Bigger lures for bigger fish debate

[mlee]

I'm not usually one to seek out "the big one".....now dont get me wrong catching an above average size fish is great....but when I plan a weekend of fishing I'm not planning around what lake do I have the best chance of catching a monster.
That said I have fished a lot of lakes where these trophy fish live and this weekend will be hitting one or two lakes known to have large pike. I've always used pretty standard tackle....#1 #2 spoons.....4-6" swim baits raps and cranks.....1/2oz jig heads etc and have managed to catch a good share of big fish along with the hundreds of average sized ones. Ive never really tried the big #4 spoons or the monster swim baits or raps......should I? I'd imagine the number of average size fish caught goes down using huge lures but does the number of above average pike specifically go up significantly?

[cube]

Originally Posted by mlee

I'm not usually one to seek out "the big one".....now dont get me wrong catching an above average size fish is great....but when I plan a weekend of fishing I'm not planning around what lake do I have the best chance of catching a monster.
That said I have fished a lot of lakes where these trophy fish live and this weekend will be hitting one or two lakes known to have large pike. I've always used pretty standard tackle....#1 #2 spoons.....4-6" swim baits raps and cranks.....1/2oz jig heads etc and have managed to catch a good share of big fish along with the hundreds of average sized ones. Ive never really tried the big #4 spoons or the monster swim baits or raps......should I? I'd imagine the number of average size fish caught goes down using huge lures but does the number of above average pike specifically go up significantly?

For what it's worth one of the advantages of using large lures is you have lower hooking mortality as the larger lures hook close to the lips and not the gills. Yes you will catch less smaller fish as well.

[Talking moose]

Go big or go home. That said, sometimes finesse fishing is required when the bite is off.

[Scott N]

Probably depends on the species you're after as well.. I've caught some of my biggest trout on a size 16 or 18 fly. In that case it all depends on the food that they're keying on.

[Coiloil37]

Within the last month we’ve landed 16lb pike on a 2-1/4” shad rap and 15” walleye on 10” herring. It can go either way.

[mlee]

Originally Posted by cube

For what it's worth one of the advantages of using large lures is you have lower hooking mortality as the larger lures hook close to the lips and not the gills. Yes you will catch less smaller fish as well.

I see this as a bonus for sure....nothing worse than a pike that has inhaled a treble. I've been pike fishing with jigs and single hook soft baits a lot more often for this reason especially on CR lakes.
I guess I'll grab a few big lures.....the old lady can stick to the regular and I'll use some big stuff and see what happens.

[pikergolf]

When my brothers and I switched to big pike baits we expected to catch less fish. Never happened, a two pound pike is a pig, will happily hit a nine inch plug. Last two weeks of Aug and the month of Sept into the first two weeks of Oct. pike put on the feed bag. Time to fish.

[NSR Fisher]

Don't be afraid to use huge lures.

Like other have said, a 20 inch hammer handle will hit a #4 spoon no problem. the only issue at that point is with the rotation of the spoon and a larger trebel sometimes they miss and get it right in the eye / face and that can really mess them up. Still better than throat/gill hooking them though, I guess.

My recent favorite for big pike is the largest size you can find of Mepps Syclops brand spoons. Something about their shape and shine has landed me some of my biggest pike this spring/summer. I was using a size 3 with a silver flash and a green/red holographic pattern a few weekends ago and it was cleaning up over everyone else using Len Thompsons and Swim Baits.

Then again, a little bit of luck is always involved. I've caught some of my largest fish on the smallest and most ridiculous things. Agree with Moose that when the bite is off sometimes downsizing is the right play even if you're searching for the big one.

Now if you want to argue about what type / what pound test line to use that is a whole nother' can of worms

[mlee]

Just left Cambodian tire....walked out with.....
#4 LT red devil and 5 of diamonds
Silver blue W70 William's warbler
1oz freedom hybrid jigs in black and grey
3/4 oz 8" storm wildeyes
And a 6" sinking perch rap
That was all I could bear to spend lol.

I'll be using 20lb power pro on a president 35 mounted to a 7'6" med heavy ugly stick.

[PerchBuster]

All of our sport fish basically started out as like 1/2” long fry eating zooplankton and invertebrates so tiny things will always be on the menu for even the largest fish in any given waterbody. Hence why so many trophy class fish are often caught wile a person is targeting a totally different species. What is small to us may not actually be all that small to them either come to think of it. The opposite is also true as is everything in between really. Large presentations will definitely catch some of the largest fish but don’t count out the small guys taking a swipe at it too from time to time. It all depends on time of year, weather, what the available forage in the lake or river consists of, the present mood of the fish whether hungry or not mostly. Smaller presentations may work better early in the year, larger presentations as the season progresses.

[bobalong]

Originally Posted by PerchBuster

All of our sport fish basically started out as like 1/2” long fry eating zooplankton and invertebrates so tiny things will always be on the menu for even the largest fish in any given waterbody. Hence why so many trophy class fish are often caught wile a person is targeting a totally different species. What is small to us may not actually be all that small to them either come to think of it. The opposite is also true as is everything in between really. Large presentations will definitely catch some of the largest fish but don’t count out the small guys taking a swipe at it too from time to time. It all depends on time of year, weather, what the available forage in the lake or river consists of, the present mood of the fish whether hungry or not mostly. Smaller presentations may work better early in the year, larger presentations as the season progresses.

Been fishing over 50 years and what I have observed is that fish will always take a small bait, especially if it is a live bait rig. Fishing may be slow when a cold front rolls in (toughest conditions) but most of the time a small live bait rig worked slowly will be the only presentation that will work. Always exceptions to this, and does vary somewhat depending on species but it has proven pretty reliable over the decades.

Lures, cranks will catch fish to, but speed and especially depth are much harder to control.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by cube

For what it's worth one of the advantages of using large lures is you have lower hooking mortality as the larger lures hook close to the lips and not the gills. Yes you will catch less smaller fish as well.

I agree with this. I use big lures often when the bite is on. Some as large as 12" musky crankbaits.

These larger 6"-12" lures are easy to remove and you almost never have to do surgery on these poor pike.

Sometimes you have to down size and slow down if they are being finicky. In those cases I cut off (or completely remove) a set of hooks OR swap out to a larger single (try to get close to same weight as the original treble).

Sometimes you have to be careful not to destroy the lure's intended action.

I hate nothing more than having to release a bleeder.

[RavYak]

Depends on species. For lots of species larger lures do not result in larger fish. For pike you will catch more big fish and will still catch tons of little fish on the bigger lures. Catching a 20 inch pike on a #4 Len Thomson etc is not uncommon. If your goal is to catch small pike then use small lures, if you want to catch big pike then you are usually better off using bigger lures.

[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by mlee

I'm not usually one to seek out "the big one".....now dont get me wrong catching an above average size fish is great....but when I plan a weekend of fishing I'm not planning around what lake do I have the best chance of catching a monster.
That said I have fished a lot of lakes where these trophy fish live and this weekend will be hitting one or two lakes known to have large pike. I've always used pretty standard tackle....#1 #2 spoons.....4-6" swim baits raps and cranks.....1/2oz jig heads etc and have managed to catch a good share of big fish along with the hundreds of average sized ones. Ive never really tried the big #4 spoons or the monster swim baits or raps......should I? I'd imagine the number of average size fish caught goes down using huge lures but does the number of above average pike specifically go up significantly?

You want big fish you use big baits plain and simple. There is always the odd one that hits the small baits, but that is not the norm. If you want big pike nothing beats the bull dawgs in 9 and 12 inch. Blue and white is my favourite. The old jointed xrap is really good too. Bondy baits for Lakers and pike. The only exception is the silver sutton spoon size 44 for Lakers. For some reason they go nuts for it ( imo nothing beats a William's spoon as a flasher with a sutton spoon behind it, catches trout when nothing will)

As for walleye the big ones seem to love size 3 shimmer minnows (9 out of 10 times glide baits will be the first to hit the water usually shiver minnows,hyper rattles or jigging raps in size 7), 11 cm flicker minnows, size 7 rippin raps, slow death killer crawlers in nightcrawler pattern. 4 inch worms in watermelon pearl. When pulling blades , Size 5 pink panties Colorado blade with purple and gold beads, Size 1 gamakatsu octopus with a treble at the back. Nothing beats this spinner blade combo imo.

Well those are my favourite big fish setups. Good luck and have fun

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[mlee]

Thanks for the replies guys. Hopefully the fishing gods are looking down on us this weekend and these new big lures produce some big fish. Weather looks good as Saturday morning is the tail end of a cold front pushing in today.

[Buckhorn2]

I once caught a baby pickerel (smaller version of a pike back east) on a red devil. The spoon was as big as he was. He opened his mouth so far that he was stuck on the hook. Not actually hooked. We tried couldnt get his mouth open wide enough to get the hook out. Ended up doing alot of damage to pry it out. He was then bait. This was back before cellphone pictures In the same spot we also had one pickerel latch onto another that was already hooked and being reeled in. He refused to let go even after we pulled them on shore and they were roughly the same size fish. I dont think pike care what size the spoon is.


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[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by mlee

Thanks for the replies guys. Hopefully the fishing gods are looking down on us this weekend and these new big lures produce some big fish. Weather looks good as Saturday morning is the tail end of a cold front pushing in today.

Where are you going to target these big fish? A known big fish producer of a lake?

[mlee]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Where are you going to target these big fish? A known big fish producer of a lake?

Pinehurst will be home base for the weekend.....might head over to wolf one day and bourque is also a possibility as we may have some friends headed there.

[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by mlee

Thanks for the replies guys. Hopefully the fishing gods are looking down on us this weekend and these new big lures produce some big fish. Weather looks good as Saturday morning is the tail end of a cold front pushing in today.

What new lures did you pick up?

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[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by Buckhorn2

I once caught a baby pickerel (smaller version of a pike back east) on a red devil. The spoon was as big as he was. He opened his mouth so far that he was stuck on the hook. Not actually hooked. We tried couldnt get his mouth open wide enough to get the hook out. Ended up doing alot of damage to pry it out. He was then bait. This was back before cellphone pictures In the same spot we also had one pickerel latch onto another that was already hooked and being reeled in. He refused to let go even after we pulled them on shore and they were roughly the same size fish. I dont think pike care what size the spoon is.


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Happens fairly often with walleye for us too. Some are the same size as the crank. The little ones seem to have a "hold my beer and watch this" attitude to food

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[mlee]

Originally Posted by walleyechaser

What new lures did you pick up?

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See post #9

[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by mlee

See post #9

Nice haul

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[Freedom55]

I am currently actively seeking 3 1/2" - 4" shiners or ciscos, preferably fresh so I can cure them myself.

Free

[ForestCop]

In my experience big pike are lazy and will not chase very far they are instead opportunistic and will eat anything which comes near them big or small. I go on fishing trips every year and when we target areas where you would expect big pike to be and we use big hardware we catch lots of 5 pounders and never the big ones we see sitting in the reeds unless you bring it right by their nose as they just can’t be incited to chase the lure, but the smaller pike will always chase. Conversely we have got many pike in the 20’s when we are trolling for walleye and always on a jig with either a minnow imitation rubber tail or leach pattern; they might be there to feed on smaller walleye but we have never seen evidence of that when we boat them as they will sometimes spit out what they are eating and it’s often minnows.

[aulrich]

A couple of years back, a lure blank company had 8" bomber Knockoff's for sale for fun I ordered some. Up to that point about all I used various spoons because in general plugs was just too expensive. As it turned out they turned out to be one of my go to lures.

I find that a big fast moving lure can trigger fish like pike very well and they are really useful for quickly finding the active fish in a spot. Even when the fish are negative you rip a big bait past their nose and they will hit it

I fool around with making soft plastics too this year I bought a mold that makes 6" deep bodied swim baits it's an amazingly useful bait but it is something you work on the slow side

Yes big pike are caught on small baits all of the time it just another thing to have in the tackle box. Just like downsizing is needed some days up sizing is just as useful.

It's sad my supply of those big lure blanks is running low and I never saw those lure bodies for sale again

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by cube

For what it's worth one of the advantages of using large lures is you have lower hooking mortality as the larger lures hook close to the lips and not the gills. Yes you will catch less smaller fish as well.

Totally agree with this, especially when using lures that trigger aggressive strikes. I've caught plenty of big pike on 1/2 oz spoons, but they do tend to inhale them pretty deep.

Year in/ year out I've never honestly been able to truly prove the big lure theory one way or the other myself. A few things are for sure though; they cost more money, they require specialized tackle to fish them, and you need a big bulky box to put them in. I tend to limit the size of my lures to what you're average med-heavy spinning rig can handle, which will get one up to 7" or so if you are smart about it. I don't keep a very big selection of lures at the upper end of this range though. If I am truly after trophy fish I use bait, and depending on the species I do go pretty big with my bait sometimes.

[mlee]

Well got to test out most of the new BIG lures.
Saturday at pinehurst the weather was not great....overcast and rain all morning into mid afternoon so we stuck close to shore along the north west side of the lake. Average was about a fish an hour.....3/4oz black jig with a black double tail hauled in all the walleye including a nice 65cm fatty and even a few small 3-5lb like. We tried small.... big....cranks swim baits and spoons but the big jig picked up most fish.
Sunday we went to Ironwood knowing that there would be no monsters but lots of fish to catch. The 2 of us easily boated over 100 fish....probably a 60/40 split between pike and walleye. The lure of the day was a big (6") mepps spoon with silver red and blue. The tiny pike and walleye hammered it all day long to the point where the graphics are pretty much toast after 1 day on the water. It was definitely a bigger lure than I'd typically use on a lake like this....but it worked well.
Monday we headed home with a stop at Kehiwin lake for about 3 hours in the early afternoon. Again we started big....8" perch colored rap and a 6" swim bait in green and black.....a few small pike right away and then a nice 75cm pike and another over 80 a few minutes later. All in all happy with what I picked up for tackle and learned a little bit along the way.