Tempting trophy trout on top

By John N. Felsher
Rodnreel.com

In the past few years, more Louisiana anglers watched excitedly as trophy speckled trout smashed their topwater baits.

For decades, topwater action thrilled bass anglers as bigmouths busted a variety of surface chuggers, poppers, walkers, prop baits, jerkbaits or other floating enticements. Now, from Sabine Lake to the marshes around Lake Borgne, saltwater anglers, including many former bass addicts, reach for floaters to tempt lunker speckled trout.

When people used to count their success by the box instead of the fish, people wanted numbers. They typically used live bait to catch large quantities of specks, but few big trout. Now, with limits reduced to 25 fish per person per day, many Louisiana anglers prefer quality over quantity. They opt for increased fun from fewer fish than to simply load a boat. They turn to topwaters to produce those results. For sheer excitement, not many experiences beat a big fish blowing up on the surface.

Topwater baits work because fish often look to the surface for prey. Trout eyes look forward and up to locate prey. Their mouths jut upward, perfect for attacking prey from below. Trout more easily spot baitfish silhouetted against a light colored sky than hiding over dark mud. When they spot a likely meal, they rise to the occasion. Normally, they attack schools of mullets or pogies from below, herding baitfish to the surface where they quickly run out of escape room. Although this usually takes place in water less than six feet deep, anglers can catch feeding trout on topwaters at any depth.

People might not catch as many trout on topwaters, but they usually catch larger trout. Big fish want big meals. Larger than other baits, topwaters often tempt larger fish, trout in the 3- to 10-pound class with an occasional speck breaking the 11-pound mark.

"Until a trout is about two pounds, 80 percent of its diet consists of shrimp and the rest baitfish," said Capt. Terry Shaughnessy of Hackberry Rod and Gun Club on Calcasieu Lake below Lake Charles, La. "Once they break two pounds, 80 percent of its diet is now finfish. People are starting to realize that big fish eat croakers, finger mullets, menhaden and other baitfish. Topwaters look more like crippled baitfish. When we started throwing topwaters, the average size of our trout went up."

Beginning in March, peaking in May and June, but continuing through fall, large speckled trout congregate in bays along the Louisiana coast. While people in just about any bay can find big trout now, anglers in Calcasieu and Sabine lakes find some of the biggest specks in the state. Frequently, they tempt these fish with big topwater baits.

On May 21, 2000, Stuart Roy of Lake Charles caught what may have been the largest speckled trout ever landed in Louisiana waters, but he'll never know for sure. Fishing a reef in western Calcasieu Lake, Roy had already caught an 8-pounder and two 4-pounders when a bigger trout demolished his topwater bait. The whopper stretched 32 inches long and approximately 16 to 17 inches in girth. Roy weighed the beast on a spring-loaded scale, which only measured up to 10 pounds. It bottomed out.

According to Randy Pausina, a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries marine biologist, the fish may have broken the record set by Leon Mattes in 1950, a fish weighing 12.38 pounds. Pausina estimated that Roy's trout might have weighed up to 13 pounds.

"She looked like she had eggs in her, so we let her go," Roy said. "I'm a catch-and-release fisherman. She was a healthy, gorgeous fish. I would hate to kill her."

From April through mid-July 2002, anglers in Calcasieu Lake caught 10-pound specks at the rate of nearly one per week with topwater baits accounting for the majority of the lunkers. The lake currently lists three trout to the Louisiana top 10.

"Last year was incredible," said Capt. Kirk Stansel of Hackberry Rod and Gun Club. "I've never seen the numbers and the size of trout that we caught last year. Some of our guides released 30 to 40 big trout a day. There were probably 80 trout over 8 pounds brought to our docks."

Although wind kept numbers and size down a bit so far this year, Hackberry Rod and Gun Club still lands about 80,000 trout a year. About three percent of them, or approximately 2,400 specks per year, fall between 6 and 10 pounds, Stansel said. Most of the larger fish hit topwater baits from April through late June or early July. The tally this year already includes many in the 7- to 9.5-pound range.

Often overshadowed by neighboring Calcasieu Lake, Sabine Lake on the Louisiana-Texas line also offers excellent opportunities for anglers to catch huge trout on topwater baits every summer. Sabine Lake measures about seven miles long by 20 miles wide, averaging five to eight feet deep. The Intracoastal Waterway cuts the old Sabine River channel at the north end. The Neches River enters from the northwest and the Sabine River flows down from the north and eventually out Sabine Pass into the Gulf of Mexico.

Below the Intracoastal Waterway, Sabine Lake fans out into flats dotted by occasional oyster reefs. Several bayous enter from the marshy Louisiana side. The flats, reefs and marshy shorelines offer some of the best topwater action in the state.

In March 1999, Dr. Kelly Rising, an obstetrician from Beaumont, Texas, used a topwater bait to set a new Sabine Lake record. Rising's 11.50-pound, 30.50-inch speck smashed a gold and chartreuse MirrOlure Top Dog.

"The key to fishing Sabine Lake is finding mullets around oyster reefs," Rising said. "I was cruising around looking for bait and saw a bunch of bait getting crashed. Big trout were running mullets about six to eight inches long. I drifted a topwater over some oyster shells in a couple feet of water on the south end of the lake when the big one hit. On about the third cast, I caught a seven-pounder. I made two more casts and caught a 6 and an 8. My father-in-law caught an 8.50-pounder about an hour after I caught my big one. Three days before that, I caught a 10-pounder that had a 10-inch mullet inside it. I caught a 9-pounder a week before that had about an eight-inch mullet in it."

In May 2001, an Ohio woman fishing with Capt. Jerry Norris of the Original Sabine Lake Guide Service in Port Arthur, Texas, landed and released a 32-inch trout with a girth of 16 inches. The guide estimated the fish weighed about 12 pounds. In January 2002, Barry Partos of Houston caught a 30-inch, 10.5-pounder on a silver and blue Baby Super Spook "walk-the-dog" topwater bait, Norris reported.

Both Roy and Rising enticed their monsters with Top Dogs, one of the best big trout lures on the Gulf Coast. Like a Super Spook, Top Dogs and their cousins, He Dogs, She Dogs and junior versions of these walk-the-dog baits, probably account for more large specks in Louisiana than any other lure. When jerked, they slant from side to side, closely resembling mullets zigzagging along the surface. Interior clackers mimic croakers, which drives trout nuts.

"I keep it working side to side constantly, but slowly," said Capt. Phil Robichaux who guides near Lafitte, La. "Some people try to jerk or twist it, but that doesn't give it proper action. The action comes from short pops with the wrist. Sometimes, I walk the dog for a little while and stop. Let the fish determine how to work a bait."

Besides walk-the-dog baits, topwater lures come in many shapes, sizes and colors. These include wide-lipped chuggers and poppers that gurgle in short plops. Jerkbaits, long, slender baits with shallow diving lips, submerge a foot or two when jerked and wiggle like crippled minnows. Prop baits feature small propellers that buzz the surface as they move through water. Some other irresistible topwater temptations include Excalibur Spit'n Images, Bill Lewis Slapsticks, Creek Chub Knuckleheads, Rapala Skitter Walks and Storm Chug Bugs.

Keep colors simple. In dark water, use darker colors. In clear water, use brighter colors. Some hot colors include chrome and chartreuse, chartreuse and silver, gray and silver, red and white, bone, black, purple or blue and white.

"Any topwater bait that a bass fisherman has in a tackle box will catch speckled trout," Robichaux said. "I prefer a silver or a gold side. On a silver side, I like a black back. On a gold side, I like a green back."

On any topwater bait, tie a loop or a split ring to a short length of 30-pound monofilament leader. A split ring or loop adds more side-to-side action. With a knot snugged down directly to the hook eye, it might run erratically. The leader absorbs the strike force and prevents hooks, teeth or fins from cutting the line.

Anglers need leaders and strong lines when fishing around heavy cover. Trout frequently feed near ambush points around old barnacle-encrusted camp pilings, grass beds, shorelines, oyster reefs, shell banks or other structures. Topwaters work well around structure and by choke points that constrict fish into tight areas. These choke points include points, passes or tributaries.

Current or tide rounding a bend gives trout an excellent place to stage an ambush. When tides roll around points, fish lurk in slack waters behind points, but face toward the upstream side. Wind or currents drive baitfish into tight groups. As strong tides concentrate baitfish, trout hiding behind the points slash out to attack as their prey rounds the bend.

"The three things I primarily look for when fishing topwaters are moving water, clear water and bait," Robichaux said. "I don't really look for schooling fish when throwing topwaters because schooling fish are typically smaller fish. A topwater bait is mostly for bigger fish, but smaller fish also hit it. I like to throw it around good ambush points with some bait around."

The same tactic works at the mouths of tributaries draining marshes at low tide. Shrimp, pogies, minnows and other morsels flush from marshy lagoons into deep water during falling tides. Big fish often stack up at the mouths of these drains, especially if they pass near oyster reefs. Trout wait for temptations to wash to them and then attack.

"At the mouths of these cuts, we catch speckled trout and redfish mixed together," said Capt. Charlie Thomason of Bayou Charters and Reel'Em Inn Lodge in Hopedale. "They feed right where the tides make cuts empty into the lake. Those cuts usually have oyster reefs outside of them. On an extremely hard-moving falling tide, fish the reefs. On a strong tide, fish don't get right in the mouths of the cuts because of the current. They get back by the oyster reefs and ambush anything that comes nearby."

Like tides, winds also herd baitfish into ambush locations. Most people prefer to fish topwater baits during calm periods. Slick water enables game fish to better spot and attack topwater baits. However, treeless marshes offer little protection against raging winds. When brutal winds roar across open wet prairies, use them as allies, not enemies.

Winds pile water up on windward shorelines. Currents push baitfish, shrimp and other morsels against those shallow shorelines, providing an excellent opportunity for topwater action. Under these conditions, use baits with more zesty action, such as chuggers, poppers or prop baits.

At any time, try to simulate preferred forage in any given water body. Size baits according to prevalent forage. For instance, if fish feed on three-inch pogies, use similar baits. If monster trout smash mullet schools, throw five- or six-inch, perhaps larger, topwater baits.

From Sabine Lake to the Rigolets, anglers catch quality trout on topwater baits wherever specks congregate. Some other outstanding areas to throw topwater baits for big speckled trout include Vermilion Bay, the marshes near Golden Meadow, Breton Sound islands, near the Grand Isle beaches, the marshes surrounding Lake Borgne or the Lake Pontchartrain grass flats.

To book trips: Capt. Terry Shaughnessy of Hackberry Rod and Gun Club 337-762-3391 http://www.hackberryrodandgun.com/

Captain Charlie Thomason's Bayou Charters (504)-278-FISH http://www.captcharlie.com/