This past weekend the family and I were in Florida finishing our vacation when my son Mason wanted to do some surf fishing. We headed down to the beach and started casting out some fairly large tackle hoping to catch a few whiting or pompano. After a while without catching fish, Mason changed to smaller line, smaller tackle, and smaller baits and he started catching fish. It was pretty exciting for me to see him make this adjustment and start catching fish on his own. It got me to thinking about how many bass fishermen might not make this adjustment.
I have heard my fellow pros say it — “I downsize when it’s tough” — and that’s because it's true. Fishing can be great from one day to the next, or even hour to hour. For example, you might be catching them great on a crankbait all day, when all of a sudden it just stops and gets tough. You can run to new spots and try to repeat the pattern, but even if I plan to do that I’ll downsize and try to get a few more in the boat before I go. Earlier this year, I was catching them very well during practice with a big Livingston crankbait, but on tournament day they just wouldn’t eat it. I downsized all my gear to a spinning rod and reel, 8-pound line, and a dropshot rig and was able to salvage my day with a decent limit.
We say it all the time — the drop shot, the shaky head, weightless stick bait are all great baits to downsize to. Don’t stop there — be sure to downsize your line and your hook as well. As an alternative, you can go beyond soft plastics and change to smaller crankbaits, smaller spinnerbaits, smaller jigs, even crappie baits.
Remember that big fish don’t only eat big baits. I’ve caught 40-pound grass carp on Eagle Claw #8 Aberdeen hooks, and I’ve caught some of my biggest bass on super small baits. The idea isn’t to lose focus on catching big fish and try catching small fish; it is to catch fish. You can still target big fish only doing it with smaller baits. I don’t remember exactly who said it, but there is a saying I have repeated to myself for years: “You can catch a big fish on a little hook, but you can’t catch a little fish on a big hook.”
It’s a saying that has helped me turn bad days into fantastic days on the water.
