Those of you fellow junkies who share our addition to topwater fishing will attest that there is nothing quite like an aggressive blowup on a topwater plug.  Each species of fish takes the plug in a different way.  Trout can be very eager, often banging the plug two feet out of the water in their attempt at a meal, but if you have been in this game long enough, you know that the gator trout don’t really do that…they slurp.  We hope for this kind of subtle take, as it often means you have a two plus pounder on your line.  My personal favorite to catch on top are striper.  There is nothing quite like the heart stopping, vicious strike of a striper.

That brings me to the redfish.  Reds are a blast on topwater!  Because they are built for bottom feeding it is not easy for a redfish to take a topwater plug.  In order to strike they must raise themselves out of the water or roll upside down, both of which they will do.  The result is like someone threw a bathroom sink in the water!  Fellow pluggers are nodding their heads right now 🙂  The visual of a big red coming up like Red October, pouncing on the plug, then turning away in a splash will stop your heart, and create a life long addition.

With all topwater strikes, it is important (although difficult for most) to NOT set the hook.  This is especially true for redfish.  Wait until you feel the red on the line before setting the hook.  You probably won’t need to set the hook at the red will turn and one of the 6 or more hooks will find somewhere to land regardless.

Ralph hosted Dr. Martin Toporek and John Smoak (SmoakStack Studios) for some fishing yesterday.  They found some eager reds hanging around a submerged oyster bed near a large flat.  Walking the dog over the oyster bed produced three reds over 25″.  The smiles say it all…

All pics by John Smoak of Smoak Stack Studios

They also found a few pre-front trout using the NEW Z-Man Trout Tricks made with ElaZtech material and TroutEye jigheads.  Look for the new TT’s to hit the shelves in a matter of weeks with 14 colors including the original color.