View Full Version : How big a Minniow
howler
03-30-2009, 04:36 PM
what would the biggest minnow you would consider using, I have some that are near 8 inches is that to big for a walleye, Or maybe a better question would be, "how big" would a walleye have to be to take this bait.
maxxum
03-30-2009, 04:54 PM
I know guys that use big minnows this time of year. They catch big fish! Fall and Spring is the time to bring out big bait. The places these guys go are deep holes after spawn where big girls go to rest after spawning. Hope that helps.
Hot Runr Guy
03-30-2009, 05:02 PM
I live by the credo that big bait=big fish! My brothers and I, when we fish in the log jams, get the biggest chubs we can buy, and suspend them under those 3" bobbers that guy's use for muskies. Takes a lot of weight to keep 'em down there, too.
HRG
The bigger the bait (minnow or other) the less the candidates are for catching. If using minnows I find a 3/8 with a 3" or less (even a leech) is fine almost anytime. My preference has been a slow moving Little Cleo or a Mimmic Minnow where you are able to cast or drift. In an area with smallies you may want to rethink this cuz they will g crazy on smaller offerings. My .02 worth
Outaline
03-30-2009, 08:11 PM
I generally try to get 6 inch Chub Minnows for fish 8 pounds and up. However, the biggest fish I never saw spooled me with 120 yards of 8 pound test, and the live chub was a 4 incher. . . neither back realing nor the drag nor following the fish in the boat with ETM could turn, stop, or hold that beast.
StriperChaser2
03-30-2009, 10:55 PM
what would the biggest minnow you would consider using, I have some that are near 8 inches is that to big for a walleye, Or maybe a better question would be, "how big" would a walleye have to be to take this bait.
I drag 9 - 12" gizzard shad and never get a walleye. Give them to me so I can use em.:grin:
stinkycat
03-31-2009, 06:27 AM
I never would have used such a big minnow but...... a couple of years ago we were fall fishing for pike in about 10' of water. We used "no" weight with steel leader and hook. We tipped the hook with 8"+ suckers and pitched them out over weeds..... let them sink....and then jigged upwards every no and then. Boy did we have a blast! Not one single pike but 9 eyes that the smallest was about 25".... we had 3 that went over 28". Haven't tried it since but plan to.
AllenW
03-31-2009, 07:31 AM
imho, big bait, big fish, less of them though...generally
You probably won't catch a 1.5# walleye on a 10-12" minnow, and you may catch a 27# musky on a crappie minnow (just ask the wife) but if I was going for that trophy fish, I'd start with big bait.
I think big fish get big by expending little energy and eating as big a fish as they can, usually anyway..
Or just use a swim bait and all your problems are solved.....:)
Al
Pooch
03-31-2009, 12:40 PM
On one lake we fish the camp owner swears by big sucker minnows. I've tried them and wasn't impressed. That said, I can't count the number of times I've had walleye regurgitate a very large (7 or 8") cisco or perch in the boat. So they obviously do eat really big forage. We all have been told that walleye will eat anything up to about their own size. Northern seem to hit anything regardless of size.
Pooch