Lure size is key during the heat of summer

Photo: Hunter Uzzle get’s unclose and personal with a red caught on a top water plug.

Capt. Uzzle

For the Record

Lure size is key during the heat of summer...

We have all had the perfect conditions not pay dividends, everything seems to be

right but the results just don’t show anything for the effort. This scenario

plays itself out many times over during an angler’s career, especially in the

summer. During extended periods when rain and runoff get scarce and the water

clarity gets so good it borders on ridiculous many fishermen have a hard time

catching fish. Upper coast anglers especially struggle with these conditions

because they are not anywhere close to normal for the water we fish. In

situations like these it pays to down size your offerings, smaller baits are

often just the ticket to get fish to bite.

Fly fishermen for years have understood this concept better than anyone, after

all they are the folks who patterned the phrase “match the hatch”. In the early

part of the summer the finfish like shad and pogies will smaller than during the

late summer and early fall. The incredible population of these small baitfish is

what makes the predator fish like trout and redfish so thick in our part of the

world. Lower coast venues don’t have anywhere near the populations of shad that

Sabine and Calcasieu possess so understanding and knowing the size of these

baitfish can be critical to getting a bite. On more than one occasion I have

seen first hand what happens when you down size just a little and make that

perfect adjustment. The fish seem to get locked in and all those near misses

become bone jarring strikes.

For the angler who desires to catch a little bit of everything, big fish and

numbers, the junior sized plugs like the Mirr-o-lure She Dog and Rapala

Skitterwalk Junior are extremely tough to beat. The smaller profile on these

plugs will catch more fish in clear water on a day to day basis than just about

anything else this side of a bait stand. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife

surveys of stomach contents from both speckled trout and redfish the average

size food found in these fish was 3 inches long. Sure trout and reds will eat

bigger offerings, but they rarely turn down that size bait when they a get a

chance. For my own personal preference I would rather throw the smaller plugs,

they seem to give me better results all the way around on both numbers and big

fish. If you really think about it throwing the smaller plugs makes plenty of

sense, you can easily throw a bait that’s too big but it’s tough to throw one

that’s too small.

The clear water small plug presentations that really shine on the lower coast

can be used effectively on any body of water. On Calcasieu during the summer

months when the trout are shadowing big schools of shad you can bet the smaller

plugs are going to produce. I have seen fishermen who just took their offerings

and scaled them down one size literally save fishing trips. Back off the big

plugs and get small if you want to really put the odds in your favor.