Small stick baits can be surprisingly effective, too
We gave slack in the line and let the seatrout jump, thrash or headshake, throw the hook, and swim away without any handling by hands or nets or having to be removed from the water. Holden and his team used logistic models to assess the differences in landing success and self-release success by hook type and fish size
The purple and blue look well, but the orange provides a good contrast, Denham says
Consider faster ones only if you need them for a specific purpose
Why I trust heavy tackle and active bait work over everything else I have fished live bait for bass in Florida lakes, Georgia reservoirs, and California delta channels, and the one thing that separates the anglers who consistently land big fish from those who do not is their willingness to stay engaged