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I am in northern Wisconsin, and it seems southern crappies must average larger size wise? A lot of the crappie plastics I see catching fish down south are 1.75" - 2" and bigger.
It seems up here I need smaller baits, often 1.25" to 1.5" to consistently catch fish, with the exception being the heat of summer for 6 weeks or so.
Do southern crappies just run a bigger average, and therefore bigger baits work better? Or am I missing the boat, and I should try bigger baits more up here?
Cold blooded fish,warmer weather, faster metabolism, eat more,longer growing season,bigger crappie faster…the 6 weeks up here is 6+ months in the southern states.
In the south, the warm weather just lasts longer. I started seeing egg sacks start to develop in crappie as late as late October or early November, and now that we had a cold snap, I'm anticipating some days with highs in the 60s next week that might start triggering an early spawn for some fish. Even as late as June, I would see full egg sacks in some crappie.
Big crappie sometimes eat small baits and small crappie sometimes eat big baits. No idea why? Cold weather it seems like the smaller baits work better to me? :dono
I'd say try. Normally if I'm catching smaller fish when I upsize the bait I seem to catch bigger fish but wouldn't swear by it. Good Luck. :cheers2
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Double post ? :banghead
The white crappie seem to prefer bigger baits. But from my experience, the black crappie bite is always better on the smaller baits. Not saying blacks won’t take a bigger bait but I’ve had much better luck with the 2” or less. Most times less.lol
Always been taught to "match the hatch"..don't often see large forage in the north like down south. Probably a combination of all the mentioned observations added together even for the forage??
Matching the size is always what I will do if I can see what they are feeding on. I really like a 2 inch swimbait to start the day and I’ll experiment from there first with colors , then with size. I caught a couple yesterday and one undersize ate my 2 inch keitech with no problems. When I was about to pull him out of the water he shook his head and a small minnow ( exactly the size you buy from the store ) came out of his mouth still moving a little. It definitely gets you thinking. If a small 8 inch crappie can eat a minnow and before even going in it’s stomach can go for another 2 inch bait why wouldn’t a 11-12” crappie do so or what size baits would a 12” crappie go for ? Would they go for the 2 inch baits or for a 3 inch bait ? Sometimes they in the wintertime you would think they would conserve their energy and go for a bigger bait to last them longer . Many theories and as soon as you think you can mail one down something happens that contradicts it entirely.
North Mississippi, I use three inch curly tails even in the coldest water.
Several times over the years I’ve caught a good crappie and saw a fish tail sticking out of their throat while un-hooking them. Out of curiosity, I have grabbed it with pliers and gently pulled it out. Usually a shad six or seven inches long.
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Match the size of what exactly? There’s so much food in the water. What are you matching the size of?
1.5 to 2" shad is normal here year round. I use those size baits year round myself for crappie & you'd be surprised how many big bass are caught on really small flukes & swimbaits on the same lakes especially in fall & winter.