At this
point in time I have only fished for Speckled Trout on one occasion so I am about
as far from an expert writing a techniques article as one can get. But, the
success and excitement I got fishing them last summer inspired me to write
something. So here's the story...We were on a family vacation in Nags Head, North Carolina. I got a tip on a good shore fishing spot in the Roanoke Sound from a local guide.
I woke up just before sunrise and made my way to the spot. I hiked down the path wondering what I was going to encounter. When I got there one other angler was eagerly working his spot. I tied on a 3 inch Sea Wolf (#60) colored Big Hammer swimbait rigged on a 3/16 oz. Hammer Head™ and started blindly casting while watching the other angler out of the corner of my eye. The first thing I noticed was the erratic retrieve he was using. Basically a series of quick, sharp, strong snaps of the rod tip while reeling constantly. I now understood why it seems they prefer spinning gear as I was sitting there with my light casting gear (Calcutta 50, Clarus Casting Rod, and 8 lb. test). I could not duplicate the technique very well with casting gear. My hands just don't work that way. So I tried to imitate it as closely as possible by holding the rod steady and very quickly cranking the reel handle a couple of rotations with short pauses in between. It took a little while but I finally got my first strike and landed my first speckled trout.
It was amazing! What a great fish. I was so excited but by that time there were about a dozen other anglers there and I didn't want to look like a rookie so I kept my excitement to myself. The first thing I discovered with this fish was that it hit on the pause when my line was slack. In fact, I didn't even feel the strike which, after a few more strikes and a few misses, taught me to be ready for a fish to be on the line every time I started to reel after the pause. Once I did this I stopped missing the strikes.
By the end of the day I had caught and released plenty of trout, a couple small redfish, and a variety of other fish.
That evening I was thinking about my success. Big Hammer swimbaits are known for having great swimming action - especially on the drop. Since all of the strikes I got were when the lure was falling (during the pause) I know my success was mostly due to the action of the bait.
I couldn't wait until the next day. I woke up even earlier and this time I brought my spinning rod. It was un-believable. I caught more trout than I could count and easily outfished all but one of the locals. I tried a few other colors of Big Hammers and caught a few on them but since Sea Wolf was working so well it was difficult to give the other colors adequate time in the water.
I went back the next morning. My time was limited because it was the last day of our vacation but I just had to give it one more shot. The day started out slow for everyone. After about an hour I get a good strike only about 10 feet in front of me and catch a nice trout that was probably in the 3 to 4 pound range. About 10 minutes later I get another one about the same size right in front of me again. I thought I was onto a pattern as most of the fish on the previous days came from further out but that was not the case as that was the last fish of the day for me. When I left about 45 minutes after my second fish no one else had caught anything.
I am not sure exactly what lead to my success but I am pretty sure it didn't have much to do with my fishing ability. I just watched what the locals were doing and tried to copy it. Was it luck, timing, or was it truly the action of Big Hammer swimbaits? There is no way to know for sure but I do know one thing, if I ever go back there is no other lure I would rather use!
