Larger lures can work better...

[Spoonminnow]

My local man made lake is 13' max near the dam end, averages 8' for 3/4 and 5' or less the rest. There are quite a few stumps, humps and flats as well as rock piles. Weeds carpet the bottom for most of the lake yet seeing as how thick they are fish are caught between their tops and the surface. Water temperature has been a balmy 79.9 degrees and weather windy to dead calm and skies sunny to overcast with rain.

Unlike in previous years of weekly stable, sunny conditions, the lake's environment changes sometimes daily, throwing off a previous day's bite to something/somewhere quite different. What I've found interesting is that larger lures and jigheads have been working. (IMO Larger jigheads cast better and further into the wind and larger lures present larger profiles that fish may see better further away) Other than white or pearl, I always pore my crappie lures with glitter.

That said, I've gone from 1/16 to 1/8 oz round head jigs and from 2.5" to 2.75-3" length minnow type lures.


The retrieve rate is the same on the long casts for 1/8 and 1/16 oz. I still use a fluorocarbon leader regardless of lure size believing the lure acts better than on straight braid. Even 4" crappie have been getting hooked on 3" lures (the one shown). I guess part of me believes that the bigger the fish, the more apt to attack a larger animal / lure aggressively.

Each time I go out, I average over 35 fish and usually over 50 because the fish in this lake school by size and by species. If I catch 7" crappie in a school and that's all I will be catching; catch 10.5" and ditto for 10.5". I prefer this much smaller lake than another 4x as big, because I have a lot less water to eliminate resulting in catching more fish per hour and being able to experiment with different lure types and sizes.

It's been a great year this a county lake that sees quite a bit of pressure annually and has been far better than last year where a drought lasted most of the year. Hopefully another favorite public lake will open soon because the crappie and yellow perch reach 12" the the bottom is just as varied.

[Cray]

Great report, hopefully it will be as good to you as this one is. I am definatley a believer in using larger baits.

[Spoonminnow]

Thanks. I forgot to mention that larger jigs with larger hooks has the added advantage of a greater hook gap. Many fish were lost due to poor hook sets smaller gap hooks are known for. Crappie in particular a like largemouth bass in having the largest mouths of most panfish species and once hooked, stay hooked.

[NIMROD]

I fish mostly off colored or muddy
waters and use big bright baits quite often .

[DockShootinJack]

Sounds like a great place to fish.

[Spoonminnow]

I fish mostly off colored or muddy
waters and use big bright baits quite often .

I'm becoming a believer in that whatever contrasts with nature and the environment not only gets noticed but triggers a curiosity/aggression bite. Size is one thing (within the limits of too small or too large), action (the more subtle the better for crappie, most species most times of year), and colors/flash that reflect a brightness against the bottom or a murky water background (which is the reason I never use black lures for crappie).
(*Granted, black contrasts with a bright surface, but most of my lures hopefully reach eye level.)

Unless prey fish scatter or are chased, they usually are subdued regarding all the above so as not to draw attention. When predator fish like crappie become aggressive, even if only momentarily, they give their all with a 10 second or smaller window with every bit of energy they can muster.

Bigger at times can equate to a greater effort expended to catch and suck in the object of interest. I compare it to a bull getting ready to charge a cape draped over a sword, taunting the bull with the cloth's motion and size. I doubt the bull would charge a wash cloth (though I wouldn't want to be the bull fighter waving it! )

[pastorrichk]

This is a very helpful thread... appreciate all the thoughts... Keep after 'em...!

[Spoonminnow]

Thanks.
Yesterday and today were totally different experiences! Modifications matter!

I rigged two rods: one with a 3" minnow, wider from from upper to lower surfaces; and one 2 3/4" and narrower from upper to lower surfaces. The smaller lure was rigged on a 1/16 oz jig, the larger one on a 1/8 oz.

Today there was less wind to affect a line bow on the cast than yesterday and more clouds. The lighter jig allowed a slower presentation in the same depths fished yesterday and the lure's drop rate similar in 10-14' of water.

Both caught crappie of all sizes as well as perch but there were far more hookups on the smaller jig/ smaller hook even from larger 10 3/4" crappie. Why? Not important as was the change made to see if size matters . All kidding aside, the change did make a difference and more than double the fish were caught than yesterday. I Fished 3.5 hours today and caught over 45 crappie and other species; yesterday I fished 6 hours and only managed a little over two dozen crappie plus more bass than today on the same lures. Boy what a difference a day makes!

Note: I observed minnow schools on surface in many areas within 40 yards. I cast to the schools, let the lure drop a few feet down and BAM, a hit on every cast from crappy occasionally busting schools on the surface. Can't get any easier than that!