Does size matter?

[Snag King]

Im amassing a small fortune in standard and scorpion size Stinger spoons,as well as wolverines, Pa's and everything else I can find, and just realized maybe I should be using the Scorpion size spoons rather than the standards. My wife and I was trolling A can Saturday and was using Killer Bee Pattern, and according to the radio transmissions others were limiting on these. We caught one in 5 hours, tried all depths, no luck.......only thing I can think of we might have been doing different was using the Standard size. Maybe size may coincide with the time of year, match the hatch so to speak, I religiously come to this sight everyday. (As well as Deans sight) after I get off work and have learned a great deal, so I thought you guys would know which size we should be using. We have both sizes but for some reason I usually grab the bigger ones, thinking they can see it better. Am I making a big mistake???

[SUPERTROLLER]

Looks like you answered your own question. Yes, the scorpion spoons have been very popular. It also seems though that they catch alot of fish on them because so many people are using them. The smaller size probably would be closer to the size of the baitfish they are feeding on at this time of the year although it could be argued that this years preyfish are at their maximum size right now because they have not yet spawned. Those prey that have survived so far would be almost a full year old by now. Any of their parents that have been around for more than that time are also full grown. It could be that the walleye are just looking for a smaller niblet instead of the whole enchilada. Run some of the smaller sized ones next time and don't run any big ones. Force yourself to try something different. Then after you've caught a couple, switch over to the bigger size and see if they keep hitting and if your size fish gets bigger. Sometimes though, it pays to show them something different than the other boats. Maybe the bigger size will be better once the water warms up some more and they'll want a bigger meal. Always run a couple rods with the tried and true but don't get stuck in a rut where you think you HAVE to do a certain thing to catch fish. Be open to change and keep experimenting. I run things in the morning and then put them back on at noon sometimes and then they start nailing it. You've got to switch something when they stop hitting or it slows down. Might be speed, color, size, action, or depth. You'll just have to keep trying stuff to see what they want. I've guessed wrong more than I've guessed right over the years but some times I just over-analyze stuff instead of letting the fish decide for me. Watch your marks on the screen and see if they are high or low. Is the water cooler or warming up? Are the fish tight togther or scattered? Spread your lures to the side more if they are suspended and you're not marking many fish. Run baits shallower and speed up in the summer. Make them decide to hit it with a reaction and not give them too long to look at it. You can't go too fast for a fish that is hungry and wants to eat. For those deeper fish that are hugging bottom after a front goes through, Run stuff right in their face and stall it there with sharp turns. this drops it on the inside turns and speeds it away from them on the outisde turns. It's a good trigger when they're not active.

[Snag King]

Supertroller, Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. Your right, I seem to get stuck in rut and I'm sure it has cost me alot of fish. I usually try what is working for others and get frustrated when I can't duplicate their success.Sometimes I wonder just how much BS goes over the airways because we sure didn't see many nets out that day either. Thanks again..........John

[SUPERTROLLER]

We don't listen to the radio much. Even then we like to stick with our own program unless we see alot of nets getting wet consistently around us. Then we'll try to figure out the depth those people are catching and what presentation they're using. Can we do the same thing in our spots or are they on the only spot we know like that? We like to stay away from the crowds and don't move in on people. We'll duplicate their stuff in some other spot whenever possible if ours isn't going that day. I especially don't listen whenever charters are yacking back and forth about colors. They have been known to say one thing and really be telling their partner boats a different color code. You've got to know who ya can trust for good information. Let them know you really need some help learning and are willing to put in some time of your own. Give them good feedback and be honest when you catch fish. You'll find out who's trustworthy very soon and anyone that will want to help you out. I always tell guys what we were using and general locations. I only tell exact stuff to guys with kids or others that I know are going to truly need the help. Those people that are taking short cuts by just pumping me for info are going to get less. I ask 2 questions. How deep was bottom and how deep were the fish you caught? After that I'll go into my own knowledge about the lake and find those types of spots. If they want to tell me more info that's fine but I still like to fish away from the crowds and most of the time that's away from where these guys catch fish and tell everyone where it was.

For those that want to take a shot at me for being a net watcher/follower. No, I don't pull out the binoculars whenever I see someone catch a fish. If they are close enough to see, ya I'll look. What you'll never see though is us move on top of or in front of someone else's runs or drifts just to get in on their action. There are certain community holes where we all take our turns but that is different because it is assumed that we're all fishing the same spots there. We do our thing on our schedule and adjust strategy off of what we see and where we see others fishing. We move to areas that have not been hit for a while so they had a cooling off period. This is an inland lake and not lake Erie. We can see most of the anglers in our tournament at most of the times so we can tell where they are fishing and see if they're trolling, drifting or jigging. We're not copying them or moving onto their spots. It's more that we're monitoring what they're doing and playing off of them with a counter move.

Erie fish definitely show preferences for spoon size at times. Whether they want the smaller ones when they are feeding on shiners or if it's a factor of water clarity or ?? is a mystery to me. When the water is very clear, the flash off a small spoon may make it look bigger?

Two other things to play with are speed and leader length. There are days when we do better with 8 ft leads off the dipsies or jets rather than our 5-6 ft std.

A lot of times, the radio talk is accurate, it's just they are in the right location and you/me are not. Radio programs may work "well" because so many people all start doing the same thing, don't hesitate to do your own thing if the radio color/program of the day doesn't produce quickly. Same if your program stops working.

In addition to the ones mentioned, Silver Streaks are a very good spoon west and central.

Hope this helps a little.

gu