Choosing The Right Size Bait
Story and Photos By John Neporadny Jr.

Using live bait is about the closest anglers can come to guaranteeing they will catch panfish on any given day. Savvy anglers can tie on their favorite artificial fly or soft plastic drenched in the smelliest, oiliest fish scent and catch plenty of panfish, but the real deal produces more often than the imitations in most instances.

Minnows, worms, crickets and crayfish are the ideal bait choices for anglers of all skill levels, because they know a live, wiggling prey dangling in front of a panfish is almost a sure bite. However, there are no guarantees in fishing, even when you are using live bait. Various factors such as water clarity, weather changes and fishing pressure can cause panfish to turn finicky and ignore your offering whether it's an artificial lure or a live bait.
Experienced anglers can still catch panfish in these conditions by being particular about the size of the bait they use. By matching the size of the forage in the body of water you are fishing, you increase your chances of catching both better numbers and bigger panfish.

"I try to look around on the lakes that I am fishing and find out the size of the shad the fish are feeding on," says Richard Lindsey, a guide and crappie tournament pro from Sibley, La. "Then basically I try to match the size of the shad with the size of the shiner when I'm using live bait."

Trout fishermen have been successful at triggering strikes from finicky fish by using the match-the-hatch theory. As fishing pressure increases on their waters, panfish experts are using the same principle for live bait to get an edge over the masses. Here's how two veteran panfish guides choose the right size bait to make sure their clients enjoy plenty of action.

Minnows For Crappie
Crappie-tournament pros are particularly picky about the size of the minnows they select for fishing various waters throughout the country.

"I really size my minnows according to which lake I am going to fish," says Brad Whitehead, a crappie guide and tournament competitor from Muscle Shoals, Ala. "We have six or seven different lakes to fish around here, and if you are going for a 2-pound crappie, you better have a big minnow (at least 2 inches long)."

While competing on the Crappie Masters Tournament Trail, Lindsey has noticed crappie on different lakes prefer a particular size minnow.

"A small shiner in Missouri is like table fare down here in Louisiana," says Lindsey. "There are big shiners up there. In the North, the shiners are typically larger because of the baitfish (gizzard and hickory shad) being larger. In some of the Southern lakes, the threadfin shad don't grow a lot, so they are real small."

The dominant type of crappie in your favorite fishery also dictates which size minnow you should use. Lindsey guides on both Lake Bistineau with its dominant black crappie population and the Red River, which contains mostly white crappie. He has noticed black crappie prefer smaller minnows, while the white crappie crave larger shiners.

Both crappie experts agree that the time of year influences their choice of minnow sizes.
"In spring, I really don't think it matters, but through fall, winter and early spring, I think the size plays a big part," says Whitehead, who recommends using larger minnows (2 to 2 1/2 inches long). "People say that crappie don't hit big baits, but I have cleaned crappie on Wilson Lake that had 4-inch yellowtails (shad) in them."

Early in the year, Lindsey selects small minnows (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches), since the threadfin shad are little then. But as the water warms and the threadfin grow, Lindsey opts for bigger minnows. By midsummer, he has upgraded to minnows as large as 2 1/2 inches.

Techniques also determine the size of minnows Lindsey and Whitehead choose. Lindsey prefers fishing with jigs most of the time, but he enhances his artificials by tipping the lures with minnows.

"There is still a lot of merit to straight shiner fishing, but I usually use a jig mainly because I am trying to match the color of the water with the jig," says Lindsey, who likes to use an orange or chartreuse jig with a minnow in murky or muddy water and a blue-and-pearl jig in clear water. "Typically, on Lake Bistineau or other lakes that have predominately black crappie, you don't have to tip a jig with a minnow. White crappie tend to like minnows more than they do straight jigs, so I try to give them the best of both worlds with a jig and minnow."

When sticking a minnow on a jig, Lindsey wants the size of his jig and minnow to match so the combo works properly.

"You want to make sure that your hook is large enough to accommodate the size of the minnow you are adding onto the lure," he says.

On 1/32- or 1/16-ounce hair jigs that have No. 6 or 8 hooks, Lindsey attaches minnows that are about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches long. However, if he is using a 1/8-ounce jighead with a No. 4 hook and a Bass Assassin Crappie Panfish Assassin Shad or plastic tube, he adds on a 2- or 2 1/2-inch minnow.

When he's casting or trolling with a 3-inch Yum Walleye Grub, Whitehead opts for a 1- to 1 1/4-inch minnow. He will also use the smaller minnow for vertical jigging, since this tactic tends to generate reaction strikes from aggressive fish. If he uses a Yum Vibra King Tube, Whitehead matches it with a 1 3/4- or 2-inch minnow.

A 2-inch minnow also produces the most bites for Whitehead when he is slow-trolling during the colder months.

"I believe crappie want a little bit bigger bait to hit when it's cold," reasons Whitehead. "Their metabolism is slowing down when the water is getting in the low 50s. They might only hit twice a day, and if they get a big bite the first time they feed, they are full then."

The Alabama guide uses an Eagle Claw 1/0 Aberdeen hook for all of his minnow tactics. He sometimes adds color to his bait by using red, chartreuse, blue or gray hooks.

Murky water also causes Whitehead to rely on a larger minnow, which is easier for crappie to home in on during this low-visibility situation. He usually employs a bobber and a minnow on a hook during the springtime when the water is dirty. Although he can detect strikes easier with a smaller float, Whitehead opts for a larger bobber when dipping in dirty water with a big minnow.

"That minnow will pull the cork down if you use too small of a bobber," warns Whitehead.
Minnow size can also change the mood of the predator. Lindsey recalls one trip last fall when he ran out of larger minnows and had to use the smaller ones remaining in his bucket.

"I was still catching fish, but not as often," he remembers. "The fish were not as aggressive. So I think putting the right size minnow on is really important to get a good bite. A lot of times crappie will play with the little minnow, or they'll grab a piece of the tail and pull the whole minnow off and you won't even know it. But on those larger shiners, it seems like they don't want to lose any of the bait, so they gulp it down."

Sunfish Baits
Bait size should be less of an issue with sunfish since they are so aggressive. However, choosing the right size bait will help you catch bigger sunfish and increase your hook-ups, too.

Lindsey also guides for bream on his home waters and seines creeks for crayfish measuring about 1 inch long.

"That is the best bait in the world for shellcrackers," says Lindsey. "Bluegill don't really care for them though."

When shellcrackers or redear sunfish are bedding, Lindsey sets up his clients with the small crayfish set below a small oblong bobber. He tries to keep the small crayfish suspended a couple of inches off the bottom to detect strikes easier, since shellcrackers tend to swallow the crustacean without running off with it. This setup causes the cork to move a bit, which indicates a bite when the shellcracker sucks in the crayfish.

Lindsey's favorite baits for bluegill are small gray crickets. Most crickets available in bait-and-tackle stores are uniform in size, but Lindsey notices the plumpest crickets in his bait container usually trigger bites better than the smaller ones.

Red wigglers and night crawlers also entice sunfish to bite, but hooking these fish can be a problem if you use too large of a worm.

"You just need to use little pieces of a night crawler," suggests Lindsey. "The rest is wasted because the fish will grab that worm and pull it off the hook and you'll never even know it."

The Louisiana guide uses the same tackle for his shellcracker and bluegill tactics. He puts his crayfish and crickets on a long-shank bream hook, attaches a small split shot about 2 inches above the hook and clips a small Styrofoam bobber on his 4-pound test line.
Using live bait remains a sure-fire way to catch panfish. If you become more selective about bait size, you'll consistently bring home more tasty fillets for dinner.