Corpusfishing.com

[TxHarleySales]

Hi all! Great site, by the way. Taking my first trip to Corpus in a couple of weeks.

I'm not really well-versed in "walking the dog", but I'd like to throw some topwaters regardless. Was thinking about some of the wakebaits on the market for bass fishing. Something like a jointed shad or mullet that dives no more than a foot or so. Something in that 4 or 5 inch range.

Would tossing these be a waste of time? My line of thinking was to find the mullet, maybe on an outgoing tide and fish the drop-offs with one of these lures when the mullet are forced into deeper water.

I guess it's not just an outgoing tide thing. For instance, maybe slow winding one of these over the grass or over a pocket or oyster bed.

What say all of you? Thanks for any advice you all provide.
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Jerry
Want a Harley? Shoot me a message!

[BayFly]

Welcome, and hope you enjoy the CC area. Just a note to say the use of bass baits can result in the hooks becoming rusted very quickly, like the next morning if they are not cared for. I've been told all baits have stainless steel hook retainers on them, so you can simply change out the non-treated hooks for saltwater or corrosion resistant hooks. Saltwater resistant hooks used to be stainless steel, then cadium, but I'm not sure what they are treated with today.
Walking the dog is not difficult, and anyone can do it, just hesitate from time to time, but make sure your heart is in good shape! BTW, sometimes it's better to look off at other than your bait if you want to catch a fish with a topwater bait!

[Tyler]

Welcome! Sure try the bass stuff but as BF mentioned wash them off afterwards. And oh yes I have even thrown jitterbugs! They worked for little trout too.
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[TroutSupport]

Welcome to the board. I think its fine to use your bass tackle. You will have to replace the hooks at sometime after the trip but they'll be fine for the trip for a couple of days. Even if you put on high quality galvanized hooks at some point they'll have to be replaced as well. Salt just eats everything down here.. but no biggie, use your tackle and change them out before or after, just catch some fish.

Wake baits. The Strike Pro Hunch back and the Mans Baby One Minus are some of our favorites down here. As far as looking for baits that run a foot below the surface, it really depends on the tide height. In the summer low tide period you may not have a foot of water over the grass so a true wake-bait that's right under the surface will be a little better until the sea grass starts to float on the surface heavy.

Tylers dead on, many fish have been caught on jitterbugs and many other bass lures. Pick up a weedless gold spoon as well. You won't have to walk them, they'll hold up very well for years, and as the grass floats up to the surface it will give you options as well.

Zara spooks work good for the flats if you have one. It's sorta funny we learn the walk the dog technique and we think that's all the fish will hit. I've seen customers just pull a spook along with short pulls and get blow ups too.. the fish didn't get the same memo we got. That said.. walking the dog is not all that hard. It's a timing thing.

The lure will go sideways when you STOP the rod. So walking the dog is about imparting short burst of energy in a twitch ending with a stop. The rod actually goes forward, then is snapped back in a twitch to impart the energy down the line to the lure, then stopped. It's a very short twitch that returns the rod tip to where it started before dropping the tip toward the lure. When you drop your rod tip toward the lure you're going to put a little droop in the line between you and where the line hits the water. Twitch the rod tip briskly up and back about 6 inches and stop. Repeat. The trick is when you are repeating this motion rhythmically you are also slowly reeling to control the amount of line that's out. Don't reel down tight to pull the lure, you're only twitching the rod tip just right to snap the line / lure to the point where it tightens. Drop, snap, stop, drop, snap, stop, all the while also reeling just a little each time like a 1/3 of a crank. I find keeping the rod, generally, in the 10o'clock range is about right. Drop the tip about 6 inches, snap it back to where it was with a stop after the snapping twitch of the rod movement. repeat repeat repeat.

Mistake anglers make are:
1) trying to pull the lure, that won't work.. the line shouldn't be tight.. there should be a droop in the line. Not a huge drop where you can't move the lure, just a little sag in the line from the tip to water so to speak.

2) not reeling along during the time you're doing this rhythmic twitching. Not reeling causes your rod to be at odd places when the fish strikes.

[head shaker]

prop type top waters work very well for trout too especially on windy days.. mirrolure makes one as well as others.

[lifeaquatic]

I've not seen a jitterbug in like 30 years. It's right up there with a hula popper!

[TroutSupport]

[TxHarleySales]

Thanks TS! I really love all the work and dedication (and info you share) that you're put into this sport.

I'm fairly well versed in throwing topwaters for big bass, so I know all about not setting that hook when the blowup occurs.

Was thinking of tossing something like this:


The guy I'm going with does very well, and we kind of formulated a plan of getting some good eating sized fish, then going in search of some bigger models (both reds and specks hopefully).

Was thinking baits like this, and also some of the bigger suspending jerkbaits / glide baits might be a way to target a bigger grade of fish.

I know the bite will decrease by doing this, but maybe the quality of size would increase.

Is my mindset correct, or am I possibly missing something?
_________________
Jerry
Want a Harley? Shoot me a message!

[TxHarleySales]