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This pic is of a shad that was eat'n by a 10 inch crappie. The bait is 2.5 inches long as a reference. I reckon if the shad was straightened out it would be dang near 4+ inches. It amazes me that he would still eat with that in his belly. It goes to back up my big bait theory some. I makes you wonder if all the shad are this size in the winter then a small bait might seem to unnatural to them. What's yalls opinions
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if a 10 inch crappie will eat that, makes ya wonder what a 70lb flathead would eat?:yikes
I'm not much for winter crappie fishing, but my thoughts are that if a crappie has a full belly already because he is digesting a big meal, he might just want a little snack so would eat a smaller jig over a bigger one. on the other hand when he digests his belly full of shad, he might pass the smaller meal in search of something that would "stick to the ribs" a little better. so I guess every day is different and you never know...
I wonder if it is just a case of chasing down a big meal instead of a little snack. The fish is expending the same amount of energy to catch either.
I might be wrong but when it is cold, activity is slowed to preserve energy.
So if ya gotta run after the food truck ya might as well get the biggest meal available.......:twocents
small shad in the hand, so to speak,,...beats larger one out of reach......................:twocents:dono:popcorn, ,...?
I/32nd ......................... 2 1/2"...........................
This time of the year the fish aren't chasing anything. They want the bait in front of their noses for a few seconds. Larger baits do work better this time of the year, IMHO, and will work best till the shad spawn in Spring.
One of the things I have had great success with is fishing tandem jigs with a 3in on the bottom and a 1 1/2in tube on top. They get a choice and you would be amazed at how consistent the bite is on one size but how it will change as the day goes on.