flounder lagoon

Tony catches a flounder on a Z-Man Diezel Minnowz as we slowly fished our way through a back-water Mosquito Lagoon slough.

Top-water Tony graced the bow of my Banshee Extreme for three days running this past week. Fishing behind a full moon is tough enough, but these three days were also behind a major cold front.

In retrospect we probably should have scheduled our trips during the middle of the day and dealt as best as we could with the afternoon’s blustery winds. Truth be told, Tony and I both are a bit hard headed and we both prefer getting out early and getting off the water early. While this tried and true tactic pays off most of the year it sometimes bites us in the proverbial butt when the water is cold!

Having just pointing out our hard headedness in the paragraph above I’m eager to point out we can adjust to our conditions. In recent weeks I’ve introduced Tony to “ultra-light” gear and he’s fully embraced the mindset. A pair of size one thousand reels loaded with high quality four pound braid married to light-tipped rods are now a permanent part of Tony’s arsenal.

I hear a few of you now muttering; “but an ultra-light rig is not necessary for tossing top-water plugs” and you’re absolutely correct. However, this avid top-water angler is morphing into a well-rounded avid angler who has embraced the most versatile lures in our tackle box… soft plastics!

OK, I hear the muttering again; “you don’t need an ultra-light rig to toss soft plastic lures.” Again I say you are correct, unless the soft plastic lures being used are small and light. In this scenario a well-balanced ultra-light rig excels, allowing a long cast which greatly increases the number of bites you’ll realize in winter’s clear water.

Now on to my point, Tony’s masterful technique with his favorite top-water plug produced zero fish during this three day run of fishing. However, quite a few fish were caught on Z-Man Diezel Minnowz, Curly Tails and Grubz in a variety of colors. These versatile lures can be fished slow, fast and everywhere in between including “dead sticking”; one of my favorite and most productive techniques.