3/4 oz vs 1/2 oz lipless

[Jermination]

Wanted to get your guys thoughts on something that i tested out this weekend on chickamauga. So my experiment was on a tapering red clay point that is littered with stumps & the creek channel deepens off of both sides. This area is always loaded with fish down in the creek channel and they come up on the point to feed throughout the day. I wanted to find out why the 3/4 oz was significantly better in these type of scenarios when the fish are dirt shallow. I threw both for probably an hour & 1/2 and the 3/4 oz outfished the 1/2 oz 8:0. Came to the conclusion the 3/4 oz puts off a mud trail that the fish follow and when they see the big red trap they just can not resist. Had 4 fish over 3 1/2 from this one area & the other 4 were 15 inch keepers. They would not sniff the 1/2 oz, retrieved with the same cadence & bottom contact. 

 

I ran up river and caught smallmouth too floating the current, but i really wanted to get your guys thoughts on why the 3/4 oz was so much more effective than the 1/2 oz in the same model. The map isn't the exact spot but the layout is very similar

[scaleface]

What model ?

[Jermination]

4 minutes ago, scaleface said:

What model ?

sk redeye. also caught several on the spro wakemu shad 

[TnRiver46]

"it don't have to make sense, it just has to work" -swindle

[Jermination]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

"it don't have to make sense, it just has to work" -swindle

damnit russ i know that already!!

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Jermination said:

damnit russ i know that already!!

You know me, I'm usually just casting to the same ole areas pondering what's for supper . I rely on you for the details hahaha. I will say that my offshore smallies smash a rapala lipless but I can't force feed them a red-eye shad 

[Dwight Hottle]

Slightly bigger profile by 1/2" & maybe louder sound. Also sinks faster on the pause or when using a yoyo retrieve. Your mud trail idea could contribute as well. 

[WRB]

If you think it’s size try a Lewis Trap, the 3/4oz is 3.5” , the 1 oz is 4”.

Tom

[Choporoz]

You didn't have to crank the 3/4 just a little bit faster to get same sort of bottom contact?

[Jermination]

24 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

You didn't have to crank the 3/4 just a little bit faster to get same sort of bottom contact?

nope. the fish were in about 2 feet of water. both would hit the bottom pretty much the second your lure hit the water. I like the wakemu shad because it has a dual line tie & can make it run a little more wobbly or tight just by changing which one you tie your line to

[collinfiske_RFC]

Super basic point but size and profile matching up whatever they were feeding on prior to arriving in the spot? I'm convinced that's the almost the answer or it at least makes me feel better to explain why they aren't biting something I am throwing.  I've had days the other way around where they wont touch a 3/4 and only much 1/2. I find up north I get much more attention with a 1/2 but there be dragons down south where you are. 

 

CPF

[Jermination]

17 minutes ago, collinfiske_RFC said:

Super basic point but size and profile matching up whatever they were feeding on prior to arriving in the spot? I'm convinced that's the almost the answer or it at least makes me feel better to explain why they aren't biting something I am throwing.  I've had days the other way around where they wont touch a 3/4 and only much 1/2. I find up north I get much more attention with a 1/2 but there be dragons down south where you are. 

 

CPF

im really unsure if it was the size and profile of the bait as much as the weight. The spro wameku shad weighs 3/4 oz but is the body of a 1/2 oz. & they'd tattoo it, but not the 1/2 oz sk redeye. IDK maybe its just one of those things i shouldnt question and just deal with lol

[Bankbeater]

The bass do the same thing around here, but not just with lipless baits and usually in the fall. IMO, it has something to do with the bass going after larger forage to get more bang for the buck. Did you happen to talk to anyone else that was fishing in your area to see how their trip was going?

[JoePhish]

Do you ever go smaller with a 1/4 oz.? 

 

I'm familiar with and usually subscribe to the "bang for the buck" theory where a bass will aim for the most nutrition while exerting energy to feed this time of year. However, a couple a years ago I sat in on a seminar presented by a certain kayak fishing "guru" who stated that he likes to use small craw baits like the Zoom Z Craw Jr.  this time of year because bass don't want to have to "fight" with a bigger craw.  I've had success on small craws myself (3 inch Berkley Powerboat Chigger Craw mostly) so his comments made some sense to me. 

Maybe it's different for a lipless. I'll certainly try out a bigger offering next time I want to tie one on.

 

[Jermination]

15 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

The bass do the same thing around here, but not just with lipless baits and usually in the fall. IMO, it has something to do with the bass going after larger forage to get more bang for the buck. Did you happen to talk to anyone else that was fishing in your area to see how their trip was going?

I talked to a few people who had crap days. fishing up river on that lake is completely different than the lower half and if you arent familiar it can make for a really long day lol lower half of the lake is just so much more pressured it's unreal

 

It's more spot specific than bait--other than this point i caught 1 fish on a trap anywhere else the rest of the day

 

10 hours ago, JoePhish said:

Do you ever go smaller with a 1/4 oz.? 

 

I'm familiar with and usually subscribe to the "bang for the buck" theory where a bass will aim for the most nutrition while exerting energy to feed this time of year. However, a couple a years ago I sat in on a seminar presented by a certain kayak fishing "guru" who stated that he likes to use small craw baits like the Zoom Z Craw Jr.  this time of year because bass don't want to have to "fight" with a bigger craw.  I've had success on small craws myself (3 inch Berkley Powerboat Chigger Craw mostly) so his comments made some sense to me. 

Maybe it's different for a lipless. I'll certainly try out a bigger offering next time I want to tie one on.

 

very rarely on chickamauga. If i run out to loudon after work one day i may downsize unless it's in the heat of summer. The forage on chickamauga is big this year & there is no shad kill so maybe its special down there this year? IDK the answer, i do know that it made a massive difference in how our day went

[Vilas15]

22 hours ago, Jermination said:

im really unsure if it was the size and profile of the bait as much as the weight. The spro wameku shad weighs 3/4 oz but is the body of a 1/2 oz. & they'd tattoo it, but not the 1/2 oz sk redeye. IDK maybe its just one of those things i shouldnt question and just deal with lol

If you had a 1/2 and 3/4 oz of the same bait then I think you'd be onto something, but im going to chalk this one up to the fact they liked the action/sound of the wameku shad better than the redeye shad for whatever reason. Too many variables even if the wameku has "the body of a 1/2 oz".

[TnRiver46]

Jeremy , did you think to ask any of your bass their opinion??? Why no, I bet you just threw them back in the river!!!!

[LargeMarge]

Did you fish one for half the time, then switch to the other? Or were you switching between catches?

 

If you were switching between catches you might be onto something, but if you used one for a while and switched to the other then there's a few pretty simple explanations:

 

- Fish inexorably like a 3/4 more than a 1/2

- Fish are no longer interested in fast moving baits; bass activity levels change over time

- Fish are full from heavy feeding

- Fish are now wary of your presence at this spot

- Fish have moved

 

I think we've all experienced a time when the bite "turned off" and we can't catch them anymore regardless of what we throw. There's too many variables to ever say for sure.

[Jermination]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Jeremy , did you think to ask any of your bass their opinion??? Why no, I bet you just threw them back in the river!!!!

they told me they like the mud trail the 3/4 oz puts off more so than the 1/2 oz lol

[JT Bagwell]

Good question!

 

I have had similar experiences for years. I throw the larger lipless cranks the majority of the time because

I have also noticed that they just flat out catch more fish. For me anyway (and you too I guess).