Question for the board

Do you believe in big baits for big fish, do you fish big baits and if so do you find it tough to do from a float tube. I have never been one for big bait fishing and that shows with no DD fish I guess. What do you guys say.

I have thrown a few large swim baits while float tubing and I felt very uncomfortable. Like if a big fish slammed my bait, I would not of had much leverage to fight it. Also just casting and retrieving big heavy lures while in my FishCat just seemed awkward compared to doing it from shore or on a boat. For me, using a bait casting rod with a long handle was part of the problem.

Sometimes I throw larger soft baits for bass, but I don't thinks I'd stripper fish from my tube......that being said, Komori has a good point, butts too long..........this was one of the reasons I bought a Phoenix Maxum, short butt.............GT

Thanks guys i have fished with a long handle rod from my tube for years but i understand what you are saying. While it is no problem for me it can be tough none the less. As for big baits i to throw them just dont have confidence in them.

I have very mixed feelings about this subject, because I see the point both ways. There is no doubt that "big baits = big fish" is often true. It's true in my experience and I believe there is valid reasoning in the idea that fish are always trying to get the best meal for the least effort and a bigger bait means more food for the effort, so a big bait is more likely to seem "worth the effort" to a bigger fish.

Plus, I know I've caught fish many times that seemed barely larger than the bait! I've had 8in spotties slam a 4in bait so it often seems like being "too big" isn't a problem for some species.

On the other hand, in the trout world, we always talk about "match the hatch" which means your bait needs to mimic as closely as possible what the fish you're targeting are actually eating today and in the case of the places I fish, that usually means small anchovies, so I tend to fish smaller baits in order to "match the hatch." In the bay, I've caught bass with a 2.5 inch LC but it seems the only thing willing to hit my 4.5 inch LC are bonito or mackerel. However, in the surf, I've had 10 in Corbina go to town on the LC that's damn near half their size, so there's no clear cut answer in my experience.

For me, on the tube, the larger baits are usually a later in the session deal... when I'm willing to gamble more

Big baits can = big fish. I've caught my personal best 8.31 on an 8" trout swimbait (out of a boat), but my next 2 biggest were 8.1 (out of my tube on a 3 inch craw flipping) and 7.1 (on a 4 inch dropshot worm in a boat).

As far as throwing the big swimbaits, I've caught 1 on my big trout swimbait in my tube at around 4 lbs. but have missed quite a few more bites...not sure if it had to do with the rod length though. My feeling is that throwing those baits all day can put you in a lull mood and therefore tend to miss the strikes since you aren't expecting to really get many bites. My other theory is that with that long rod you have to position yourself correctly to make a better hookset. I haven't been out this year with them really but I will next month.

Yes I have thrown big swim baits for bass soft and glide type baits from hudds to the Roman Mades and spent a ton of $$ on it. You will not always catch a big fish like we see in the videos all the time , in fact a 2lb Bass will eat a 8" Hudd just like a 10lber will. I invested a ton of $$ on it and I just learned i did not have the confidence in the baits every time out and that lead to me selling my equipment.

1. You need to have the confidence and $$ to do it properly you cannot come in with a cheap rod rated for 1-2oz baits and a cheap reel and expect to throw a heavy bait on it , you will have a hard time not only casting , but also retrieving the bait . (expect for a rod and reel to be in the $350 range if you shop smartly) remember even if throwing a $30 Hudd that bait weighs 4-5oz !

2.  Comfort : I went from a G. Loomis  Gl2 rod , rated up to 8oz baits  that had a 22" Butt and was 7'10"  , to a Irod Genesis II rod  that was rated 4-10 oz and had a 16" butt and was only 7'8" I would go no shorter so you could load up on that hook set and carry the momentum and swing of the cast of bigger baits , especially on the tube

3.  where to fish is huge , you need a lake that is able to hold a healthy population of hold over type fish like trout and sadly no lakes in southern CA are really able to due this anymore and this has lead to our bass eating other things (bluegill , catfish , shad , craw fish , etc ) thus killing the BIG BAIT bite ..

4 . Learn how the fish hit the big baits , a hudd it really feels like a couple little ticks for example , very rarely will a bass smash the bait .

My Opinion :

- invest into a smaller outfit that can handle jigs , spinner baits , small swimbaits / wake bait or the alabama rig , tail spins and under spins (all of these baits are proven to work or mimic the proper food source with more rate of success)

- Remember Elephants eat peanuts !!  All of my DD bass have come on small baits and you will Regularly catch bass in the 4 lb range with no troubles at all with these techniques at most bodies of water , thus increasing confidence

- A successful bass fisher man will learn to finesse fish as well and a lot of us have forgotten this method .  no reason to limit your chances and build frustration while throwing a big bait 50x out and maybe get that 1 bite.
Just my 2 Cents  ,

Wes

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The way I have always looked at bait size is what is needed for the best presentation.  I believe big baits catch big fish.  But small baits catch big fish also.  I use to do a lot of trout fishing and it is true to match the hatch but more important then matching the hatch is get the presentation right.  I have purposely fished flies that were not in season to see if I could catch fish on presentation alone.  Yes you will catch about 1/2-3/4 of the fish you would with a better match.  That gives you an idea of how important presentation is.  

When out on the float tube I weigh what it is I am trying to do.  If it is fish really shallow 3-10ft then i really only fish very light baits 1/8-3/8 oz. But if I want to fish deeper or get a quick sink I fish 1/4-3/4 oz.  In the way things work that usually corresponds to a length I fish any baits from 2"-4".  I rarely go beyond those sizes because that is what is needed to fish the weights I like.  

I was just out fishing with SPDan and we where discussing this exact subject.  I had caught 4-5 legal sand bass in the same area were he was having trouble hooking up with anything.  I was fishing a 4" swim with 3/4 oz head.  The difference I believe was weight, my bait was getting down to the fish faster and staying down longer then his was.  If I had fished a 2" swim with a 3/4 oz head I still would have caught fish.  Because it is really just presentation it has to get to the fish before you can even catch a fish.  That is why I don't necessarily care about size but weight is most important.

The way I think about length is based on how the fish are responding to the bait.  If I am getting a lot of short strikes I usually down size my bait.  This also comes with a scale down in hook size.  This is one of my favorite ways to catch fish that are not taking bait hard or with aggression.  With this all said I do believe big baits catch big fish but you usually get a lot of short strikes with them to, which means you are most likely losing a lot of smaller fish.  So a risk and reward proposition.  If it is really important to you to catch a large fish only, then big baits.  But if you would like to catch a range of fish or sizes of fish then smaller baits can be better.

singletrack wrote:
The way I think about length is based on how the fish are responding to the bait.  If I am getting a lot of short strikes I usually down size my bait.  This also comes with a scale down in hook size.  This is one of my favorite ways to catch fish that are not taking bait hard or with aggression.  With this all said I do believe big baits catch big fish but you usually get a lot of short strikes with them to, which means you are most likely losing a lot of smaller fish.  So a risk and reward proposition.  If it is really important to you to catch a large fish only, then big baits.  But if you would like to catch a range of fish or sizes of fish then smaller baits can be better.

Okay I can agree and disagree here on big baits catch mostly big fish , I have watched people at my home lake throw a ROF 5 Hudd 8" bait and yes they where out fishing the small bait guys , but every fish they pulled was 2-4#  , that very same day i pulled a 7# right by them with a 4" roboworm and a friend floating near by pulled a 9# on a 4" fluke  .. the fact is yes you will catch more variety as you stated in size with a smaller bait , but the same can be said with a big bait .. will I get bite more on a smaller bait sure .. I know guys who have been plugging away with 8-12" baits for over 2 yrs now with 1 fish to there name and it was barely a 4# fish .. this is why I stopped throwing huge swimbaits , a smaller swimbait on a underspin or a Umbrella rig will net you the same quality fish and with way more results and that's a fact  

Edit : I would like to say hey I respect the heck out of a swimbaiter and I did it for 4 yrs myself , but all My DD bass have come on 4-6" baits worms , flukes and jigs

Wes

Thanks for the post Misfitdog well put, and i appricate everyone else's info as well, keep you thoughts coming.

I do a lot of crappie fishing. I also do some sand bass fishing, and black bass fishing. Bait size is definitely secondary to bait location.

I have been broken off by monsters that sucked in a 1/16 ounce jig. Trust me...you can't fake huge...they were BIG fish...20+ pounds easy. When you suddenly feel a 6 hp outboard on the end of your line, ummmm....well...you know.

I also carp fish so I commonly catch 10-12 lb. fish on 6lb. test line. I've caught a 28lb. buffalo on 6lb. test line, so, I know about what big fish feel like, and don't USUALLY get broke off.

I estimate the biggest fish that swallowed one of those 1/16 oz. tube jigs was a flathead upwards of 40 lbs.

EDIT: I would be remiss if I didn't add this: When lake Monticello first opened, 10" Power worms were almost required. I have not caught a single fish on them anywhere else, but in one day, they accounted for an 8' 10 oz. and a 10' 8 oz. bass for me and my partner.

Poboy Floater wrote:
I also carp fish so I commonly catch 10-12 lb. fish on 6lb. test line. I've caught a 28lb. buffalo on 6lb. test line, so, I know about what big fish feel like, and don't USUALLY get broke off.

I estimate the biggest fish that swallowed one of those 1/16 oz. tube jigs was a flathead upwards of 40 lbs.

I landed a 35+ lb. carp on a bass jig on 10 lb. test line. Fish took me a half hour to get in the boat and I was exhausted but it was pretty awesome

HugeEuge57 wrote:

Poboy Floater wrote:
I also carp fish so I commonly catch 10-12 lb. fish on 6lb. test line. I've caught a 28lb. buffalo on 6lb. test line, so, I know about what big fish feel like, and don't USUALLY get broke off.

I estimate the biggest fish that swallowed one of those 1/16 oz. tube jigs was a flathead upwards of 40 lbs.

I landed a 35+ lb. carp on a bass jig on 10 lb. test line.  Fish took me a half hour to get in the boat and I was exhausted but it was pretty awesome

I can imagine. Fishing the river, I had 2 carp on at once (6 lb. test).... Fortunately, one ran upstream and one down. By alternating between fighting and freespool, I eventually landed both an 8 and 12 lb.  I have no idea how long that took, but as you can imagine, it was a while.

I can only add this : impatient men don't catch big fish, you don't "horse" big fish, you gently "coax" them in.

Here's one that "got away"! Fishing the Brazos below Lake Granbury, I was chunking a black skeleton tiny torpedo. About 2' from my tube, an 8' long aligator gar sucked it in.

A lot of scenarios flashed through my mind, none of which was good. I hit the freespool button and frantically fed line until the lure resurfaced and I could breathe again.

Poboy Floater wrote:Here's one that "got away"!  Fishing the Brazos below Lake Granbury, I was chunking a black skeleton tiny torpedo. About 2' from my tube, an 8' long aligator gar sucked it in.

A lot of scenarios flashed through my mind, none of which was good. I hit the freespool button and frantically fed line until the lure resurfaced and I could breathe again.

I am pretty sure I would not get in the water if I knew something like that was in there with me. Once the lure popped up didn't you wonder if that toothy critter would look for something else to clamp on?

Jerdon wrote:

Poboy Floater wrote:Here's one that "got away"!  Fishing the Brazos below Lake Granbury, I was chunking a black skeleton tiny torpedo. About 2' from my tube, an 8' long aligator gar sucked it in.

A lot of scenarios flashed through my mind, none of which was good. I hit the freespool button and frantically fed line until the lure resurfaced and I could breathe again.

I am pretty sure I would not get in the water if I knew something like that was in there with me. Once the lure popped up didn't you wonder if that toothy critter would look for something else to clamp on?

Naw, totally harmless swimming around. Hooked though, they can get vicsious.