Fishing Frenzy

When you look in your tackle box, you are probably greeted by two extremes: trout fishing lures which are battle scarred and faded from frequent use and others which still look as shiny as ever - come to think of it, have you even tried those out yet? Trying to decide which lure will give you the best shot at landing a prize trophy fish can be as baffling as predicting the winning lottery numbers. If you plan on reeling in some trophy trout this season, you're going to have to get to know your fishing lures very well indeed.

"I'd rather catch a big one on topwater but when I approach the area I'm going to fish, I am first considering the depth of the water," states Mike Wexielman, a lifelong Texas coast fishing enthusiast who has the wall mounts to prove it.

Wexielman's personal preference is to go with something simple as his first choice when selecting lures. "When I'm working some deeper water I generally go with subsurface tacks. When I'm wading through shallows though, that's when I like to start with a topwater instead."

When trout routinely slap plugs with disinterest, "step down." A swap from a topwater to a slow-sinker or from a slow sinker to a soft plastic provides appeal to garner the attacks for Wexielman. "If swirls occur beneath your lure, vary your speed. It can often be a factor."

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.

"A lot of people discount just how useful soft plastic fishing lures can be. A simple red and white paddle tail minnow has a way of getting the attention of those truly trophy quality specks," says Wexielman, who, contrary to what you may see in some fishing reports, says that the largest trout he's ever seen reeled in was caught with tails and advises anglers not to think twice about switching 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.

Maddox, like Wexielman, starts off with a topwater for pure excitement. "If I start missing blowups, I switch to the slow-sinking Corky Fatboy." In deeper water with shell pads and submerged rocks or concrete, he settles with soft plastics to keep within the strike zone.

"I've always done best using slow sinkers and topwaters for larger trout, but the biggest speckled trout I've personally reeled in was when I was using a bass assassin tail," reports 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.