Bitsy minnow…revisited!

Hi all, I’ve lucked out on a handful of these little lures and I gotta say the last couple of outings with these, Creme micro versions to be exact, I found it was quite enjoyable alternative to jighead and floatNfly ways of taking bluegills and other sunfish. Seeing “the take” almost give the same feeling of anticipation as when a trout rise to a dry flies then slurping it, in a fly fishing scenario. Anyhow pulling up old threads reveal many member here also had very good success with them, but no one seemed to mention their favorite UL rod, length and action wise, that they used or preferred to use when throwing one of these in any distance. So my question is will a slow, medium or fast action rod do a better job of lobbing something this small and light? My one rod I was using was a Abu Garcia trout rod which I broke last summer upon hookset, I know users error, but I have a few other rods I will be trying them out. What’s your thought? Thanks in advance!




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Attachment 422493
Here’s a picture of micro lure.



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I would think you would want a rod with a fairly whippy tip to load up and cast the lure. Just my thoughts

This is an interesting topic and one which will likely get a multitude of answers. I have found there is no easy answer. I have used slow whippy rods that could not cast worth a hoot. Yesterday I was fishing the Fine Tail Stream 46 UL rod....which by the way if you picked it up you would not think it was an UL rod. It casts like a dream. A couple of guys were watching me fish and they commented that they were surprised I could cast that far with this rod. I was also surprised when I started using it just how good it did cast. My thoughts are each rod has a sweet spot at a certain weight. Many times I have found one does not necessarily gain distance because the rod is longer. The other factors come into play also...line diameter....guide size, and profile of the lure being cast. I can cast a 3 gram spoon much farther than I can a 3 gram spinner...seems odd but it is fact. And of course I can cast the 3 gram spinner farther than I can a 3 gram crankbait due to the larger profile of the crank. I don't think there is a one size fits all answer to this.

Regards

Yes it does sound like a loaded question doesn't it? Notice I don't dare asking for rod brands as I know everyone has a favorite and not to mention if I throw in JDM rods into the mix and the action ratings will now be all over the place. I guess you are right Alphahawk, no one rod does it all. I'll just have to test all my 6 or 7 UL rods in my collection to see. Thanks much both for chiming in!

I used to have access to a private lake that had a lot of big bluegill and I fished with those bitsy minnows all the time. They work great on gills, crappie, and small lmb.. Back then I would use any 5'6 or 6' ul rod, nothing fancy and spooled with 4lb Trilene xl.. I never seemed to have any problems, I didn't have to cast very far, I was in a 2 man pond prowler type boat. I would just keep the noise down and move in slowly. If I went back today I would still be happy with small ul, even though I have 8 JDM setups. Only difference is virtually every reel I have now has 0.3 Varivas Master Limited x4 PE with 4lb mono as backing. It really adds to the sensitivity and with those lures it will send the mail !!

Fishing with crank baits , spinners, beetlespins and other reaction baits doesn’t require a sensitive rod , so most ultralight rods that can handle the casting will work .
Lately I’ve been going through my ultralights checking them for their sensitivity fishing a drop shot .
I’ve found moderate action ultralights not to be the best for fishing the drop-shot , but I think they’d work great for fishing small cranks .
I own a few Bitsy minnows , I need to dig them out and give them a try.

[QUOTE=gillchaser999;4241693]Fishing with crank baits , spinners, beetlespins and other reaction baits doesn’t require a sensitive rod , so most ultralight rods that can handle the casting will work .
Lately I’ve been going through my ultralights checking them for their sensitivity fishing a drop shot .
I’ve found moderate action ultralights not to be the best for fishing the drop-shot , but I think they’d work great for fishing small cranks .
I own a few Bitsy minnows , I need to dig them out and give them a try.[/QUOTE

What action do you prefer for drop shotting?

My 5’4” St Croix Panfish has become my favorite rod for drop shotting gills . It’s is an ultralight power , fast action rod . Feels to me the most sensitive rod I own .
longer ultralight fast rods start getting whippy and start loosing sensitivity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

My 5’4� St Croix Panfish has become my favorite rod for drop shotting gills . It’s is an ultralight power , fast action rod . Feels to me the most sensitive rod I own .
longer ultralight fast rods start getting whippy and start loosing sensitivity.

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Sounds like an excellent rod the St Croix is, Gillchaser. I would certainly give the Bitsy Minnows or any small top water baits for that matter, a go. You’ll never know the fun factor until you try. I also fly fish bluegill and green sunfish during warm season and dragging these little lures with spinning gear instilling the same excitement minus the back casts, the trees, and a pair of waders. Cheers!


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The Rapala F3 is another fun topwater bait for bluegills. Just cast and twitch . If no takers , a slow retrieve as a wake bait will work .

Great points. With these tiny cranks and their tiny hooks, Ive found a softer rod is usually better - helps prevent pulling out those tiny hooks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

Fishing with crank baits , spinners, beetlespins and other reaction baits doesn’t require a sensitive rod , so most ultralight rods that can handle the casting will work .
Lately I’ve been going through my ultralights checking them for their sensitivity fishing a drop shot .
I’ve found moderate action ultralights not to be the best for fishing the drop-shot , but I think they’d work great for fishing small cranks .
I own a few Bitsy minnows , I need to dig them out and give them a try.

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While I haven’t used the Bitty minnows much yet, I have dragged the slightly larger balsa crank baits, and some plastic ones, quite a bit. Wind blew em all over so casting was a lesson. Casting was severely diminished if I went to 6 lb line. I say this so you have some background on the size of the baits I was using. I had a medium action, medium taper, unsanded 6’ one piece rod that I got with a broken tip out of a discount bin at Kmart(remember them) for $4. Put a tip on it and used it for 30+ years before giving it away recently, with reservations. It loaded and cast the smaller beetle spins and cranks better than any other rod in my collection, bar none. What little backbone it had was way low in the rod and being one piece it had no hard spot in the middle of the rod. On retrieve there was a bend in the rod, a partial loading if you will. On the strike, it would transmit the lightest take from behind and a short snap of the wrist would have the hook firmly set. Twitch and stall retrieves were not so good with this but I learned to use it doing that by not letting the line go too slack. This is the action I would try to find to make the best use of the Bitsy’s. Whether it would translate to good action for other types of lures could only be found out by trying. If you look at what the bass pros look for in a crank rod you’ll find some outside our expectations. Long is the norm, over 7’, and a parabolic action and some use fiberglass to achieve this. With the rods I currently have I would look at moderate taper in the rod length that you can cast where you normally fish. Didn’t mean to go on this long, I’ll be quiet now.

I couldn't of said it better Skeetbum, as I've also come to a conclusion that there definitely is a compromise finding the right rod that can do both tasks. One is flex enough to cast light and far and same instant it has to be stout enough for a hookset. I've a great Abu L-rod that I was having success with the last few outings with Creme snap bean type lure weighing 2grams but it was a hit and miss on the hook setting part with poor tip recovery so eventually I broke it when I swam it too deep and hook set on vegetation thinking it was a giant greenie...Lol. Hard lessons learned.

I use whatever rod I'm panfishing with that day. Usually either a 5'10" or 6'6" light action rod or a 6'6" ultralight action rod. I prefer light action for casting, but need to remind myself with 2 lb. mono not to set the hook! 30 years of bass fishing cannot be easily undone and each spring I need to remind myself not to react to the strike other than to slowly raise the rod. Realistically, if I fished more often through the year I could see myself having specialized rods for applications, but I make do with what I have. Maybe the retirement years will be kind to me and I'll be able to fish more often. For me the Bitsy Minnow is a quality bait and not a volume bait. I go to it when I want to search new areas knowing that I might also pick up some crappie and bass along the way. The white one will definitely get the attention of some bream though.

Cricketcage, the Bitsys aren’t just a quality baits but to me seems like a gold standard, a creme de la creme if you will when it comes to the smallest of crankbaits. Now I’m no lures expert or even enthusiast ( another rabbit hole one should be adviced to stay away from), but I’ve dabbled with plenty of Rapala and Leland’s to realize they gotta be tough and well designed in order to work or any R&D putting into will be for nothing. And upon a quick search in hope of acquiring couple more brands prove TrikeKing is pretty much sole producer of these miniscure and affordable lures out of Costa Rica. A search also shows knockoffs or lesser brands that’s trying hard to mimic the real Bitsy minnow in some ways. Cheers!


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I also used to have real good luck with the Crawfish color. I looked the other day and I still have them all.

I have better luck on the solid white /red eye . Awesome search bait but beware Bass like them also .