small schools?

[kycrappie]

If you guys get to a large school of fish that seem to be mostly small, say 8 1/2 inches would you move to a different spot searching for bigger fish? My real question is do you think that small fish tend to stay together and larger fish seperate? Thanks.

[Locator79]

I tend to think that groups of fish hang out together by size. I know if I pull up on a spot and get a couple little ones, I will move on. I fished a couple laydowns last weekend the both held a ton of fish and were about 50 yards from each other. The first we fished for 15 or 20 minutes, and caught nothing but dinks, moved down to the next tree, and caught all quality fish. Every now and again I will catch a big fish with smaller fish, but I think for the most part your best bet is keep moving if your looking for quality fish.

[crappieseeker]

I have fished spots before where I caught 100 fish and only have enough keepers that i could count on one hand. I think class sizes stay together for a while and then split up some as they get bigger and or caught. Just my experience though.

[sparkie51]

Yes I think they group together. But did you try fishing deeper? I've seen while fishing through the ice and through open water that when I catch smaller fish at a certain depth than I try to get my bait down deeper and usually pick up the larger fish that are hovering under the main school. I've seen times where I've fished suspended brush and just as soon as the lure or bait got to the top of the brush the little ones would run and grab the bait. But if I would cast out to open water and let the bait-lure slowly drift into the brush pile I would catch bigger fish. Remember that all fish are competing for something to eat.

[LittleJohn]

I've caught big fish and smaller on laydowns. I do beleive they school in groups could be the same situation on a big laydown,though you catch both small and bigger I think they are seperated too a certain degree. I know when spider rigging they all run about the same size when hitting a school and to me mostly on the small side.
LittleJohn

[Crappie Buster]

I believe they school by size as a general rule. Most of the time we'll generally either be catching nice fish or smaller fish. I have noticed that a lot of times the bigger fish run deeper than the small ones though. You may not catch as many, but the ones we do catch seem to be of more quality.

[Fatman]

Before leaving the spot I'd try deeper to see if bigger ones were below, but yeah I think they group up by size.

Fatman

[kycrappie]

Thanks guys, I will keep that in mind next time I make it out.

[jigtwins]

How does a fish know what size it is? Hmmmm! I don't think that fish group by size, It's just that there are naturally more smaller/younger fish. larger/older
fish are smarter and do a better job of staying alive, therefore they do lie in different areas sometimes. Most times I catch them all together. Just my opinion.

[slabsrus]

Of course it is all relative also to the body of water you are fishing. Yes, I believe size/age class is very important in schooling fish. But you mention smaller ones as 8 1/2 inchers. On a lot of lakes around central and northern Michigan those are respectable fish for the fryer. If I get into a school of 8 1/2 inchers and am fishing for fillets, they go on the stringer. If I am targetting slabs, 13+ inchers, and I am in a school of 8 inchers, I move. Now there may be a few slabs in that school , and you might be able to pick them out of there by upsizeing your bait, but it might be just as easy to look for a spot that is holding bigger fish.