Have you ever seen anglers using lures that are over sized for the fish species they are targeting? I have. They seem to think that the larger the lure they use the larger the fish they will catch. Is this true? My Answer: Yes and No…
Why I say Yes: Smaller fish will usually not strike an over-sized lure because they are frightened and/or the lure won’t fit in their mouth. The larger fish may be the only ones interested in a larger lure simply because they are not afraid of it. You may not get as many bites, but the ones that do will most likely be larger fish.
Why I say No: When I catch fish to eat. I always look inside their stomachs when gutting them. The food/prey that I find inside is about the same size in both smaller and larger fish. This simply means that they are feeding on the same food source. Sometimes I find larger prey in the stomach of the larger fish, but this is quite rare. Yes, the larger fish have a higher chance of eating larger prey, but in most cases they eat whatever is most abundant and available. They eat whatever food they come across and are able to catch.
Conclusion: While fishing with an over sized lure may help you keep the smaller fish from biting, it will not necessarily *improve* your chance to catch a larger fish.
What I Recommend: The key is to match the size of the fish’s natural prey. If you are catching too many small ones go up one size at a time until you are no longer hooking unwanted fish.
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I’m just out wandering around the fishing sphere and ran across your website here. Hi!
Now, I fly fish 99% of the time, but I have to agree with you about trying to keep as close to the fish, any fishes, natural prey or food source. In my fishing world, getting to put a big stonefly dry fly on is good for pushing the little tikes out of the way for the big ones ~