Does Size Matter?
Posted 04-18-2009 at 10:39 PM by musky107
How many times have you heard it? Big lures equal big fish. Match the hatch and you'll catch fish. Follow the forage pattern (size) and you're well on the way to catching fish. We've all heard them and wondered if they really are true. You've probably had many experiences that either prove or disprove the theory. I'd like to talk just a bit about some of mine.
Last May J.R. and I were casting at Leesville Lake. I was throwing a four inch homemade crank bait. J.R. was throwing an 11 inch marabou buck tail. On this sunny May day I thought I was matching the pattern. I did have two follows and lost a fish (my own ignorance, I didn't have my drag set correctly) on the prototype. On a lure I thought was too big, Jim landed two muskies. We didn't prove anything, did we?
Now let's muddy the picture a bit more. Fast forward to October. Dorothy and I check into the marina at Leesville for a couple of weeks R & R. This is big fish time,right? Big lures equal big fish, correct? During this stay I managed just five fish. One was caught on a large nine inch Bull Dog, two on nine inch jerk baits, and two on a four inch crank bait similar to the one used in May. I also raised many fish on many different lures, but the one that raised the most and the largest by far was the four inch prototype.
Upsize, downsize, I haven't proven anything have I ? My largest fish came on a nine inch homemade crank bait, Dorothy's top three, including a 47 inch monster, all came on lures three inches or less. Please comment and let us know your thoughts. More later.
Last May J.R. and I were casting at Leesville Lake. I was throwing a four inch homemade crank bait. J.R. was throwing an 11 inch marabou buck tail. On this sunny May day I thought I was matching the pattern. I did have two follows and lost a fish (my own ignorance, I didn't have my drag set correctly) on the prototype. On a lure I thought was too big, Jim landed two muskies. We didn't prove anything, did we?
Now let's muddy the picture a bit more. Fast forward to October. Dorothy and I check into the marina at Leesville for a couple of weeks R & R. This is big fish time,right? Big lures equal big fish, correct? During this stay I managed just five fish. One was caught on a large nine inch Bull Dog, two on nine inch jerk baits, and two on a four inch crank bait similar to the one used in May. I also raised many fish on many different lures, but the one that raised the most and the largest by far was the four inch prototype.
Upsize, downsize, I haven't proven anything have I ? My largest fish came on a nine inch homemade crank bait, Dorothy's top three, including a 47 inch monster, all came on lures three inches or less. Please comment and let us know your thoughts. More later.
Total Comments 3
Comments
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I'm no musky fisherman...have only caught a few of them in my life, all on weight forward spinners with a night crawler on a little lake in Canada where our family goes pan fishing (perch, monster bluegills, walleyes) most years...so I can't really speak to that species.
I am a smallmouth guy. I don't buy the theory that bigger lures attract bigger fish (at least not to the exclusion of smaller fish). I do think bigger lures generate more vicious hits and I don't hesitate to use them (particularly top water lures) when the conditions are right. I've seen my share of 6 - 8 inch dink smallies and northern pike dangling from the end of a #13 Floating Rapala or a Lucky 13...it cracks me up every time! What were those fish thinking? Love the attitude, though!
IMHO, While size may matter at times, I'd have to say bigger does not necessarily eliminate smaller fish.Posted 05-18-2009 at 10:17 PM by small talk 
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Thank you for your comments.
I agree that you can and often do catch small fish on big lures. There are also many big fish caught on small lures, so maybe size doesn't matter as much as we are led to believe.Posted 05-19-2009 at 08:52 AM by musky107
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When it comes to musky fishing..........they are a funny critter man. It seems about the time you think you have them figured out, the game completely changes. I do have a few generalizations that I think are safe in "most" cases.
1). action and speed of the bait is the most important thing to getting bit. Do they want a deep diver trolled, do they want a bulldawg lazily jerked back and forth or do they want a bucktail burned over the weeds?
2). size and proflie are also important. Sometimes a long slender bait such as a 11" Jake is the ticket. Other times it is a monster shad. Still other times they want a fat old Believer
3) color is least important of lure attributes, but it should not be ignored. Certain lakes and rivers you can kind of isolate what type of colors shine(bright such as firetiger or orange VS natural such as perch, sucker or shad).
I do think in most cases it is better to go with small in spring, medium in summer and big in fall. However, those terms are relative when you are talking about musky fishing. One man's medium might be tiny to another guy.Posted 07-14-2009 at 12:49 PM by crittergitter
