I fully agree with Nico about the size. When I started throwing "big" baits I started with a (2) 7" Slammers. They both started life painted Midnight Purple or whatever that color was called. I soon painted 1 white. I threw them for 4 months, atleast 4 hours every week, with an average close to 8 hours/week (figure about 110 hours total). I caught over 40 fish on them. Unfortunately the biggest was 4.6# on the white one. I could have caught that many fish, of that quality, on most normal bass lures.
Then 1 night I met up with Fish JC. He noticed that my white Slammer was looking pretty bad from hitting rocks etc. and I noticed 1 of the hooks was curled over after missing a hit. He offered to let me use a 4Eyes and he'd fix the Slammer when he got back to his shop. He handed me a 4Eyes that was a little over 9" and weighed enough that the rod I had been using with the 7" Slammer could barely handle it.
The very next night I caught my PB Bass, an 11.9# Monster that would have never eaten the 7" I'm convinced. That same week I caught another bass over 6# on the 4Eyes. I still have and occasionally throw the purple 7" Slammer. It still hasn't produced a 5#. The White Slammer that Fish JC re-finished I gave to a freind who has thrown it a little, complaining "It's just too big and I'd rather catch numbers than fish all day for 1 or 2 bites." To that I reply "Big baits = Big fish and that one is just too small!"
Tight lines,
Wade
PS: Sorry about the novel, I just wanted to illustrate the point.