medium shiners or big blackheads (a/k/a tuffies, something-else-that-I-can't-remember-heads, etc.) when I can find them which is rarely. There used to be a guy here who sold really nice sized blackheads which he grew in a small pond on his farm, but he died.

[Rapprunner]

i was crappie fishin the other day and when i was gettin my minnow and saw i had different size minnows, it made me think. does minnow size matter? i get my minnow from the only cheap gas stations around here and when i get them, they range from small, to medium. does this affect my fishing or does it affect me catchin bigger ones? if i have a bigger minnow, i could catch a bigger one right?

I imagine that a bigger minnow may mean a bigger crappie. But what were your findings? Did you catch bigger fish on the bigger minnows?

[blairarnold]

It seems like I do, and it's amazing how small a crappie will bite a bigger minnow.

[Fatman]

I like mediums for all around but I've seen some good sized crappie just murder a hugh shiner

Fatman

[azslabber]

I like the larger minnows,I have noticed that when night fishing under a light that they will grab the bigger ones much faster.Like the size of the shad swimming around,and they are pretty big.Maybe 3 inches.

[dgi]

My local bait shop has crappie minniows[small]
bass minnows[ medium] & large minnows. i started using the small minnows & found them hard to hook without tearing them apart. caught crappie anyways
but switched to large minnows & have noticed i've catching bigger crappie's & as a bonus been getting some nice LM bass. bigger bait bigger fish. i'm still new to crappie fishing but that has been what i've learned so far this my first year targeting crappie.

dgi

[LBM]

When I used to use minnows I always preferred using the smaller ones even with out any evidence that it made a difference in the size of crappie I would catch.

One thing I really took notice of, now that I mainly use plastic, was the four inch or larger shad I sometimes would find disgorged in my livewell and this sure convinced me that I could use much larger plastic baits while fishing for crappie and in so doing I am now amazed at just how small a crappie I would sometimes catch on the larger baits.

And like other issues as to whether size matters I guess the old question is still unanswered even for crappie fishing with minnows. :D

[mactheaxe]

i found that i catch more bass on the larger minnows here. kinda why i was askin. i enjoy catchin bass, but when i target crappie, id rather have them. good to know guys, thanks for the input.

[Darryl Morris]

I definitely prefer the smaller minnows. When I get bait delivered I always order the extra-small. I believe they call them #4's. When the crappie are feeding aggressively they will hit a bigger minnow. The smaller ones will get fish all the time, even when the bite is slow. I also use an extra light wire #6 cricket hook. They are less damaging to the small minnow and allows them to swim around more giving off more action to attract a bite. These small baits and small hooks have landed countless slab crappie and their share of heavy catfish (up to 16 pounds) and monster striper (up to 12 pounds). Today I had a 7# striper hit a small 1/16th ounce sliver jig. Bigger isn't always better. Our lake's main food source is 3-4 inch threadfin shad. But, I fish with minnows half that size and haven't been disappointed yet.