The baby permit we see in Mexico eat just like bonefish rather than mature permit.
They eat shrimp patterns and the smallest crabs and I wouldn't worry about weight. The strip I think is what makes them different. On a single or pair of mature permit we use a long, slow strip followed by a couple of bumps then another long, slow strip. We watch the fish and see what seems to excite it. On babies it's just strip fast and less than six inches per strip.
Are they singles or schooled up?
One of these shown ate a white shrimp pattern from Strip Strike flies. The other ate a tan EP micro crab and we've caught several on that. Like in the photos below but with small bead chain instead of lead.
Side note: we took a half dozen of those strip strike shrimp in olive and a dozen in tan and we lost all of them over a week of bonefishing in the mangroves. My buddy caught his permit on the white one because we were out of the others.
If the baby permit are schooled up we just get it in front of them and strip fast and short like a bonefish.
Yeah, that trigger was beautiful and covered in those starburst spots.
Btw, I love your posts. Baby tarpon are my favorite.
