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Big bass will eat smaller shad more often than big shad , because there ’ s more opportunity to do so . A big swimbait might be ignored if bass are actively feeding on 2- inch shad .
“ Big baits for big fish ”
o doubt you ’ ve heard this adage before . Probably multiple times .
On the face of it , it makes sense . A big fish probably doesn ’ t want to waste its energy only to eat a snack . It ’ d much rather eat one big meal to hold itself over for a while . And who could blame it ? If you had to chase down your next meal , would you want to run after a French fry or an entire cheeseburger ?
Hence why “ trophy bass hunters ” are often seen throwing massive swimbaits , the largest crankbaits and bulky jigs to try to coax that one giant bite .
But just because that ’ s what conventional wisdom and everyone at your local tackle shop says doesn ’ t always make it so .
“ Everyone likes seeing pictures of bass with giant shad sticking out of their throats ,” said MLF pro Brian Latimer . “ But when you catch a fish – even a really big one – they typically regurgitate shad that are 2 to 4 inches . That ’ s what they ’ re usually eating .”
Big bass will eat smaller offerings ( and often do so more than larger prey ) simply because there ’ s more opportunities to do so . There are far more 2-inch shad in a lake than there are 6-inchers .
And in delving into this more , you begin to realize there are actually times top pros like Latimer , Jeff Sprague , Jeremy
“ The slender body of a jerkbait is far less intrusive than a fatter crankbait .”
Lawyer and others will actually downsize their offerings with the goal of targeting bigger fish .
How and when do they do this ? That ’ s what we asked them .
The dawning age of small ?
If you watched any of the Bass Pro Tour or Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit events to start the 2022 season , you probably noticed a couple interesting trends .
First , there were some absolutely giant fish caught , like Michael Neal ’ s 8-pounder that helped him win the Pro Circuit event on Sam Rayburn , or Randy Howell ’ s back-toback days with double-digit lunkers during Stage One of the Bass Pro Tour in Louisiana .
The second , though , is the sudden influx of finesse and / or smaller techniques catching these fish .
Neal caught his giant on a jerkbait and commented earlier in the same event that he felt like he was fishing on Lake St . Clair thanks to him and almost everyone else using spinning gear on a legendary bigfish , power-fishing lake .
Meanwhile , Howell caught his 10-11 on a lipless crankbait ( not exactly a large offering ) and his 12-14 on a Yamamoto Senko , which he chose for its diminutive vibration ( more on that in a bit ).
That ’ s three fish eclipsing 30 pounds in total , all caught on subtle and / or smaller
APRIL-MAY 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 63