Match the hatch
Choosing a lure that resembles what the fish are already eating, in size, shape and color.
The phrase comes from fly fishing, where it means tying on an imitation of whichever insect is hatching that day. In bass fishing it carries over to whatever the forage is: shad, bluegill, crawfish, or perch.
Size is the part people get wrong. A lure roughly the length of the bait you can see in the water usually beats one that is technically the right color but twice as big. In autumn, when bass push shad into the backs of creeks, a silver or white bait in the right size does most of the work by itself.
The counter-argument is that a bait which stands out from a huge school is sometimes the one that gets eaten, which is why a chartreuse or a red bait occasionally destroys them in the middle of a shad blitz.
Look in the water before you tie anything on. If you can see baitfish, match their length first and their color second.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use match the hatch and show it on real gear.
Match the hatch is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
Browse the full fishing glossary