Fall is Speck-tackular!!

Yes…fall is here in the coastal bend area of Texas!! So basically that means, wait five minutes if you don’t like the weather. It also means flood tides and passing cool fronts will push an abundance of bait into our bays and estuaries. Hungry schools of trout are out on the prowl to devour all they can find. As luck would have it my top water provided a nice distraction for them. When twitched at a fast pace it does indeed look like a fleeing bait fish or shrimp.

Unloading the Liska at one of my favorite launch sites

Unloading the Liska right at sunrise, I was amping to get on the water! The conditions were ideal…with light winds, and a falling tide that would bring the mullet and shrimp pouring out of the many marsh drains of the area I would be targeting. I couldn’t paddle quick enough to get into position to cast at some nervous water near exposed oysters along the marsh drain nearby. Watching the rebound of the rod and line racing thru the guides as that trusty one knocker spook rocketed toward the edge of the exposed reef. Before the ripples even settled and after a few twitches of the rod, water droplets exploded around the lure! The trout launched itself into a frenzied battle, luckily it was a battle I won. But, as some say, “bad luck to catch a fish on first cast”. Well I proved that wrong on this day. That morning was filled with many acrobatic top water explosions. From reef drop offs to grass lines the fish were stacked up at every location. It was one of those days where you could do no wrong.

Sunrise over Powderhorn ~ Indianola, Texas

First cast trout

Trout and Red fish will continue to smash top water “surface walking baits” thru the fall transition to winter (well not like we have much of one here in Texas!!) Once the water cools below 65 degrees the top water bite will slow and I will move on to throw slower moving baits. Baits like the Custom Corky Soft Dine XL and the Fat boy are great to have in your arsenal this time of the year. Also the Blazin’ shad by KDen lures is a great choice on a 1/8oz. screw lock jig head. Work these baits slowly over oyster reef drop offs and hang on! Fall is definitely a Speck-tackular time of year!