Does Lure Size Alter Chances

[Preytorien]

Hey guys,

 

I had an early Christmas gift exchange a few days ago, and I had listed on my wishlist a Heddon One-Knocker Spook.

 

I got the spook, and I'm excited to see what it can produce, but I had a quick question.

 

The Spook is 4.5in long, which is considerably longer than any other topwater hardbait I have.

 

Do you think this will diminish my odds of catching something with it?

 

Understand I live in Indiana, we rarely/ever see 10+lb bass, so I'm wondering how big a fish would have to be to strike at this thing with the idea in mind that he could take it, and what the odds are that such a sized fish is commonly seen here.

 

Am I misguided?

 

I hope this works, I really think this will be a producer. I've had luck with the 3in Spook, but never tried the One-Knocker and definitely not a 4.5in model.

 

Thanks,

Phil

[MarkH024]

You'll get blow ups on it no doubt. Start chuckin it! Pretty soon you'll have more 4" plus baits then you'll know what to do with.

[Scott F]

You'll be surprised at how many small fish will hit that bait. Believe me, 10 inch bass will hit that with no problem. Plus, your chances of getting larger fish will go up too.

[MIbassin]

All my concerns about baits being too big flew out the window when my dad caught a 5 and a half inch bass on an 8 inch lunker punker

 

No way it's too big!

 

Throw it!

[tomustang]

Everyone has a story about a small bass hitting a large bait, now you can have one too with that spook!

[Tony L.]

Bass are pretty ambitious, if not outright greedy. I second the comment above. We all have stories of little bass on big baits. On many an occasion, I have landed fish less then 10 inches on a spinnerbait that is well over 4 (I am also an Indiana angler, so I feel your pain with the lack of 10 lbers) . Bass around here will regularly try and digest prey up to 1/3 of their size and snap at at things much bigger than that if they are aggravated enough. Go for it, even if the fish don't see it as food, they will see it as a threat.

[RoLo]

Small bass will often strike a large lure, we've caught runts on muskie lures.

Large bass will often strike a small lure, KVD landed an 11-lb bass on a 4" fry worm.

 

On balance though, a smaller lure will generate more strikes, 

while a larger lure will produce a higher average weight per bass.

Whether large lures attract larger bass or intimidate smaller bass is left to conjecture.

 

Roger

[WRB]

Strange thing about most animals, including bass, is they can't determine their size verses the size of other critters. It's the reason a small dog attacks a big dog. With experience a bass can determine size when it gets very close and abort the attack at the last moment. Bass difinately develop a prey size preference when feeding on a specific prey type. This may seem contradicted, however we are talking about fish, not people and predator fish behavior is never predicable.

Top water lures also tend to represent both aquatic and terrestrial critters. The spook may look like a wounded baitfish to the bass angler, however could be anything that is swimming on the surface that looks like prey to the bass.

Tom

[Catt]

If you think about it 4.5" is not that big, measure a jig-n-craw or spinner bait or fluke.

[dam0007]

Caught a 10" smallie on a 10xd... Anything is possible seeing as how bass are territorial.

[mnbassman23]

I usually fish a 5" spook style bait to target bigger bites. I've caught fish from 12-21" on it. The majority of the fish are 3lbs or more, which is what I want.

[Bluebasser86]

I fish the one knocker spook a lot here in KS, we rarely have bass over 10lbs caught either but I catch a ton of fish on that bait. Fish in the 8-12 inch range are not afraid to slam it and neither are bigger fish. 

[Ratherbfishing]

When I was (much) younger, I didn't have anything in my meager tackle box larger than about 2.75 inches.  Now I hardly have anything as small as that.  Don't worry, you'll still catch plenty of fish with it.

[B@ssCrzy]

For the majority of my fishing I like to use bigger baits.  Don't be afraid of it  being to big.  Just get out there and sling it.  You will catch plenty with it. 

[RoLo]

For the majority of my fishing I like to use bigger baits.  Don't be afraid of it  being to big.  Just get out there and sling it.  You will catch plenty with it. 

 

Agreed.

 

At my age, you get tired of unhooking bass, so I use big baits to reduce the number.

Some days I go all day long without unhooking one fish!        Ya can't beat that  

 

Roger