Some Thoughts On Trophy Trout Fishing Lures From The Masters
Numerous lures noted for their big trout potential rest motionless in the tackle box. Some are fused with fading colors and teeth scrapes while others gleam with the shine of a corvette fresh off the assembly line. At times, knowing which lure or presentation a fish desires can be as predictable as choosing the winning lottery numbers. However, getting familiar with which lure works best combined during certain conditions can pay big dividends for seekers of trophy trout.
“Myself, I’d prefer to catch the larger trout with a topwater, but you can’t always get what you want. First and foremost, you have to think about how deep the water is where you’re fishing,” reports Texas coast fisherman Mike Wexielman, a man with a wall full of trophies backing up his expertise.
Mike prefers to keep things simple with his first choice of fishing lures. “If I’m fishing deep waters, I use subsurface tackle. However, if I’m out wading in some shallows, I start off with a topwater lure.”
Mike Wexielman also suggests that anglers step down when faced with trout who seem disinterested. When he sees this happen, he makes the switch from topwaters to slow sinkers – and if needed, to soft plastic fishing lures. Wexielman has done very well using this approach, adding “If you see swirls going on underneath your lure, then you have to change up your speed; the little changes can make a huge difference.”
Subsurface lures with slow presentations have long been the standby for big specks during cold months. However, when the slow-sinker and topwater bite turns sour, Mike starts “finessing.” The darting presentation of a soft plastic may be the entree to a very big feast.
“There is something about red and white paddle tail minnows that really fire up trophy caliber specks. Folks just often underestimate soft-plastics.” Wexielman says that the biggest trout he has seen landed got fooled with tails. “Don’t hesitate to switch to a jig.”
Galveston fishing guide Captain Cody Maddox always takes a close look at the water before deciding which lure to use for the bigger trout. “The first thing I do is to look at what kind of baitfish are there and watch how they’re moving,” says Maddox. Before choosing, he looks at any structures nearby as well as the clarity of the water.
Like Wexielman, Maddox prefers to start out with a topwater. “When I don’t get bites that way, I move on to a slow sinker instead, usually a Corky Fatboy.” When fishing in deeper waters, he usually switches to soft plastics in order to more easily keep within the strike zone.
“For me, topwaters and slow sinkers have always been the best for catching big trout, but the biggest speck I’ve ever caught personally was using a bass assassin tail, of all things,” says Maddox.
Maddox is an angler who is interested in experimenting with different alterations to his lures, adding bucktails, color-dipping tails and painting on gills, among other things. For him, trying out different things is part of the thrill of trophy fishing.
The message here is that just as in life itself, you can’t be entirely sure of anything in trout fishing. You can pick out the right fishing lures, read up on all the fishing reports, but success may be waiting for you where you least expect it – and so might a record breaking speck.
