Again throw out the word hatch & insert the word prey now you have the correct phrase when talking bass; Match the Prey.  

Catt, you seem to fish worms alot and do well, but are there alot of worms swimming around in your lake?

Again throw out the word hatch & insert the word prey now you have the correct phrase when talking bass; Match the Prey.

This is one of the few times I am gonna disagree with yo Catt. Matching the prey is not always necessary from what I can see. It seems in some situations Not matcvhing the prey helps also. I fish two kinds of water here, Lakes/ponds and rivers .

There are worms in our lakes especially after rain, it is one of the patterns I use during and after rain storms , b/c I have proven to myself, that fishing t rigged worms , by runooffs with the right cover is highly productive

I also fish some large worms, when there has been no rain and *** Salty Triks and have been very sucessful

I sitll see a bit of evidence developing in my logs that suggest that if the fish are feeding on some minnows, and i have a bait , even one not resembeling what they are eating, Larger Size and profile for example, and I give that bait the right action to convince the bass it is wounded and easy prey They will bite it.

Some of our lakes here and the great lakes do have shad, but most of our smaller lakes have minnows,crawfish and bluegills as the primary source and none of that California or Deep South "schooling" and feeding applies to this part of the country.

I think where the misunderstanding is from the word hatch; in fly fishing one is trying to match tiny young flies that have just hatched. In a basses world where they are feeding on some type of bait fish so if one tried to match the hatch one would be talking about a bait of less than an inch. Instead of matching the hatch when it comes to bass one should try to match the present prey but do not try to match it exactly instead lean towards bigger.

Match or not matters very little if you don't get the two most important variables correct.

Depth and speed.

I think where the misunderstanding is from the word hatch; in fly fishing one is trying to match tiny young flies that have just hatched. In a basses world where they are feeding on some type of bait fish so if one tried to match the hatch one would be talking about a bait of less than an inch. Instead of matching the hatch when it comes to bass one should try to match the present prey but do not try to match it exactly instead lean towards bigger.

DAHH!! Gottcha Tommyl; I read faster than I can digest sometimes thanks for the highlight I did not pay attention to the most important thing in your post! 8-)

I read an article in Bassmaster a few years ago, and I can't remember who the pro was, maybe Bill Dance? Anyway he said if there are 500 shad in a school would you want your bait to look just like the shad or would you want it to look different? I think there are times when you do need to match the hatch but a lot of the times it needs to be different to get bit.

you sure it was Bill?

Because that's who said that you should make it stand out!

I think it was on VS.com That I saw him say that, I can't find the video any more.

I have used that term, Match the Hatch, a few times, but its really not the message that most try to convey when talking about bass.

Most trout streams have abundantly clear water where details can mean the difference in putting numbers in the creel or nothing at all.

Bass and trout are two different species, their habits are different, they feed different.      

 When going to a new lake, we try to take seasonal patterns, seasonal habits, and match the conditions to the type of prey that are normally the main staple at that time.

If a bass can get it into its mouth, and it swims, its food to a bass.   So numerous baits will always catch fish most days.

When bass are lethargic, we say slow down with plastics, or throw reaction baits to entice a strike.    

When bass have been highly pressured or the bite is slow,  try finesse, light line, weightless.    

To me, its trying to match the current conditions to the seasonal movements of the bass or forage in hopes of raising the odds.

Thank you once again Matt.

The biggest problem with matching the hatch is with the fisherman. NOT THE FISH. An angler will pick up a jig and think he is matching a crawfish. Ever watch a bass in an aquarium? Feed the bass crawfish for a while. Now throw the jig in. You could probably catch him 1 or 2 times but he will quickly learn that the jig is bad. He probably never though the jig was a dad in the first place. He just thought it was food he will continue to eat the dads but will not eat the jig anymore. Have you guys ever watches lures swimming under water? I'll let you in on a little secret. Almost all crankbaita and lures in general look very little like the bait they are suposed to be imitating. I believe you arent giving the fish enough credit. They dont think your shad colored crank is a shad. they just see something come by and they react. When you truley do match the hatch you will see the results. If bass are busting on shad and you snag a shad and throw it out there, guess what, you will get bit. If you throw a chrome rattle trap you are only slightly matching the hatch. In most cases the angler is NOT matching when he thinks he is. Bass will eat almost anything if you find them in the right place and right time. Its when they arent actively feeding that a truly realistic bait in shape, size,color, and action will get bit when other wont.

very , very well said !!! couldn't agree more  

I have used that term, Match the Hatch, a few times, but its really not the message that most try to convey when talking about bass.

Most trout streams have abundantly clear water where details can mean the difference in putting numbers in the creel or nothing at all.

Bass and trout are two different species, their habits are different, they feed different.      

When going to a new lake, we try to take seasonal patterns, seasonal habits, and match the conditions to the type of prey that are normally the main staple at that time.

If a bass can get it into its mouth, and it swims, its food to a bass. So numerous baits will always catch fish most days.

When bass are lethargic, we say slow down with plastics, or throw reaction baits to entice a strike.

When bass have been highly pressured or the bite is slow, try finesse, light line, weightless.

To me, its trying to match the current conditions to the seasonal movements of the bass or forage in hopes of raising the odds.

I had the question when Catt said to substitute "prey" for "hatch" and I have it again after reading this.

How is what you describe doing when going to fish a new pond for bass any different than what a trout fisherman would do when heading out to a new river? Are trout not feeding on prey? (Agreed, an adult shad has not recently hatched, semantics as far as I am concerned)

Its october I bring BWO dries, emergers, and nymphs. Thats the seasonal pattern, matching the typical condition. Sometimes you may find a fish rising and maybe you can't get it to eat a dry, so you throw on an emerger, imitate a crippled adult to induce a strike. That doesnt work throw on a beetle, something they remember eating all summer and get bit, thats your reaction bait. Maybe you go a size smaller, drop down a tippet size to finesse them.

A wooly bugger or muddler minnow probably immitates the local forage as well as a crankbait does, not all that well, but they present many triggers that get fish to eat, while hopefully not presenting enough negatives to throw them off.

Bass in clear water have as much time to inspect a lure as trout do, probably more because your typical trout fisherman is fishing flowing water, whereas your bass guy is tossing into a still pond. I think these are the situations where matching the hatch/prey may become critical though I have also experienced these situations where trout are actively feeding on thousands of hatching small mayflies so tossing something that sticks out is your only hope.

I don't have the answer, sometimes you match it, sometimes you dont, but I really don't think a trout feeds that differently than a bass. I have caught trout on mice flies, very large streamers that rival most swimbaits, and attractor dries that look like nothing they have ever seen before. If part if it looks natural, they will probably try it once. If you throw in enough triggers, while limiting the negatives they will probably eat it over and over again. Think wooly bugger, it always works but looks like very little a trout has ever seen.

The phrase Matching the Hatch originally meant just that you matched the newly hatched insects or bait fish. In order to truly Match the Hatch one would need a lure of less than one inch in length, now a lure of this size would likely catch bass but they would probably be bass of less than a pound in size and you would most likely have a hard time keeping pan fish off the lure.

In today's bass fishing vocabulary Match the Hatch means matching bait fish that hatched this year which would by late October be a little larger than one inch.

Matching the Hatch is a fly fishermens term due to the waters trout live in and the method of catch.   Trout primarily live in rock filled streams , rivers, and lakes that filter the water  to ultra clear conditions.    A vast majority of Texas waters are stained.

Do trout have laterial lines that they feed from?   Trout are primarily sight feeders.    Hence details can make you or break you when fly fishing.        

How does matching the Hatch give you the correct spinner blade combo?    Most of the time, if cloudy or stained to muddy waters, you would go with copper or brass or even a painted blade, where as on clear blue bird days, you would want some flash, thus silver blades.  How does matching the hatch help you decide on a colorado blade or willow leaf, or combination?  

I didn't match the hatch, I tried to match the weather, water conditions to seasonal patterns and known forage.

I agree with Muddy's statemet.   When I tell a fellow basser to match the hatch, I really meant to match the forage if they are hitting moving baits.  ie shad, what type of shad?   the smaller of the two, threadfin, maybe the 1/4  trap is the ticket, or gizzard, maybe a 3/4 to 1 oz trap.     Shad are silver, but on a cloudy day, chrome trap may not be the best choice, no sun, no flash, and a chrome trap that has flash isn't natural.    Maybe a bone/pearl will do.

A fly fishermen trying to match the hatch is throwing something I couldn't even induce a backlash with on any of my baitcasters. ;D