As the fishing turns into summertime patterns, the need to size your baits properly will never be stronger. There is no doubt in my mind that we are trending toward a time of year that you can be sized incorrectly and struggle all day because of it. Many people believe in the old fly fishing concept known as “match the hatch.” Certainly this concept has merit but as we turn to summertime fishing this old cliché losses a little strength in that argument. 

There is probably no bait that catches more fish in the summertime than a big worm, sized from 10 to 12 inches can be a deadly fish catcher this time of year. I also find that as the day moves from dawn to dust sizing changes on baits especially in the heat of the day. I find that smaller is better in the mid day and bigger is better early in the day especially with soft plastic baits. 

It is also true and proven that big baits catch big fish, if you don’t believe it just look at the size of some of today’s crank baits, with the size of many of them and the fact that they catch big fish is pretty well known. The swim bait fisherman also proves that the bigger 7 inch swim bait is more attractive to the bigger fish, you might get less bites but the quality of the bite is always better with big swim bait. I also think the converse is true, if you’re looking for bites and quality isn’t really the issue, go to small worms, or five inch swim baits, downsize your crank baits and watch the smaller fish respond to the down sized presentation. 

Lastly the “match the hatch,” concept holds its place in many situations in the summertime, this being when you’re seeing schooling and chasing of bait. This to me is the ideal time to size according to what size bait the bass are feeding on. Wrong sizing here can cost you many bites, size to big and your missing fish, but size according to the bait and you’re catching them.

To Fish With Captain Mike Gerry on Lake Guntersville visit; fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com or facebook.com/FishGuntersville