Recently I was asked about what lures most closely resemble bay anchovies (glass minnows), and other early spring forage species. While matching the hatch is a good method, we don’t need to over do it. We’ve found that getting the general size and idea of the lure is sufficient to fool fish into biting.
Spring along the coast means one thing… an influx of a several different species into the bays and estuaries. Getting the size right is a large part of matching the hatch and in the spring that will mean duplicating the sizes of the few to several juvenile species coming into the bays. As we mentioned last month, bay anchovies will be entering the bay. These are small, silvery, darting, and sometimes erratic baitfish. In April they typically range in size from one inch and will grow over the summer to near three inches. As with any baitfish they tend to have a vibrating tail when swimming slowly, and when frantic dart so fast that no tail vibration can be evident. I mention these two scenarios to give us a clue into selecting a lure to mimic this.
We’ve already mentioned that most forage will be smaller this time of year, so let’s start by selecting a smaller lure. Most of the bait will be in the two – three inch size range so anything shorter than the typical average size lure will fit the bill. Examples of this would be a super spook junior as a top-water or a small pencil popper. Pencil poppers can be worked very erratically or in a walk the dog manner. In rougher water the Mirrolure She ‘Pup’ works well. Each of the above is sized at less than three inches and will present well in a match the hatch scenario. Casting these smaller presentations is more easily performed with a precision baitcast reel like the Lew’s line of reels.
For soft plastic baits there are two options. Glass minnows and menhaden are baitfish and many times a vibrating tail lure will give the desired effect when fish slowly. Something like a Texas Tackle Factory killer flats minnow, or the Stanley wedgetail (three and half inch size) will be a good match. Ironically, using a straight or ‘rat tail’ soft plastic can also mimic the darting effect of baitfish and shrimp. Straight tail lures are suitable look-alikes for crustaceans, darting baitfish, and even eels. If you find the glass minnows and there is an active bite happening the Mirrolure ‘Litl John’ is a great producer, and the KellyWiggler Ball Tail Shad are a great clone near juvenile needle gar and bally-hoo.
Finally, let’s wrap up with colors. In the spring water clarity is increasingly turbid (dirty, opaque, sediment, and algae enriched). The general rule for color selection is a great place to start in these conditions. Dark day or off color water: Dark Bait. Bright day: Bright Bait. Pick a couple light colors and a couple dark ones and go get them.