Wow nice fish! What'd the little guys take, the buzzbait? there's a pond in cape cod where there are some BIG Pickerel and LMB but the best option is live Shad...no lives for me thank you! But ALL of the fish seem to be able to throw the hook! I hooked many small LMB, 6 inches long, and a monster that threw the hook. A few REAL tiny guys hit chartruse twister tails, fished on a baithook, not a jighead, using just a snap swivel as wieght. Kinda fun, they have HUGE mouths for their size. When you get one you have to run ashore RIGHT AWAY, cuz especially little ones are great head shakers and will usually throw the hook after 30 seconds so you need for them to land on he ground. They don't have enough wieght to press down and loose slime from the sand, it doesn't stick. lol.
They are not more than 4 inches, so they would make great bait for some big Bass/Pickerel.
Recently at Prospect Park I caught another tiny one on a spoon. They have a huge mouth...the little guy gulped it down almost to the gill and I had to reach in and get it. I also hooked a HUGE one on a rapala floater crankbait, but he jumped and threw the hook...