What size drift sock?

Due to stupidity I lost my main drift sock last year. Looking at Cabela’s site on what my replacement is but conflicting info. 38″ is either good or not good for my size boat:???:

I still have one from my canoe which I think is a 30″. Got me through the end of the season but too small.

Boat – 14′ tiller
Small to medium bodies of water
Mostly used to slow my backtroll for live bait presentations and other boat control.

From Cabela’s site.
Pro series:
Sock Size (in.)
Recommended Boat Size (ft.)
30 up to 16
38 14-18
46 16-22
56 18-22
66 18-26
78 20-26

non-pro series
Available • 30” – canoe/kayak to 10-ft. boats.
• 38” – 10-ft. to 12-ft. boats.
• 46” – 12-ft. to 14-ft. boats.
• 56” – 14-ft. to 18-ft boats.

What ever size you want is what you need. Its kind of a crap shoot when you buy your first couple till you know what fits you specific needs. That said there are things you can do to alter the bags size, how it works and how you use it.
To sum it up if a 38″ worked well for your set up and how you used then get the 38″ again.
Too many variables to go off a chart.
Charts can not factor in-
How fast you want to go
what Hp motor you have
what pitch prop you have on your motor
How much speed you need to drop
daily wind speed
weight of boat
surface area of boat exposed to wind
hull type
current speed

Perfect answer, all of those things matter. If I could only remember what I lost then I would be set

What gets me is how do they make the charts so different from the same vendor for the same sizes????

I’ve figured out one thing. Leaning toward the 46″. If I’ve already got a 30 then might as well get one a couple sizes bigger. Different tools for different conditions kind of thinking.

I’ve found when drifting no matter which sock of multiple socks your running. If the wind is blowing good. 0.6 to 0.8 MPH is the slowest you’ll go.

As you reduce socks you can start to affect that speed eventually.

Never enjoyed using socks and trolling, just so many other and better options, including never back trolling

I have 3 or 4 ranging from 30″-48″ for a 17′ boat.

Just for trolling… I’d think 30″.