Fishing small lures

[MartinTheFisherman]

Hello,

 

I was just wondering what all of you guys use to fish small lures like, tiny frogs, tiny poppers, Strike King Bitsy Minnow, and little crawfish baits? Im thinking some 8lb mono, is it good?

 

Thanks,

Martin

 

 

Sorry for the horrid quality

 

[jbsoonerfan]

Casting or Spinning? 

[EGbassing]

(please delete)

[MN Fisher]

Unless it's baby-bass, those are mainly panfish lures. I'd use my President 25 with 4# or Avocet rig with 8# for those (Ultra-light or Medium-light)

[Scott F]

7 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

Bass don't generally hit lures that small but if you're going for bluegill/crappie/panfish those would work.

Bass generally DO hit lures that small. Ask anybody who fishes Ned rigs. I spent a whole summer fishing mostly very small baits, most smaller than those you pictured. I caught some pretty big smallies along with pike and walleyes on tiny baits. The biggest problem you'll have is casting distance. I used 6-8 pound braid on a long spinning rod. Braid, being so much thinner than mono, will let you cast the lures much better.

[jbsoonerfan]

8 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

Bass don't generally hit lures that small but if you're going for bluegill/crappie/panfish those would work.

Have you ever heard of BFS? 

 

OP, bass will hit lures that small. There have been a TON of big bass caught on a Mepps inline spinner. I caught a bunch of big bass when I was young on them. Cast and retrieve. 

 

ScottF has it right. So much misinformation already in this thread. 

[EGbassing]

41 minutes ago, Scott F said:

Bass generally DO hit lures that small. Ask anybody who fishes Ned rigs. I spent a whole summer fishing mostly very small baits, most smaller than those you pictured. I caught some pretty big smallies along with pike and walleyes on tiny baits. The biggest problem you'll have is casting distance. I used 6-8 pound braid on a long spinning rod. Braid, being so much thinner than mono, will let you cast the lures much better.

Ned rigs seem to be an exception, but I fished a lot of those tiny strike king crankbaits last year and never caught a bass on one. Plenty of bluegill and crappie though. Maybe it's just the pond I fish, but (aside of the ned rig) I never catch bass on lures that small. Plus, those SK bitsy minnow crankbaits are about an inch long compared to the 2.75 in. ned rig.

40 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Have you ever heard of BFS? 

 

OP, bass will hit lures that small. There have been a TON of big bass caught on a Mepps inline spinner. I caught a bunch of big bass when I was young on them. Cast and retrieve. 

 

ScottF has it right. So much misinformation already in this thread. 

^

[jbsoonerfan]

4 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

Ned rigs seem to be an exception, but I fished a lot of those tiny strike king crankbaits last year and never caught a bass on one. Plenty of bluegill and crappie though. Maybe it's just the pond I fish, but (aside of the ned rig) I never catch bass on lures that small. Plus, those bitsy minnow crankbaits are about an inch long compared to the 2.75 in. ned rig.

^

Okay, man. You just seem to be one to give a lot of information based off very little experience. I have caught more big bass on a mepps and an h&h spinner bait than you have ever seen in your life. Not trying to dog you, but you need to have experience before you start telling people how it is.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

You dont want 8# mono for those small lures. A Bitsy Minnow weighs in at .083oz. Like mentioned a light braid,nanobraid,fireline,gliss,nanofil--- 6# or .005" will cast that weight way better than light mono. 

 

As far as small inline spinners a size #1 Black Fury think its at 1/8oz caught this its the largest bass I have caught the past 2 years

[Scott F]

These are four tiny baits that have accounted for many, many bass. On top is a Rapala Mini Fatrap, clockwise, Is a Mini Tad Polley, a Bill Norman Tiny N, and a Yo-Zuri Snap Bean. They measure between 1.25 and 1.75 inches.

 

[jimmyjoe]

   For 5 years, I fished with an ultralight, because I had to (arthritis). I used 4lb. mono. I caught everything from crappie to pike. I'm not saying that I didn't lose lures ... sure I did. Chomp/tug/empty line. But I got some niiiiice fish, too. Second biggest bass I got - ever - I caught on a 1/6th ounce Wordens Super Roostertail.  And I was twitchin' a 1/8 Lil' Cleo in the shallows one time and a pike came up from deeper water and SMASHED it. Luckily, I got him in the hinge of the jaw. I caught catfish (surprised the heck outta me), sheepshead drum and lots of just ordinary, run-of-the-mill bass. Dinks and keepers, both. I'm of the opinion (which is worth what you paid for it) that it's not the size of the lure, but the nature of the lure. If they're hitting on a #5 Chartreuse Aglia, they'll bite on a #2 Chartreuse Aglia. When they hit a 3/4 oz. Purple Haze Devle-Dog, they'll hit a 1/4 oz. Purple Haze Devle-Dog. Many times other fishermen were raking them in on 1/2 oz. Rat-L-Traps, and I got the same success on 1/4 oz. Mini-Traps.

   Too many people don't catch bass on small lures because they don't try.  And lots of people don't believe you can land a bass on 4 lb. line.  Uh ...... yeah. You certainly can.

   Try it!     jj

 

[Bluebasser86]

I've caught lots of bass on the Bitsy Pond minnow and the smallest size Hula Popper. I like to fish them on a light spinning rod and 4lb test. 8lb test won't allow them to swim properly, 6lb might work but is likely still too large unless it's a very thin 6. Not just little ones eat little baits, this is a 1/80th oz Turner Jones micro jig I was fishing under a bobber for trout when a 4+lb largemouth decided to snack on it.

[davecon]

I fish mostly for Snook and in the spring/early summer the best lures are 3 inches long. I have to replace the hooks with 3 or 4 x hooks but some of these snook are over 40 inches long and can peel off 150 feet of line before you can blink.

 

I use 10 and sometimes 5 lb braid on ml and L spinning rods.

 

Been doing this for many years. Actually have very few breakoff’s. Have caught thousands of snook and hundreds of tarpon on these rigs.

 

Would I prefer stouter tackle/lures ? You bet, but when they won’t hit the big stuff the lighter stuff works fine thank you very much.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

55 minutes ago, Scott F said:

These are four tiny baits that have accounted for many, many bass. On top is a Rapala Mini Fatrap, clockwise, Is a Mini Tad Polley, a Bill Norman Tiny N, and a Yo-Zuri Snap Bean. They measure between 1.25 and 1.75 inches.

 

 

Was throwing a Snap Bean last Satuday, no bites on it though.

[MartinTheFisherman]

8 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Casting or Spinning? 

Spinning

 

Thanks everyone for all the replies and help

[Glaucus]

Bass will hit small lures. The only problem is that you'll weed through a lot of crappie, bluegill, dink bass, etc on your way to landing quality. Which isn't all bad. That's a lot of fun too. My favorite thing in the world is take medium light tackle with a Ned Rig and wading or yaking shallow rivers.

 

For me, with what's pictured, I'm taking medium light spinning gear with 4lb Yo Zuri on a size 1000/25 reel.

 

Last year I caught hundreds of dink smallies with the Ned Rig. But I also caught the biggest smallies I've ever seen come out of that river using the Ned Rig. Tons of rock bass and crappie too.

 

Shoot my buddy even caught this on the Ned Rig

 

[Jigfishn10]

Early in the season I'll use small lures. Bass in our neck of the woods this time of year will be slow so casting small lures gives me an opportunity to catch multi species. Catching trout and crappie are a ton of fun and will hit those lures as well as bass.

 

Just remember, catching something this time of year is betting than casting practice.

 

@EGbassing and @MartinTheFisherman, appreciate your participation. Glad to see your generation getting involved in this sport. Stay involved guys.

[NYWayfarer]

I carry an assortment of Rebel lures for pond LMB fishing. Crickhopper, Teeny Wee-R and Hellgrammite all work great. Trout and Bluegill love them as well.

 

For river Smallmouth it's hard to beat a Rebel Wee-Crawfish. 

[Jig Rookie]

2 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Shoot my buddy even caught this on the Ned Rig

 

That's a...dirtfish??

[Gundog]

I like to throw small baits when I know the conditions are tough. Whether its because of bad weather or heavy fishing pressure, small baits can entice fish that are in a neutral mood. Micro baits are great for post spawn bass. 

[NYWayfarer]

21 minutes ago, Jig Rookie said:

That's a...dirtfish??

Looks like he breaded and fried it right at the bank

[Glaucus]

34 minutes ago, Jig Rookie said:

That's a...dirtfish??

Lol it's filthy because it snapped his rod and he had to drag it up the Sandy island we were on by pulling in the line by hand.

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Shoot my buddy even caught this on the Ned Rig

 

Ned rig is my #1 drum catcher by far. I even sight fish them with it. A couple lakes I fish it's not hard to catch a couple dozen on one in a day. 

[EGbassing]

11 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Okay, man. You just seem to be one to give a lot of information based off very little experience. I have caught more big bass on a mepps and an h&h spinner bait than you have ever seen in your life. Not trying to dog you, but you need to have experience before you start telling people how it is.

I'm not saying that it's impossible to catch a bass on a 1 inch lure, but it's just not ideal unless your goal is to catch the smallest bass in the lake. 

[ratherbfishin1]

13 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

I'm not saying that it's impossible to catch a bass on a 1 inch lure, but it's just not ideal unless your goal is to catch the smallest bass in the lake. 

I have caught some large bass on the smallest lures imaginable while going for panfish.  I have caught 3+ pound bass while ice fishing with some of the smallest jigs imaginable.  

 

Yes, a bass will hit small lures.  While I enjoy fishing bigger things there are times when a small lure will work much better.