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Topwater for Game Fish
Terry Lacoss
King mackerel fishermen are constantly targeting waters where game fish school close to the surface. Casting a saltwater surface plug right over the school is an exciting fishing option!
With near shore water temperatures in the high 60s, most Northeast Florida king mackerel fishermen are anxiously waiting for that first migration of spring king mackerel to arrive. However a few savvy king mackerel fishermen have found that king fishing is excellent all year round at many of the deep-water fish havens where water depths range from 100 to 200 feet of water.
Not only is the king mackerel fishing excellent at times, kingfish often skyrocket on surface plugs. This style of saltwater angling requires fishermen to have a good sound heart and angling skills too! While in many instances, a wide variety of saltwater game fish are also likely to attack your surface plug as well.
“It was a crazy day of offshore fishing,”Amelia Island’s Doug Gies remembers. “I had been invited to join Jeff and Monica Stam for a day of bottom fishing for grouper and red snapper at the famed Elton Bottom. The seas were fairly calm, which made our 48-mile run from Jacksonville’s St. John’s inlet a very pleasant ride in Jeff’s 23-foot, Yamaha powered Contender. After arriving at one of our more popular red snapper ledges and anchoring up over the deep-water structure, we began barbing cut Spanish sardines and Boston mackerel to our terminal bottom fishing tackle. As soon as our baits hit the bottom, we began hooking up to a big school of B-Liners that were holding tight to the deep ledge below.”
The Northeast Florida fishing party arrived at their targeted offshore structure at 9:00 in the morning. And for the next few hours of fishing, a giant school of big king mackerel began cutting off their hooked snapper.
“Right away we began hooking into a variety of bottom game fish, where red snapper headlined the menu,” Doug Gies said. “However, each time we attempted to reel in our catch, big kings were eating our hooked fish. You could actually see several big kings schooling down deep under our boat and attacking our hooked fish!”
Doug Gies had brought along several Williamson, five-ounce Butterfly jigs in the silver and pink color patterns. A pair of MirrOlure Top Dog surface plugs were also stocked in Gies’s tackle box just in case kingfish, cobia, or amberjack showed up for their offshore party.
“We rigged bucktail jigs to 20-pound class kingfish rods and used an 18-inch section of 40-pound seven strand, American Wire for a shock leader,” Gies explained. “The seven strand wire gives the jig more action and will not kink like piano wire does after a kingfish strike. We could actually see the kingfish holding down deep in the ultra clear water as we free-spooled our jigs down deep to the foraging big macks.
For the nest hour of fishing, the Turn-3 fishing party jigged up and released several big kings weighing from 12 to 30 pounds. While keeping a few of the smaller kingfish for the dinner table.
“We also began chumming the kings up to the surface by tossing small cut pieces of our snapper baits off the transom of our anchored fishing boat,” Gies said. “That’s when I cut the jig off from my kingfish leader and attached a MirrOlure Top Dog surface plug.”
With a big school of kingfish feeding in their chum slick and just off from the transom of their kingfish boat, Gies cast his Top Dog surface plug just beyond the school of hungry kings.
“I began working the cigar shaped plug side to side in a traditional walk-the-dog fashion when a giant of a kingfish ate the plug,” related Gies. “I really thought that a Mayport jet had dropped a bomb on the water, because that’s how that kingfish strike sounded!”
For the next ten minutes, Gies enjoyed the speedy runs of his king mackerel that was soon released at boat-side.
“A 40-pound amberjack and speedy bonito also slam dunked my Top Dog surface plug after investigating our chum slick,” Gies remembers. “However, that 42-pound smoker, was the highlight of our offshore fishing trip to one of my favorite Northeast Florida fish havens, the Elton Bottom.
During the fall, winter and spring fishing seasons when the water temperature is in the low 60s, Elton Bottom kingfish feed on the big schools of B-Liners and grunts. However, when the water temperatures begin to heat up in late spring, big schools of blue runners return to the rock ledges at the Elton Bottom where many a Southern Kingfish Association kingfish tournament has been won.
In fact, Gies teamed up with team Reel Warrior II, captained by Lyle Rose during the 2008 kingfish season with excellent results. During the Nassau Sport Fishing Association’s Tournament of Champions, team Reel Warrior took first place honors in the 23-foot and under division with a 40-pound king mackerel. And during the 2008 Greater Jacksonville Real Yellow Pages Kingfish Tournament, Reel Warrior II took fourth place with a 42-pound kingfish.
“Doug Gies is one of those exceptional fishermen that you just know is going to help your fishing party catch more and bigger fish,” Captain Terry D. Lacoss said. “Doug has mated for me in the past on my charter boat and he is always adjusting our trolling lines and baits to help us catch more fish. It doesn’t surprise me that Doug took those big Elton Bottom fish with topwater plugs!”
In reality, I often wonder why more saltwater fishermen don’t bring along specially rigged rods and reels to cast topwater plugs to wide shouldered saltwater game fish? While kingfish are rarely targeted with topwater plugs, king mackerel frequently feed right on the surface, often attacking live bait fish schools that are holding close to the surface.
Another wide shouldered game fish that is often overlooked while casting topwater plugs is the mighty tarpon. Tarpon are literally a blast when they are attracted to a saltwater surface plug. Other species of saltwater game fish that can be taken with topwater plugs include amberjack, cobia, bonito, wahoo, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, a wide variety of sharks, jack crevalle, stripers, redfish and more.
Once again, the key too hooking up with exciting saltwater topwater action is locating game fish feeding close to the surface. A wide variety of game fish can also be chummed up to the surface, then taken with a topwater plug. Keep in mind that you may not be able to catch saltwater game fish during your entire day of fishing, savvy saltwater fishermen always have a rod and reel nearby rigged with a large topwater plug.
Many saltwater fishermen prefer a 7-foot, 8-inch casting rod for topwater fishing. The tip section should have a medium light action, which allows for long casts and also imparts the proper action to topwater plugs. The butt sections should have a medium heavy action for fighting big game fish that blow up on your large saltwater surface plug. Finally, a long rod handle is needed for making long two handed casts and fighting fish too.
Large spool casting reels are preferred and filled with 20-pound monofilament fishing line. Many topwater fishermen prefer monofilament fishing lines over braided fishing lines simply because of the stretch in the monofilament fishing line. The stretch in the fishing line allows game fish to eat the plug better, as compared to no stretch in the braided fishing line that has a tendency to pull the hooks free and losing the hooked game fish.
As mentioned early in this same article, saltwater fishermen that take the challenge of topwater fishing must first have a good, strong heart. A wide shouldered game fish that hits a surface plug like a big bomb exploding, often results in the angler jerking the plug away from the foraging game fish. Once a game fish has eaten your surface plug, it's best to take your time, reel in the slack fishing line, make sure that the fish has your plug in its mouth, then and only then, set the hook!
While in many cases when game fish strike a surface plug, particularly king mackerel, the strike comes so fast that the game fish oftentimes misses the plug and hooks. Having a lot of patience in setting the hooks allows the game fish to come back for a second strike!
It is always a good idea to make sure your saltwater surface plugs come with a good set of saltwater tough hooks. I recommend replacing lessor hooks with larger, 4X strong saltwater treble hooks. Be sure and check your hooks after a fish is landed to make sure that the hooks have not been weakened and straightened during the fight.
Also make sure that your saltwater plug is outfitted with stainless steel split rings that won’t spread open during a heated battle.
Some of the more popular saltwater surface plugs include Storm’s Chug Bug, Heddon’s Zara Spook, the MirrOlure 94-MR Top Dog, the Rapala Skitter Walk and the Sebile Splasher-90. However, if you really wish to drive that cobia or kingfish crazy, cast an Arbogast ZL Jitterbug. This famed freshwater big bass lure also drives saltwater game fish plumb crazy with it’s slow plop-plop action!
