What they say is true - bigger lure/bigger fish

[SPOONMINNOW]

The water level in my local lake has gone up almost a foot. The small shallow pond connected to the main lake has held schools of fish of mixed species: white and yellow perch, crappie, bass and sunfish - all mostly on the small side. The higher water may have contributed to the change in the number of strikes and the fish spooking when a lure dropped in the middle of one. Interesting was the size of lures - 1" and the smaller fish caught using a 1/64 oz jig-.

For the heck of it I put on a 1 3/4" lure that had a thicker body and only then caught 9" crappie from the school whereas. smaller fish hit the smaller lures. The lure was only tail-pecked by the smaller fish but no committed strikes. (a term invented by JiggerJohn)

I've caught many bass on lures large and small but mostly larger bass on larger lures - the fish ranging from 3/4 lb and heavier.
So what they say about using larger lures to catch larger fish is true in part.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Ya know, I consider that a lot of lures "pull-in" fish due to their body BULK ; that is, a finny predator can detect them SIGHT-UNSEEN by their moving presence ! This idea derived from our big ole cat, Marshall, walking on our bed at night and springing to his window ledge seat; couldn't see him in the dark(or from being semi-conscious), but no question as to his size, weight, and description ! If it'd been,say, a grasshopper I'd never known it was there!

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Today was an eye-opener! The area we had caught 4 species only held roach and small crappie. Time to move on when most of what you catch is roach - a bottom of the barrel fish along with carp. (The Brits would disagree but what do they know.) I decided to row my a** of to a location a mile away. Should have used the trolling motor but didn't expect to go to this particular spot - a long channel through the wetlands that was made a century ago when a hotel was on shore and provide boats.

Depth varies but nowhere is it over 3.5'. I notice school activity like in the wetland pond and found the action incredible with 10-12" crappie and a bunch of yellow perch. Over 30 fish were caught on a variety of lures but of particular interest was the float! After catching a bunch on different creations, I put lures beneath a float. A friend of mine told me to try it considering his recent luck. At first, crappie attacked the float on the surface like they would a surface plug then the slow-moving lure beneath it! The biggest crappie of the day struck various lures beneath the float. The lure would be stationary, move a little bit and there went the float with a fish hooked good.

I'll be going back tomorrow for sure but this time with real surface lures!

 

[Hawnjigs]

One time on Douglas Res in CO wasn't getting much on a 1/16 Boolie jig and switching to a 1/32 short tie got bit way better. by decent size crappie mostly around 12". Not sure tho if this qualifies as "bigger fish".

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

12" crappie are respectable by anyone's definition! Any fish that puts a serious bend in my light-action rod is a lunker IMO!
Congrats on finding a modification that improved your catch. Too many anglers are incapable of doing that and end up with fewer fish or no fish.

 

[hookup]

Larger lures only matter when they matter.

But when they matter, they really matter

 

[Hawnjigs]

Mr. SM, just noticed your mention of "real surface lures" assuming of a size that crappie could get stuck on? Could you elaborate?

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

A foam float is not a surface lure; a popper, floating Rapala and some soft plastics qualify as surface lures, never going more than a few inches below the surface. I caught many fish on surface lures but have noticed a maximum size of 2-3" for crappie gets the most strikes due to a minimal surface ripple or pop; for bass, anything up to 4" (Zara Spook) that creates the most surface commotion.