By: Joe Sheaffer
“You just can’t eat one”, the old saying that was used by one of the many potato chip companies over the years. Whether at a family get together, picnic, holiday party or just watching TV, we love our snacks.
Chips, nuts, candy, popcorn and so many others all fit the bill when we are in that mood. Small, delicious morsels of goodness can really hit the spot when we need a fix between meals, or we get the munchies. If we think about it, a small, tasty piece of food is easy to eat and can make us feel so content. No effort or preparation, just grab and eat. These types of thoughts can wander through my brain after a fishing adventure or experience.
Recently I was fishing with a good friend along a line of Mangroves in shallow water. We caught a few fun sized snook (20-24 inches), enjoying a solid day of fishing. Because the water was shallow with little current, I was using a ⅛ oz jig with a 2.5-inch paddle tail. A small presentation but the fish were definitely keyed in on that lure. We caught a couple more decent snook and trout and my friend hooked into a nice slot size snook. He was using a slightly larger lure, causing me to think, maybe I should tie on something larger. Luckily, I didn’t make the change. A few moments later I made a cast into a sandy area along the Mangroves and hooked into a very nice over slot snook.
After a lengthy battle and a few anxious moments, I was able to land a beautiful heavy snook. What a blessing it was to hook, fight and land that fish. Then it popped into my mind, why would that giant fish eat that very small lure.
The next thought was potato chips. I love potato chips and big fish like their snacks too! I have hooked and landed plenty of large fish, snook, reds, trout, and tarpon to name a few on small lure presentations.
These big fish like easy meals and rarely pass on a quick fix. There are definitely times when big baits are the deal but don’t be surprised if you hook up on a quality fish using a smaller lure presentation. Just keep casting, you never know.