Do you match the hatch?

[Dave]

That is do you fish plugs/lures imitating the bait that is prevalent/present? Peanuts are around, the mullet are making their appearence and before long the herring will be dropping out. I find that at this time of year more than any other I am more productive when matching/imitating the present bait than at other times of the year. R.M. Smith has just put out a nice mullet pattern swimmer and I along with many find his Big Eye swimmers to be a productive plug. It seems it would only make sense to fish one of these along with a Big Eye Peanut. I also have a fat, stubby Hab's needle with a shape, color hues and white saddle hackle that I am looking forward to fishing. I find this also to be a good time for Pt Jude butterfish lures. When the herring drop out I have several blueback/river herring plugs from different builders that have produced for me that get pressed into service. I'm not saying this is all I fish and that this is the only way to go but again I feel I produce more when matching from say mid/late Sept thru mid Nov than any other time of the year. I still take my same basic arsenal that has produced for me based on location and conditions but do more matching/imitating around this time of year. The fish definately seem to be more aggressive and I feel that the staging and heavy feeding for the migration come into play. What's your take on this?

[Pete_G]

I probably don't match the hatch as much as I should.

It's easy to get hung up fishing big plugs and there's no question it works, but I know full well the damage something like a Yozuri Mag Darter does, both in quantity and also quality. Ever notice how much that thing looks like a mullet?

The Tattoo 2 oz. Darter in mullet should be making it's debut tomorrow at the SWE as well....

[rirockhound]

Almost never, at least not right away...
i.e. in clouds of peanuts a big danny can be killer...
in mullet... the opposite is usually true and a bomber can be killah~