Poe shares secret for catching specks with slack line technique
Sometimes speckled trout can make you feel like the smartest guy in the class — or like the kid not paying attention way in the back row.
On days when you have the right-sized jighead, the right color lure and you’re in a hot spot retrieving at the perfect speed, the trout are slamming your plastics and it all seems so easy.
But go back there the next time with the identical set-up, and you might not catch a fish.
Of course, conditions change and the presence of baitfish and tidal conditions can be a big factor, but Capt. Nick Poe with Big Lake Guide Service has a trick when trout are acting a little finicky and aren’t committing to his MirrOlure Lil Johns.
With an exaggerated jigging motion, Poe gets the jig way up in the water column — then simply lets if fall with slack line.
It’s a tactic he uses regularly with success when fishing the ledges of the Calcasieu Ship Channel, casting into 10 feet of water then working down the gradual slope of the ledge.
Getting a bite while the lure is falling is expected. But getting a bite while the lure is falling — and not feeling it — is something altogether different.
“When fish are kind of acting like they’re getting harder to catch — maybe the tide has shifted just a little bit — give it a big high jig then let it fall on slack line,” he said. “But it’s got to be on slack line. You’re not going to feel the bite.”
The tough part is convincing yourself it’s OK not to feel it — then following through with continuing the high jigging action.
“The next time you jig it, you’re jigging it so hard you’re actually setting the hook,” Poe said. “That’s a trick, but it works. Slack line is a big deal.”
And if he’s dealing with a very slack tide day, Poe — who usually always uses a ¼-ounce jighead — switches things up and goes with an even lighter jighead to keep his presentation as natural as possible.
“I’ll go to an ⅛-ounce, and with the sweeping action of your bait, you cast up-current and the bait sweeps back across the reefs,” he said. “If you have too heavy of a lead-head on, it’s just going to be digging into the mud the whole time, and it won’t sweep properly.
“So if the tide’s not as strong, go to a lighter lead-head and your bait will have the same presentation it would if the tide was strong and you were fishing with a quarter-ounce.”
