I’ll use statistics instead of theory.
First off, I used to fish plugs exclusively for quite a few years. The reason was when I started out fishing, I usually had just enough money in my pocket to gas up the truck and make it to and from the beach. I had two plugs I fished with, one was a green 7” super strike needlefish, and the other was a jointed 7” black bomber. To this day I feel as though you could get by with just those two plugs in your bag, save for a couple jigs. I’ve landed hundreds and hundreds of fish on those two plugs, but the largest fish I’ve taken is about 35# on the bomber. Not a bad fish, but no monster. The average plug size fish for me is probably about 8-12#.
Let’s consider eels and other free swimming baits from the standpoint of my own trend line. The average fish I typically catch on eels are about 16- 25#. This includes both the boat and surf fish I’ve caught. There should be no surprise at the divergence in sizes from bait caught to plug caught. Remember these are averages, but my eel caught fish average roughly twice the size of the plug fish I’ve taken. I would imagine it’s the same for most anyone who has done a lot of both. At times artificials will out do the baits, but look at your successes over the long term and it’s really an easy choice if you are looking to position yourself to catch the larger fish.
That’s why I rarely carry plugs, BECAUSE.....
they're for schoolies.....
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