Thread: so followup to minnows / Jigs. (Minnow Size)

I’m not and expert by any means. But over the years I’ve mostly read big in summer and small in winter. But also match the hatch a lot say. But most of us can only get what the bait stores sell


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Originally Posted by Pontoon fishing

I’m not and expert by any means. But over the years I’ve mostly read big in summer and small in winter. But also match the hatch a lot say. But most of us can only get what the bait stores sell


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True ... and the bait stores can only get what the bait company they buy from has .... which, most of the time, is a mixture of sizes. There used to be a bait store here in town that had a way to separate them by size, but nowadays you get what the shop has on hand in most places that sell minnows.

I always tried to buy minnows in the med to large size range, even when I bought them by weight. (and I've even gone as far as weeding out the small & very large ones when I bought them from our local PDQ Market, where I could dip/weigh/bag them myself)

If I have my choice (Which is rare) I'll buy med-small for crappie & large for bass & sauger.

Originally Posted by Pontoon fishing

I’m not and expert by any means. But over the years I’ve mostly read big in summer and small in winter. But also match the hatch a lot say. But most of us can only get what the bait stores sell


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The opposite works better most of the time. Small in summer during baitfish hatches crappie tend to eat smaller prey and also the smaller ones tend to more actively swim in hot water while larger ones are more lethargic and die quickly in summer. Really important in summer also to hook them as far out in the lips as you can. In winter there isn't any baitfish spawns so bait gets larger the deeper in winter you get. Not to say a summer crappie won't eat a big bait or a winter crappie won't eat a small bait ever, just generalizations.

I believe crappie are fickle, but what do I know. I do recall a night fishing trip on Barren that my buddy and I had. We’d stopped and bought the last of the minnows at the bait shop and was concerned about running out, and we did. My buddy had a brain fart, dip the circling Shad, we did. Those rascals were three inchers and we fished catching our limit.


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Originally Posted by slabseeker1

I believe crappie are fickle, but what do I know. I do recall a night fishing trip on Barren that my buddy and I had. We’d stopped and bought the last of the minnows at the bait shop and was concerned about running out, and we did. My buddy had a brain fart, dip the circling Shad, we did. Those rascals were three inchers and we fished catching our limit.


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Buddy ... they may be more "instinctive" than fickle. Bass instinctively know that a soft finned Shad is easier to swallow & with less chance of damage than a small sportfish (like a Bluegill, Crappie, etc.) that have hard dorsal fins, so it wouldn't be too far a reach to think a Crappie would instinctively know the same. They probably also know that there's more nutrition in a 3" Shad, than say a 2" minner. And we all know that even the dinks will try and swallow a 3" jig tipped with a 2" minner or even a 3" crankbait (even at ~ 2mph) ... so a 3" Shad that can't swim away from them is not out of the question for them to scarf up at much slower speeds.

I can’t wait till we can all get back together again, just sit an gum about experiences we had and maybe help a newbie. Nuthin better than a spring-fling or shin-dig an the aroma of of crappie fee-lays and french fries in 360 degree pig fat.
Can’t wait to do it again



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