Quote Originally Posted by Minners N Jigs View Post
Where has the idea or thought that it is necessary to downsize for winter fishing come from ? This is just an observation, but aren't the forage baitfish actually "larger" in the winter than in the spring and summer months ? There's essentially no fry present, only very mature options. With the crappie gorging themselves on these larger shad, why then do most anglers downsize their bait offerings this time of year ? Most of the crappie I have caught in the last week have had these 3"+ long shad chalked full in their bellies, yet still feeding...

I can tell you the reason I have always downsized..... Because that's what I was "taught" to do, and since I have caught fish this way, I've never questioned the logic, just did it because "Hey, it's working"...

Here's the topic open to debate and discussion: Winter time Crappie: Downsize ? Don't Downsize ? Upsize ? Super Size ?

I've heard Huckabee say Upsize. Others say downsize. What say you CDC ?
You do have some smaller sized natural minnows in all lakes!
In our lake we still have 3 inch shad swimming around from the different spawns they have!

So NO, I do not downsize until the water is lower than 40 degrees.
At water temps of 39 degrees, Crappie start to have issues swimming....so they slow their metabolism, suspend, and just eat enough to survive...then you have to really slow down and just basically ice fish!