Topwater Tips for Trout

Hi,

You make a long cast. You twitch your top water plug twice. The water boils-- one more twitch and a gator trout explodes out of the water with your plug under his fangs. Fish on!!!

[photo of author with a 30" nine pound trout caught top-water]

There's nothing more exciting than catching trout top water-- it's a heart pounding experience. I've been fishing mostly top water for speckled-trout the last month. Here are some tips to get started: 

Your Gear: A seven-foot spinning rod and reel combo spooled with 6-10 lb white-braided line. Set the drag medium to light. You want to play the trout without ripping the lure out of his mouth.

Your Set Up: Tie a two-foot mono or fluorocarbon leader (20 or 30 lb tied with double uni knot) to your braided line. The lure is tied to mono/fluoro with a loop knot which allows better lure movement.

Your Lures: 1) Poppers (MirrOlure She-Dog); 2) Zara Spook type lures (Rappala's Skitterwalk; MirrOlure Floating Paul Brown) ; 3) Prop-type lures (Heddon's Torpedo, Slush Daddy, Devil's Horse) 4)  floating plastics. Some lures have thin treble hooks- you can change them out or check the hooks after each fish- a big fish can straighten out a hook. Lighter lures (small topwaters and plastics) can't be cast as far and it's easier to spook the fish when making short casts.

Your Technique: Make long casts, give the lure action, allow the lure to stop, try a slower retrieve. Wait until you feel the fish before hookset and retrieve. Do not give hard hook-set. After setting the hook, keep your rod tip low near the water and use a steady retrieve with light drag.

From June to July I've been catching top water trout in the lagoon. My best day I caught a dozen trout with six trout over 23" and one just under a whopping 30".  These six trout in the 4-9 pound range were all in the same area and I lost a bigger one on the hookset!!! When you fish topwater the trout are going to miss the lure and getting a good hookset is not easy-- that's the exciting aspect of fishing topwater. You get some terrific strikes but the fish misses the lure.

Because the fish will miss the lure do not jerk the lure or try to set the hook until you feel the fish on. Once the trout strikes and misses if the lure is still there, it will strike again. I've has six strikes in a row by a hungry trout and never got a hookset! Sometimes they'll knock the lure in the air. Remember a feeding trout has friends nearby. Sometimes there will be three or four trout trying to get your lure. If you get a strike and the fish misses leave the lure sit for a couple seconds, if they don't hit it again twitch it once, then wait. Then continue if nothing happens.

The common advice you get about when to fish a top water is morning or evening in low-light but the best time to fish a topwater is: all day! Here are some factors that give you an edge:

1) Fish when the tide is moving. My favorite time is the last half of out-going first half of the incoming.
2) Fish in an area where's there's bait. It easy when you see schools of mullet splashing the surface. Sometimes a few pelicans or an egret standing on the shore will tell you there's bait around when you can see it.
3) Fish in shallow water. How shallow? A fish in two feet of water will notice your lure. I like fishing in less than 4 feet of water.
4) Fish in the right areas. Cast over weeds and along weed edges, around and under structure or piers. Sometimes a slight depression in the bottom or a hole in the sand will hold a trout sitting on the bottom out of the current. Fish shallow ridges, sand cuts, drop-offs and any potential ambush points.
5) Retrieve in the direction of the current, if there's not much current in the direction of the wind. Trout will face in the direction of the current or wind and wait for the bait to come to it.

My favorite top waters are Zara Spook and lately a Skitterwalk. With both of these lure you need to get the lure to go from side to side by twitching the rod tip twice then reeling. twitch; twitch; reel. The Skitterwalk splashes more but is erratic and harder to get hook-ups on.

Nice trout on Skitterwalk (photo)

Although I've caught some small under-slot trout on top water it's definitely a big-fish technique. There's nothing finer than having a monster trout slam your lure and sky in the air.