Choose the Best Topwater Walking Lure for Every Situation

There’s good reason the Heddon Spook comes in several models. Same iconic walk-the-dog action. Different sizes, weights, sounds and splashes for a huge range of applications in freshwater and saltwater settings.

“That bait is perfect for these peacocks,” said Lou Lagrange of Arti-Fish-ial Entertainment Guide Service as he grabbed the net to land yet another Super Spook Boyo peacock bass for outdoor writer Steve Wayne.

Lagrange guides for largemouth bass and peacock bass in South Florida, specializing in the remote and wild waters of the Everglades, and works exclusively with artificial lures. He therefore tries a lot of baits, and time has taught him the lures that work best. Occasionally, though, something new proves itself and earns a place in the arsenal. Such is the case with the Super Spook Boyo, which has only been around for about year.

Heddon Lures offers a dozen “Spook” models for everything from creek rock bass to ocean stripers, each modeled after the still-popular Zara Spook and all “walking the dog,” like the original. Differences includes size, weight, hardware, sound chambers, profile and unique features like a feather tail or cupped face.

Topwater season has arrived in much of the country, so the question isn’t whether to have Spooks in the starting line-up. The question, instead, is which Heddon Spooks best fit the situation.

Newest Spook

The Super Spook Boyo’s small size matches the young cichlids that are the essential to the sportfish diet in the Everglades, yet this Spook is built like a bigger lure, with stout split rings, No. 4 saltwater treble hooks. It also carries plenty of weight to achieve the accurate casts needed to prompt peacock strikes and fish it on sturdy enough gear to handle brutally strong fish. The cast is often critical, according to Lagrange, as peacocks hold tight to cover and sometimes only respond to baits that invade the kitchen.

Although the Boyo wasn’t necessarily designed specifically for Florida peacock bass, this is exactly the TYPE of situation for which a need existed, despite all the other Spook options. Gamefish of many kinds – including redfish, snook, speckled trout, stripers and largemouths – commonly key on very small forage and become very size selective.

Drawing strikes from these fish commonly calls for long casts in open water or highly accurate casts under mangroves or tight to other cover. Landing the same fish call for stouter hardware than normally comes on diminutive topwater lures and stouter tackle than can be matched with most small topwater lures because of the weighs of the baits.

The Boyo provides a perfect fit for many situations, which is why it was released in a broad spectrum of colors, including several created primarily for saltwater fishing.

Size Spectrum

The smallest Spook in the current line-up is the Zara Puppy, which is 3 inches long. That’s the same length as the Boyo, but the puppy is extra slender, and the Boyo is 50 percent heavier. The Puppy also has lighter wire No. 8 treble hooks to get good penetration with lighter line, rods and reels. It walks easily and is ideal for creeks, smaller rivers and ponds.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Super Spook measures 5 inches, with the Feather Dressed Super Spook having an even longer profile because of the feathers on the rear treble. The original Super Spook weighs 7/8 ounce, while the Super Spook XT, which is an extra-heavy-duty version that is equipped to handle the toughest predator species, weighs a full ounce.

The original Zara Spook is 4 1/2 inches long. That is a great size for many bass fishing and saltwater applications, which is why the Wounded Spook, Rattlin’ Spook and One Knocker Spook use the same body size. At 3 1/2 inches, the highly popular Super Spook Jr falls between the original Spook and the new Boyo in size.

Heddon Spook Variables

Being the same size and shape, an Original Zara Spook, Rattlin’ Spook and One-Knocker Spook, look similar, and all walk side to side with the same action. Although there are hardware distinctions and differences in available colors, the primary thing that makes each unique is the sound it makes – or in the case of the Zara Spook, the sound it doesn’t make. As the names suggest, the Rattlin’ Spook has loud, high-pitched rattles that sound as it walks, while the One-Knocker Spook has a single, larger rattle that makes a lower-pitched knock. The Zara Spok is silent.

Each version has virtue. The loud rattles call fish from afar and prompt angry attacks from aggressive fish and are best when visibility is lower. The single knocking tone is a bit more subtle and can be an important trigger when fish have been hearing more rattling lures. The silent Zara Spook still calls fish with gliding action and wakes and sometimes appeals to fish that would be turned away by a noisy lure.

A few Spook models are more specialized. The Chug’n Spook and Chug’n Spook Jr feature a cupped face to add splash as the bait walks, blending walker and chugger. That extra splash commonly comes into play when wind adds chop, making a traditional Spook harder for fish to find. The Wounded Spook has blades on the front and back that churn the water. It’s walk is less pronounced than other Spooks, but it offers the same baitfih profile and still moves side to side to a degree as it splashes across the top.

Two models, the Feather Dressed Super Spook and Feather Dressed Super Spook Jr have hand tied feather dressing on the rear treble. This stemmed from a common customization and creates extra “eye candy” for feeding fish, especially when the bait’s walking motion is paused, even for a moment, allowing the feather to flutter down in the fish’s vision.

Finally, the Super Spook XT, as noted above, is the most rugged member of the Heddon Spook family with 3X 1/O saltwater grade trebles and extra stout line ties and hangers.

Then are the nearly endless color options, from clear to classics like Baby Bass to bold saltwater patterns, but that’s probably another topic for another time!