Spring in New England offers a variety of options for fishing for striped bass. During the spring of 2007, it was a great season and stripers up to 25 pounds in shallow water were not that difficult to catch using artificial lures. One particular day it seemed like there was a shortage. The fish were all but nonexistent.

As the day proceeded in the sun got higher, the water became easier to see through it was simple to see fish moving along in small groups. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried to catch of fish they were simply not interested in any of my lures. It was almost as if they were distracted by something that I could not see.

As it turned out, this was persuasively what was happening. I tried and tried, and after landing a small specimen I discovered it had been feeding on tiny translucent crabs. I found this out after a coughed up his breakfast on the deck of the boat and his secret was out. This was definitely a case that unless you wanted to go home fishless you would have to use the smallest presentation lure possible.

These are precisely the situations we you can steal a lesson from the fly fishing world. It is called “match the hatch” and in essence what it means is that you need to find the bait that is similar to what the fish are feeding on. Not only does the size have to match, but the appearance has to be close. It has often been noted that some fish neglect any offerings that are not similar in nature to the current insect hatch. Saltwater species also share this trait. They get fixated on a certain size and type of bait and nothing else will attract them.

This does seem to be more prevalent in the Northeast, especially for those who favor salt ponds and estuaries. For example, the worm hatch that occurs in the salt ponds will tend to distract the fish and unless your bait closely mimics these worms, you’ll find little success. This is typically not problematic for fly fishermen, since tiny worm imitations of 2 to 3 inches long are not a problem for them. However, those who favor spinning rods are likely to find themselves in quite a predicament. For those anglers, they not only have to scale down the lure but also their tackle.

Spinning rods using 10 pound test braided line is a great way to cast with these offerings. The advantage is they can still snag a large fish in a salt pond. Some anglers find that The Lunker City Slug-O in the 3” size using an offset worm hook makes a reasonable substitution for the cinder worm. There are certainly other soft plastic lures that will work well; it is more a matter of finding the size and color that works best.

One fish that is generally not particular will from time to time refused to strike at most offerings that do not mimic the tiny baitfish. This is the bluefish. For most, they find that this happens as the season grows longer and baitfish invades more shallow areas. Season fishermen should consider a tackle box that is stocked with small spoons, as well as soft, small plastics which will allow you to match the bait species that your fish are interested in feeding on. You can pretty much determine what size, shape, and color will serve you best if you can determine what the fish regurgitate on the boat deck.

The situations are not unique, and nearly every saltwater angler will run into them at one time or another. For whatever reason, fish will be particular at times however, are prepared fishermen will likely have the resources to still get the job done. These fishermen will almost always have the tools on hand to effectively “match the hatch”.

When you are out saltwater fishing it is important to make sure you have the right supplies. Some of the most popular brands include Shimano Saltwater Reels, Penn Saltwater Reels, and Daiwa Reels.