If you want to catch big speckled trout this summer, try tying on a topwater lure. While many anglers fish mostly with soft-plastic lures on jigheads when trout are their target species, surface plugs cast into the surf or worked over grass beds on the flats will bring fierce reactions from hungry specks.
Throwing plugs instead of grubs offers two major advantages. First, it’s incredibly fun to watch a big speckled trout come to the surface and attack a topwater lure. Second, topwater lures like Heddon Super Spooks tend to produce larger fish on average than do soft-plastic lures.
TYPES OF TOPWATERS
Don’t be afraid to tie on a large topwater lure if you are fishing in an area that produces high-quality trout. Speckled trout often surprise redfishermen by slurping down Super Spooks or Rebel Jumpin’ Minnows, and many veteran trout anglers along the Texas coast fish almost exclusively with large plugs.
If you prefer to stay with a walking bait but want to offer the trout a little smaller profile, tie on an Excalibur Spit’n Image or a Super Spook, Jr. Four Spit’n Image colors – golden shiner, pilchard shad, red head and silver mullet – come equipped with saltwater hardware.
Don’t overlook poppers and prop baits, either. Either style of lure makes a lot of sound and will get the trout’s attention and can be worked quickly or with long pauses between pops or twitches. Try a Rebel Super Saltwater Pop-R, Heddon Wounded Spook or Bomber Pop’n Shrimp.
The Pop’n Shrimp, new this year, has a shrimp-shaped body and rubber skirts on its hooks, which simulate antennas and legs. It pops, skips and darts and when worked quickly with short, sharp twitches and really looks like a fleeing shrimp.
For starters, try poppers around docks and other specific targets, prop baits over grass, and walking baits over broader areas of open water where the fish need to be called up. Keep in mind, however, that there are no absolute rules about lures selection. Finding the bait that offers the right sound and shape often requires experimentation.
GOING UNDER
If the trout won’t come to the top but you’re convinced you’re around fish or if you are not catching as many fish as you think you should, switch to a shallow-running lure and work it quickly.
Excellent choices include an Excalibur Saltwater Swim’n Image, which has a super-wide wobble and is shaped like a bait fish, and a Bomber Mullet, which darts erratically – much the way a shrimp swims – and is irresistible to speckled trout. Four Swim’n Image colors and all Bomber Mullets are equipped with saltwater hardware.
WORTH THEIR SALT
For all topwater lures that are designed primarily for freshwater use, take time to switch the hooks to Excalibur Saltwater 11-Degree Bend Treble Hooks. These hooks will hold up in the saltwater. It’s also a good idea to upsize slightly when you change hooks out in case a big redfish or jack crevalle beats the trout to your lure!