bigger not smaller?

out the other day with cuz for a few specks. searched a lot till we found some. cuz had down sized to a tiny tube by this time, thinking they were a lil neutral. i stayed true to my 2" power grub as always. both were bright green color. when i started pulling crappie from this spot he started pulling gills. i think he only got 3 crappie to my 15. but he had the same number of gills. the crappie wanted the bigger snack or the gills were getting his smaller offering before the craps could get to it?