Top Water Plugs

I want to share with you one of my favorite ways of fishing. Being top water plugs. And then onto the report. Top water plug fishing is an “must method” way of fishing in my area. The waters I guide my clients to is really no different than a lot other places in the state in that it is teeming with Redfish and Trout. What is different is that we are blessed with the oyster bars and lime rock outcroppings, which is fabulous structure for all fish. You either have to fish something totally weedless or top water. So you could say I was forced at an early age to learn top waters. However, I’m not complaining. Our home boys like the reds and trout readily crash top water plugs. Our flats are clear in a lot of places and super skinny in more. You may have heard me say it before, but a top of the limit 27” redfish can be totally submerged in 7” of water. They like the skinny water during the winter because that water warms up the quickest. These fish like all other game fish key in on injured or disoriented prey. (No different than a lion keying in on an injured or slow antelope.) A lot of top waters mimic this wounded action like prop plugs,concave mouth chiggers, and my favorite, “walking the dog” type plugs. One of the “TOP” 5 plugs of all time is the top water Zara-Spook. This plug annihilated fish over 60 years ago, and is still doing it today with its side-to-side walking action. It is so good that there are several others on the market today that have the same type of action. Ones such as Mirror lures top dog, she dog, and top dog jr. The rapala skitter-walk and the Excalibur spit-n-image to name a few. Think about it. The first thing an injured, wounded or dying bait fish does before they “give up the ghost” is start fighting and gulping for air on the surface. These healthy game fish know this and tune in on em. So is it important to walk the dog? If you can or do, you surely relate. If you don’t,but can rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time, you have what it takes to get in on some of this heart stopping action. When you can see, or(fool) that fish to explode on your artificial offering, it just doesn’t get any better. You’re rubbing and patting, aren’t ya? Our February fishing should be pretty decent barring any nasty cold fronts. If it is too cold and nasty, stay home and be productive and wait about 5 days for it to warm back up. If it is an enjoyable day to be on the water, try the plug fishing. Namely top water plugs. Utilize behind the islands to get out of any north breezes, that’s where the fish will be. Look for schools of mullet, other game fish will be around. The specks are still biting well around our fresh water chain of lakes. Jigs tipped with minnows has been working best.

Submitted By: Capt. Rick Burns
Reel Burns Charters
Homosassafishingguide.com
352-201-6111