Deep thoughts

Last summer, I received report after report of fishermen off the Galveston Jetties pulling massive catches of trout and redfish from the rocks. That's not unusual when the jetty locale is a generally accepted topwater hotspot like the Bolivar Pocket or even the flats around Fort Travis. Off the end of the north jetty, however, with the lures floating high above some 40-feet-plus of ship channel saltwater, it's unconventional at the least.

The oyster reef of San Antonio Bay yielded this nice stringer of specks and reds to Bill Kenner of Kenner Boats. Fishing from a new 21-foot Vision, Kenner and crew used both soft plastics and topwater plugs to pull the fish off of the shell. Coastal Bend bays-particularly San Antonio, Mesquite and Carlos-are all topnotch areas for working oyster reefs.

Water conditions can certainly play a role. If it's rough, it makes it tough. But the element of sound cannot be ignored or underestimated. Virtually all of today's most popular topwaters contain rattle chambers (notice how the entire MirrOlure line now sports an "R" at the end of the model numbers?), and the lures have been continually modified to magnify their sound-producing capabilities.

You can hear a Top Dog or a Super Spook coming back at you from a long way away. Considering that sound travels roughly 250 times faster underwater, don't think for a second that predator fish are not hearing it as well.

Bigger ain't always better

MirrOlure's Top Dog, Jr., Excalibur's Super Spook Jr. and Spittin' Image and Owner's Cultiva Gobo Popper and Zippin' Ziggy are all members of the new downsized clan of topwater offerings. I still maintain that bigger is better for larger fish-especially trophy-class trout chasing mid-sized mullet-but there are nonetheless days when the fish feed on substantially smaller forage. If the prevalent bait in the area consists of small shad, glass minnows, saucer-eyed shiners and the like, it often pays to "match the hatch" with smaller offerings.

One advantage of doing so, incidentally, is that these lures can be efficiently fished on the same light-action 7-foot, fast-taper rod you use to throw shrimptails. When working the bigger plugs, you're much better off with a fast-tapered 6- or 6-1/2-footer with a medium-light action. You'll enjoy greatly increased control of the lure, and your wrist muscles will hold up much, much longer than they will while flailing a 5/8-ounce plug on a long, lightweight trout rod.

An unclear situation

Clear water is imperative to topwater success, right?

Not necessarily so.

Fact is, I'd rather fish off-colored water than stuff that looks like it came straight out of a Tanqueray bottle. Baitfish, after all, gravitate toward murky water because they can literally hide in it. Predator species, conversely, frequent murky zones because they can sneak up on the forage fish in hiding.

As an example, consider the "mud streaks" that tend to be so productive when wintertime temps clear up bay waters. Trout and reds hang on the clear-water fringes; place a bait in the dirty zone and bring it out and it's very likely to get hammered.

Too much silt and mud can kill a spot, partly because dissolved oxygen levels in such areas can fall to precipitous levels. But don't ignore a spot simply because the water is off-colored.

If there is any kind of color change at all in the area, give it a thorough topwater thrashing before moving on.

Topwatering the surf

Again going against the grain, the sudsy world of half-ounce Tony Accetta spoons, Suspending Husky Jerks and sinking 52MR MirrOlures is equally prone to rewarding topwater casters-especially if you can effectively read the conditions.

Color changes-especially "cuts" that slice across sand bars-always merit a shot. Surf-running fish use such perpendicular cuts to move in and out from the beachfront, and you'll frequently find those fish much closer to the sand than you'd expect. This is particularly true during high-tide phases.

For this reason, resist the urge to cast your lure as far out as possible. Sure, try hitting the third bar; big topwater plugs are great for conquering incoming southerly breezes. But always give the lateral shot a try before moving out. Cast the lure straight to your left or right, and bring it back parallel to the beach. Remember, baitfish-and the predators they feed-also move parallel to the sand, not directly inshore and offshore.

Baitfish activity and tidal flow are arguably more critical in the surf than anywhere else. Couple a moving tide near a bay-to-Gulf pass with thick, roving pods of finger mullet and you have a topwater assault waiting to happen.

A technique that's for the birds

Speckled trout feeding beneath working flocks of gulls are most often pursued with shrimptail and shadtail jigs, and understandably so. The single-hooked "tails" are easy to remove from small schoolies that must be quickly unhooked and released.

Back to the "big fish, big bait" theorem, though: To selectively target larger school trout, you can't go wrong with a topwater. Plug-chasing seagulls can be a pest, and sometimes the trout are simply too small to make it worth the hassle of fishing a multi-hooked lure.

But when big trout are mixed in with the schoolies-which is the case more often than many of us suspect-a topwater plug can separate the schoolies from the sows. Bigger specks almost invariably wait beneath feeding school trout. The bigger they get, the lazier they get. Some might call it "smarter."

Big trout expend no more energy than absolutely necessary to procure a meal. It's not worth charging through a dense school of "pencil trout" to eat a tiny bite of shrimp. Much more efficient, rather, to hold deep and wait for the crumbs to fall. However, a topwater plug and the full-meal mullet it resembles is often enough to make a big speck work for its lunch.

The constants remain

A few principles of the topwater equation remain, if not in stone, solidly etched in fact.

1) You're usually better off if you work a topwater plug slowly as opposed to a fast, nonstop "walk the dog" retrieve.

2) A loop knot, or at least a split ring on the lure nose, greatly enhances the lure's to-and-fro "walking" capabilities.

3) Mid-day action-especially under overcast skies-isn't unusual, but prime conditions for big-trout topwater plugging usually occur in the early-morning and late-evening hours.

4) Particularly under a full-moon phase, nighttime wade fishing with topwaters remains a largely unexploited but hugely productive option.

5) If a fish "blows up" on a bait, don't immediately reel in the lure. Let it rest a moment; then give it a light twitch. Odds are the predator is still looking at the fake mullet it just stunned, and the follow-up twitch frequently prompts the fish to finish off its prey.

If that doesn't work, reel in and throw back to the same spot. The fish, usually, will still be there.

And finally-

6) Know that you'll be a dead duck yourself after your first productive topwater outing.

This is one craze that's not going to pass with the next "hot trend."