Size of Lure

[Sam W.]

I usually fish with a 1 1/2" swimmin' minnow jig on our Ozarks lakes, and I've caught a lot of crappie that way. Since my two trips to Watts Bar in TN with some of you guys, I've occasionally tried the little-bitty Assassins that worked so well over there. I've never been able to get a bite on those in Missouri. (I tried my favorite Missouri lures while at Watts Bar, and those didn't work either.)

The difference, I think, is that the baitfish here run big. Most of the shad I see here are two or three inches long, or more. I'm guessing that what the crappie were eating in Watts Bar was much smaller.

The biggest crappie I caught here last month was a 15 1/2" female white crappie. While cleaning fish, I noticed that big one's stomach seemed real full so I opened it up and looked. I was real surprised to find a 6 1/2" shad rolled up in the stomach. I had no idea that even a big crappie could eat a 6 1/2" fish!

So on my last trip I used 2 1/2" swimmin' minnows instead of 1 1/2", and I did pretty good. I read somewhere that bass often won't bother chasing a minnow that is less than 1/5 their size, as it's not worth the effort expended. Maybe crappie are the same, when big minnows are available in the lake?

Now I'm wondering if I've failed to catch some big crappie on previous trips because my jig was too small. Maybe I should use 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" jigs to get the bigger fish interested. What do you think?

[gcromer]

Sam;
It's good top see you still posting here. Check out the SC boards sometime. Things are still slow in the swamp
Gerald K4NHN
Cayce, SC

[Hoosier Crappie]

Yep, seen this too. Try baiting one pole with a large bait and see what happens.

[FIN]

:D Good post Sam
THanks for the info.
FIN

[bugman]

Here on lake of the ozarks you hear of several huge crappie caught by bass fishermen using 4" plus jerkbait's so i guess the saying big bait big fish is true but i personally dont have the patience to fish all day and maybe catch one when i can catch a limit of good fish on conventional baits.

[David Waters]

I have thought of this alot in the last couple of years since I started fishing tournaments. I used to be worried about catching numbers, but now my focus is 7 larger fish. This changing my mindset a god bit from what it was.

When I was at Weiss the other day, we caught 50 fish. At least 20 of them were too small, 10 were questionable, and 20 were no doubters. But, I wasn't fishing for big fish. I thought all day what I could do to catch bigger fish. One was was I changed to a 2" grub. Didn't have the colors that matched what we were using, but close. Nothing bit it. When I got home there was really nothing in their stomoachs. I expected to find shad or something, but they were empty of most anything. I did find a couple of big fish in shallower water.

One good thing about that trip was out of the 20 I kept, 13 were males. This was good to me because this means the females haven't started moving in yet, and a month from now I should find the females in the same type areas.

I have been racking my brain trying to figure it out. Jeff White fishes crankbaits all year long. Those are big profile baits, and he doesn't catch small fish. He catches 2 and 3 pounders. But, he doesn't catch huge numbers like MINNER fishers do until the water warms up considerably.

I truly elieve for crappie bigger profile baits catch bigger fish, just like bass fishing.

[J White]

[QUOTE=David Waters] But, he doesn't catch huge numbers like MINNER fishers do until the water warms up considerably.
QUOTE]

If I didn't know better, I'd think he was trying to tease me there :p
I do catch some little ones, David - have caught some that weren't any
bigger than the crankbait. Don't know if they were trying to eat it, or
just wanted to be pals and got too close :D But I have caught a few
hawgs on itty-bitty jigs too - It truly amazes me the size shad a crappie
will tackle, and that they will try to eat my bait, when the last shad's
tail is still sticking out of their throat.

[jfraley]

David,

I think you will find bigger fish shooting docks than trolling or spider rigging. I have talked to folks that place frequently in tournaments and they assured me that the bigger fish will be under the docks. I have also heard that the big fish like to hold to structure that is 1-2' off the bottom. I haven't shot enough dock to say that it is a absolute yet, but the fish that I have caught shooting docks are larger than I normally catch. I still hit the boards on the docks and make a little bit of noise, but I am working at it in hopes of getting better.

My 2 cents.

[Bob G]

Bigger baits do catch big fish. Crappies on the other hand, I don't believe have any sense. I have caught 7" crappies on 6" huskie jerks while fishing for walleyes. While fishing for crappie I have also caught 5lb and larger large mouths on 1.5" squirmin squirts. Basically I think it is the color that trips there trigger. Last season I was fishing a blowdown that was in 20 fow and fishing the branches with the 1.5" tube jigs and hammering the little fish. I got bored and thought about using the 2" Yum beaver tails and fishing the tree a little further in. I tipped the jig with a minnow to give the bait more bulk and sure enough the bigger fish started hammering it. I didn't have the right size hook for the job and I lost a few of the larger fish but, I did manage to land a couple of 13 inchers and a few 12's. Something that I didn't count on when I fillet one of the 13 inchers was a 4" bluegill in its stomach. Basically, I think the bigger fish want a bigger bait, but, anything is possible at any given time but, you can tip the scales in your favor with larger baits.
Here is a picture of a couple of the fish I told you about.

[SteveJ]

Big fish do hit little baits too, like this 25 lb flathead that hit a 2" tube, thats the tube on his head. Caught it 1/24/06.