By Capt. Mike Smith, Fish Your Ass Off Charters
Are you tired of catching tons of 13 inch speckled trout and 16 inch snook? It’s time for you to switch to a big topwater lure to catch big springtime fish. A walk-the-dog type of lure is an excellent choice. I like Zara Super Spooks, Mirrolure Top Dogs and Rapala Skitterwalks the best. Make sure to choose a lure that is at least four inches long. Hungry springtime fish are ready to eat a big meal as the water temperatures rise.
A larger lure has many advantages over smaller baits. The larger profile and length creates more vibrations to attract monster fish from long distances. A larger lure allows you to cover more water because you can make longer casts. A larger lure also discourages most of the smaller fish from biting. You will catch fewer fish but they will be of much better quality.
Pro Tip #1: Do yourself and the fish a favor and smush down the barbs on your treble hooks. You won’t lose any fish as long as you keep the line tight. The hooks will also come out of the fish and your hand much more easily.
The best topwater lure colors for speckled trout and snook are silver and white. Choose lures with silver or white sides and bellies. The back color doesn’t really matter because the fish will hit from under and behind the lures. The best retrieves for a walk-the-dog lure includes a pause every ten feet or so. Quite often you will get a vicious reaction bite right after the pause.
Pro Tip #2: The best leader material for walk-the-dog lures is monofilament. Monofilament line floats versus fluorocarbon line that will sink and negatively affect your topwater lure’s action. A short heavy leader, 12 to 15 inches is a great choice. Long leaders will often negatively affect your lure presentation.
Many fishermen believe that you can’t use topwater lures in the middle of the day. But they are wrong. You can use a topwater lure all day and catch huge speckled trout and snook. Topwater lures do work the best in low light scenarios. It can be sunrise or sunset but cloudy or stormy days are also great times to use big topwater lures. If you find a school of mullet, cast your topwater lure just outside of the school. You want to make it easy for the snook and trout to distinguish your lure from the rest of the school.
Spring is a great time to catch huge snook and speckled trout with big topwater lures. These fish need to fatten up again after fasting through much of the winter. They would rather eat one large calorie meal than have to chase a bunch of small fish around for the same caloric input.
Capt. Mike Smith, owner of Fish Your Ass Off Charters, is an inshore fishing guide who has been fishing the inshore waters, oyster bars and grass flats of Florida for more than 40 years. Reach him at (561) 339-2317, email: contact@fishyourassoff.com or visit fishyourassoff.com.
