Bait Size Selection: The Long and Short of It

by Gary Droze

I once registered for a local 5K road race under the pseudonym of “Cy Smatterz” (say it quickly a few times). Back then: a limp version of cleverness. Now: a reminder that bait or lure size can be a significant factor in both attracting and landing fish, especially as fall arrives and spotted seatrout more aggressively target mullet and other finned forage. I’ve slung baitfish as small as your pinkie and as large as a Ball Park Jumbo Frank for trout and reds in autumn. All sizes can earn strikes, and on the best days, it matters little what you put in front of hungry predators.
However, the best days – by definition – are rare. More often, the conditions will conspire to make it worthwhile for you to consciously move up or down when sizing your offerings. Some questions to ask yourself, which could influence your decision:

Is the water surface calm, roiled, or choppy?

Is the sky clear and sunny, or cloudy and dark?

What is the water clarity like?

Will the tidal flow be weak or strong?

Will I mostly be on wide open zones (flats, rivers) or tighter areas (creeks)?

When am I going to quit talking to myself and go fishing already?

That last one was only partly in jest; it is certainly possible to over-think all things fishing. So, I’ll instead generalize and lay out two hypothetical extreme situations which call for, respectively, smaller or larger baits.

Situation #1: Let’s Get Small. It’s a clear, cloudless day. There’s hardly enough breeze to push a no-see-um along, and swimming pool-clear water is inching around the curves of a shallow, undersized tidal creek. To boot, the creek is gradually draining, so very little gap now exists between the stream surface and the underwater vegetation that holds both predator and prey. Nice catchables hold in water like this, but they may spook if you chunk a hefty bait, anvil-style, into their realm. In clear, lazily flowing water, an upper slot red will happily scarf up a two-inch mudminnow that drifts into his ambush path, but you need to be sneaky. I am often on my hands and knees when making these presentations. Note also that a smallish bait allows for an immediate hookset, before the predator can get tan- gled up in the grass and break off.

Situation #2: Supersize Me! The sky is darkly clouded, even threatening. You’re getting spanked by rain, and the water surface is macheted by the wind. What the deuce are you doing out here? Oh yeah: tricking your largest trout ever, because the conditions have emboldened it to spring for – or rather, “fall” for, this being October – the flats equivalent of the 5 dol- lar footlong. Troutmonster won’t even notice the 5/0 wide gap hook sticking out the eye socket of your freelined meal-sized mullet. And you won’t even notice the rotten weather, especially if the bodacious hit comes on top.

Both ends of the bait size spectrum can produce, but I’m partial to Situation #2, because if you get skunked, you can still take your mullet home for the smoker.

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