Big lures / even small fish bit them !

[Spoonminnow]

I usually stay with 2" or less in length soft plastics, but at this one lake, the fish are so aggressive even the smaller pan fish bite them.


The lure pictured is a hybrid I came up with measuring almost 3". It even caught perch and bluegill under a bright sky and in water semi-clear down to 4'. As long as the retrieve was slow (allowed by the 1/16 oz jig), the lure was slammed!

[Crestliner08]

My Father-In-Law use to clock me every time out with 3" curly tails on a 1/8 oz. ball head jig. I kept with my 2" varieties and couldn't come close to his catch ratio. Guess I'm a slow learner!

[Ketchn]

yes sir they will ...ketched me a teeny tiny channel cat on a big sand bass slab in 30 FOW sunday .....attitude for sure ...the fish was slightly longer than the bait ...LOL

[LOZ Targa]

Here is a big one on a Bobby Garland baby shad and #1 hook


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[RiverSlabber]

LOL i caught one just about that size on a beetle spin the other day. Not sure what the little crappie thought he was gonna do with it after he got it!

[Spoonminnow]

The more I fish different lakes and compare lure sizes that get bit for each, I'm starting to believe that some lake panfish are more aggressive and others less so when it comes to lure sizes. As the season changes and the water warms, fish don't need lures less than two inches and in post spawn water over 60 degrees, larger is better especially when it comes to algae-green water. A bigger profile lure is more visible and maybe more easily felt by the lateral line especially in low light. All size fish have been going after larger lures of a certain design - the tail action crucial!

[h0MbrE]

Most of the time it comes down to the time of year for size preference. Pay attention to this year's shad spawns on your local water hole. Pay real close attention to the size. That's the size to try to match. As it gets later in the year, the baitfish are bigger and bigger. So should your baits be.

[bee]

3 inch grub is our go to bait.

[Spoonminnow]

Pay attention to this year's shad spawns on your local water hole. Pay real close attention to the size. That's the size to try to match

The lakes I fish don't have shad, though I do increase lure size up to 3" and rarely larger. If there were shad, how would one know what size they were unless they were caught. Lakes I fish have bait fish in all sizes and most lure sizes work 90% of the time (deducting for winter).