Beautiful trout. Share some pictures of your new bait and your suspending rig. Sounds very interesting. Congrats on your fishing success!

What's a topwater crankbait?

For the topwater crankbait I use a huge mann’s tidewater crankbait, but I do several key things to rig it perfectly to get trout to inhale it where it walks the surface. Out the box it will hardly catch a thing. I need to change hooks, split rings and sometimes work on the bill to get the correct swim depths and patterns. I also add strands of flourescent tape and use feathered trailer hooks with various fluorescent colors I hand tie which dances behind the bait driving fish crazy. I like the croaker color for reds and bass and the pinfish or green mullet for the trout. I’ll be doing an detailed article with video for my column soon about the various crankbaits and how I’ve been smacking the fish like crazy on certain types from the marsh to the gulf. Too bad nothing in the store comes fishable imo, but fixing up lures is my passion just as fun as catching the fish. With the exception of seeing my tackle bill every month.

For the suspension rigs I’m still in the works on fixing every little detail. I’m ocd about having the most efficient flawless creation, but if you suspend your bait 3-4 feet off the bottom with your weight on the bottom by the deeper rigs the trout go crazy and you rarely get stuck. I have swivel connections for changing weight sizes in an instant. I’m working on different triple swivels types and sizes, clicker bead locations, with several various knots with various pound test to which is the most optimal for bait action and trout hookups vs line strength. With each fishing trip I’m constantly finding a few tweaks to make it better. As soon as perfected I’ll be doing an article on my column. Also, I got special double hook suspension rigs for freshwater catfish, reds and drum which will outfish anyone around. You can fish in the rocks themselves where the majority of the edible fish hide without getting stuck. On the other hand, my shrimp lures are my newest rough draft and it’ll a while before I’m ready to make my plaster molds and get those puppies cooking, but my goal is to make them so tasty and lifelike that using live bait will be obsolete! My biggest trout of the weekend was actually Friday on a weightless shrimp lure but it took me into the rig and spit the hook. I thought it was a shark at first. I'll be back for that 5 plus pounder soon.

Was the water moving out of the marsh with the topwater action in the morning? Seems like you had a great weekend. I'm intrigued as well on those rigs you make.

zack

july 4

me

july 4th in the backyard

zack

july 5

Here is some pics of my brothers trips from July 4th & 5th. He was able to go back with some buddies Wednesday and caught 40 trout in a few hours catching nonstop on croaker and minnows before the rain ran him off. He switched over the suspended rigs and had more success than his previous trip. I was supposed to go yesterday evening with Lora, but with so many thunderstorms I decided to spend my 4th landbound and went catfishing in Bayou Lafourche in the back yard. The one good thing about the rain is that the bigger catfish bite just as good as at night. Caught these 2 nice ones and a bunch of smaller ones on cut perch. Perfect for supper. My bro went back today and had to avoid storms all day, but stayed til the evening limiting out mostly on live bait and catching a few reds. He said a bunch of bullreds were biting too. He had to hunker down out by the Island because of bad weather and saw several waterspouts pop up very close.

As for the water last weekend, the tide was slacked at high tide in the mornings when I caught on topwater, but the water was pretty green in the outer edges of Pelto. It fell hard throughout the midday. In the midday topwater action I caught them in dirty water. The dirty water is easier to fool those trout on topwater midday imo.

Going back Saturday, hope the weather isn’t too bad.

Man, that looks like some fun!!!