Some of the things I’ve learned over the years as a fisherman and bait maker:

 One of the main things i look at when building a bait and fishing a bait is action and profile. Overall, profile seems to be neglected a lot. Last week I went fishing for spots in the river as they tend to be a little pickier than lake fish. I think it has a lot to do with forage availability when competing with giant stripers. I went loaded with 8 and 9-inch baits, trying to at least draw some out to get some feedback. In the past, I’ve had a lot of success with big baits for the bigger spotted bass, so I don’t normally buy into using smaller baits for spots. I’ve gotten them on 11 inch trick.

Spots are way more adventurous and aggressive than largemouth. So I started off with 9 inch trick and 8 inch wide glide. Hours later, no bites in key river seams. Started downsizing. Hour and a half… no bites on the 7 inch. Ok let’s try the 6…

Pay dirt! Things started popping. Got 2 and missed a mule. Had several other small fish. Even fishing back down stream (same current seams) I fished previously, the smaller profile was key. Thats why we do our baits in many different sizes and in 1 inch increments… because it does make a difference.

This is one of many instances where this occurs, for whatever reason, which I think it had more to do with forage size availability than anything, as massive stripers were loaded in this river all summer long. Just a theory not a proven fact. Sometimes small adjustments pay off. I’d rather have different size glides than different style glides or different colors. To me profile size is 10 times more important than color whether you just want to get bit or fish for trophy size fish. At least in my previous guiding and non-guiding experiences.

I will also add it works in reverse as well. Sometimes bigger is better. In fact, many times it is. That’s why I mostly start big and work my way down. When you get into these wolfpacks of fish with various sizes, these fish can get in a feeding frenzy under your bait. Many times, the bigger bait will wean off that smaller fish, allowing the biggest fish a chance at your offering… while if you were using a smaller bait you would catch the small fish and get to watch the bigger fish swim off . Double edge sword sometimes.  I hope this gets you thinking more. Some of us bait builders fish…

Anyone else experience size profile differences??