Small baits take the cake

[CTom]

Its gotten pretty chilly here in SE Minnesota now but I still have open water on the river right behind the house. I sneak down to the banks to flip a few casts into a deeper hole about a block from home and as the temps and water temps have gone down hill, so has the bait size.



These are the little nano frys that come from Caney mold. In this pic, the belly portion is a glow purple. I've been fishing these on a 1/32 head cast on a #8 sickle hook, the head is left plain....no paint. The hole where I'm fishing has a long stretch of rock running at right angles to the flow and by letting the bait free fall behind the rock line and slowly jigging it back I manage some decent bluegills, crappies and a bonus walleye once in a while.

I hate to think of winter coming but this afternoon I made my walk, rod in hand, and after casting about twenty times I had to take a minute to pop the ice out of a couple smaller guides. Its a signal of whats to come I guess. Last week I could flip a much larger plastic out there and get everything that I mentioned but now they fish are pressing for smaller offerings. Its been quite dry here and this river's flow is way down which will likely mean the river will lock up in ice, then my little escapades will grind to a halt.

None the less, this little plastic is a super bait for down-sizing as I am finding out. It also has worked wonders earlier this fall while fishing docks in a Mississippi River marina. Its a sweet bait for anyone locking for a bait that has some profile yet stays trim enough for teasing cold water fish. I can't wait to see what it does under ice.

[snake River]

like usual your plastic baits are awesome looking especially the little guys could you snap a picture of the river behind your house I for one would love to see what you are catching these fish we just got back into setting up our plastic section in the garage we are still messing around with a few benches but we are a partner there and we can shoot right now so maybe when I get a chance we will post some plastics hopefully soon I've been busy trying to figure out what we are going to do and there are in the shop.

[short grub]

CTom those look great, what is the length on that bait

again great job sir

[crappiefarmer]

Great looking baits CTom. Keep up the good work.CF

[jaxsprat]

great looking baits ctom. Keep up the good work.cf

x2

Note: We are supposed to get our first measurable snow Sunday nite or Monday am..

[shipahoy41]

Looks great CTom. 71 degrees here today Jaxsprat. If I finish all the "Honey Do Home Projects" I may go chase a few slabs this afternoon.

[CTom]

We have rain here this morning...I don't mind rain since it requires no shovel to get rid of it.

The length on these guys is 1.2". They are petite to say the least and making these multi colored numbers is a challenge at best. Its a Caney Creek mold.

Should the rain stop I'll wander down and get a pic. Its a smaller river call the Zumbro. It comes out of Silver Lake, the dam of which holds the lake back I can see from my kitchen window. After releasing below the dam here this river wanders along for about 12 miles before entering into Lake Zumbro further north of here and after going thru that lake's dam it flows some 40 miles to the Mississippi River where it enters at pool 5. Not much to see behind me here since I live in the heart of town. The river bank on our side is a bit primitive though and deer are common in our yard. Ma wants flowers so the deer and her have this ongoing feud. lol She loses most of the battles.

Anyway, these little baits have been hot down in marinas along the Mississippi River this fall where jigging the vertically along side of pilings produced some huge sunfish and crappies. I tend to use these when we get cold front conditions and the fish get tenetive. Down-sizing is generally all it takes to get them to hit. It stands to reason that they'd do well here behind the house. The river crappies , incidentally, run upwards of 16 inches. 14" is common and to see one of these critters come to the net with something this tiny stuck in a lip is almost humourous.