Ever heard of a Margarita Slam? It’s a brackish water slam consisting of the usuals (Redfish, Speckled Trout, Flounder) but to those, add in a Largemouth Bass and a riverine Striper. It was born out of boredom really, as I was looking for a challenge and had caught one by mistake a long time ago. I didn’t actually name it – the name was suggested by Capt Larry Teuton (Rest in Peace) in this thread from December 2013. The thought is that the fish come from both Salty and Sweet water – get it? 🙂
It occurred to me that this would be a fun thing to target, ie. actually go out and try to achieve it on purpose. It presents a really good challenge, because you need to apply the conditions of the day (tides, salinity) to your knowledge of the different species and how they behave and feed.
I’ve come up with sort of a hierarchy of difficulty, that goes something like this:
- Catch the Marg as a team (ie. you and a friend or 2 collectively get it)
- Solo, (any way, live bait etc)
- Solo, on artificial lures only (any combination)
- Solo, on the same artificial lure. I call this the Holy Grail of Margarita Slams
The Holy Grail is really hard to do. Up until recently, I have accomplished it only once, using a prototype of what is now the Texas Eye Finesse jig and a 3″ Z-Man Slim SwimZ (Space Guppy). That was a great confidence builder for that new product, but the awesome part is that the next trip I still had it tied on and caught my best trout of the year – a 25″er.
I got to thinking, is there a better testimonial for a lure than to catch a Holy Grail Margarita Slam on it? These fish prefer fresh or salt water, feed in different ways, etc. It’s a true measure of the effectiveness and universal appeal of a lure. Forget claims of this or that feature, or action. Show me a Holy Grail Marg caught on it and I’ll pay attention!
A week ago I was lucky to get my 2nd Holy Grail, this time on an original Texas Eye jig and a Z-Man 4″ Scented JerkshadZ (Pearl). This is my go-to set up year round, and, well, now you can see why. It just works.
Just for fun I made a page called @margaritaslams on Instagram. If you catch a Margarita Slam, send in the pics and what river system you caught it on and I’ll send you a free decal. But you gotta earn the decal!
How many states and river systems can a Margarita Slam be caught on? I wonder. I think at least 5 states, and every major river system in South Carolina, for sure. Let’s see them!
Here is my latest Holy Grail.
Tight lines!
