Arizona . “ Shallow cranking in the fall is like peanut butter and jelly . When I am trying to match the smaller shad , I am quick to adjust to the junior if I ’ m not getting the bites I think I should .”
Bertrand adds that “ speed is your friend ” when fishing small crankbaits and jerkbaits . Fish ‘ em fast , he advises . Don ’ t give bass a chance to examine them .
Baitfish aren ’ t the only ittybitty critters available . Small bug and craw baits can be deadly when a major bug hatch is on or young crayfish are crawling . Wielding small topwater or subsurface baits during a mayfly hatch can ignite a hot bite when the entire bass population is ignoring conventional lures .
fooling pressured fish
The consensus among pros is that a prime reason small baits have proven so effective in recent years is because of fishing pressure .
“ We do a lot of downsizing out West for pressured fish , and in the East , too ,” Bertrand confirms . “ When we have to generate bites , going to smaller baits really helps .”
A tough smallmouth bite enlightened Clausen to the power of downsized baits more than 20 years ago .
“ I faced a hard bite at Havasu one year ,” he recalls . “ Caught all of my fish on crappie jigs . You can outsmart a fish better with small baits . They are harder to see .” That may be why bass seem not to get conditioned to soft plastics resembling abundant “ snack ” items .
“ Bass don ’ t get wise to little things ,” says Schmidt . “ They just don ’ t seem to get educated to small baits .”
seeing is believing
The “ small stuff ” trend has had no greater catalyst than forward-facing sonar . FFS observations of bass trailing schools of small baitfish show that even big bass will reach into the popcorn bowl .
“ Before , we assumed you needed big baits to get big fish ,” says Lucas Murphy , brand manager for Strike King . “ We ’ re seeing an influx of super-small-profile baits worked in conjunction with FFS and still catching big fish . Small baits like the 2.75-inch Rage Swimmer catch big fish . Even Mr . Crappie baits are taking tournament-quality fish .”
Forward-facing sonar has given anglers confidence with baits they might not have even considered presenting to bass before .
“ We can see how fish respond to a bait and how it ’ s presented ,” says Kyle Peterson , bait designer for Pure Fishing . “ Today , we can judge a bait not just by our catches but by how we see the fish react to it .”
Historically , tournament anglers might have been reluctant to use valuable time casting a small bait , which could generate the occasional big strike but generally seemed to appeal to fish too small to make them money . Now , an angler experienced reading an FFS screen can get a real-time read on the size of his target .
“ From a competitive standpoint , we need visual confirmation that we are not throwing little baits to little fish ,” Clausen says . “ When you ’ re fishing with FFS , you want to know what size fish you are casting to .”
This spring , Berkley released a series of “ FFS Optimized ” lures . No surprise , among the new baits were a pair of offerings with miniature size options : the PowerBait Power Switch , a soft-plastic “ hover ” bait , and the Finisher , a hard bait that comes in 2- and 2 3 / 4-inch models .
LUKE CLAUSEN ’ S
Z-MAN NED TRD Made from tough , buoyant , ElazTech material , this stubby worm swims horizontally in the water column and quivers tail up on a lake bottom .
Z-MAN TRD BUGZ Clausen ranks the 2.75-inch , beaver-style BugZ among his favorite bottom baits . “ On a 3 / 16-ounce jig , I ’ ve fished it 30 and 40 feet down ,” he says . “ Great , too , trailing a skirted finesse jig like a Dirty Jigs Finesse Jig .”
COLOR : PURPLE DEATH
COLOR : GOBY BRYANT
COLOR : THE DEAL
Z-MAN BABY BALLERZ Finicky bass readily hit this 2-inch , ball-tailed “ panfish ” bait aboard a 1 / 32-ounce Micro Shad HeadZ jig .
COLOR : GREEN PUMPKIN GOBY
Z-MAN TRD GOBYZ Already overtaking the walleye world in the Northwest , Clausen expects this new goby / sculpin imitator to be a “ smallmouth killer ” in 2024 .
APRIL-MAY 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 49