Chug Up Super-Size Seatrout

Sunrise is prime time for big trout.

It was early morning and the tide was just beginning to fall from the marshy banks of the Intracoastal Waterway—a perfect time for northeast Florida trout fishing.

A good distance from shore, David Ponce cut the outboard, dropped the electric trolling motor and cast a noisy, frog-colored chugger lure up into water less than 10 inches deep. On the second cast, a fish rushed into the shallow slough to take the lure.

“The fish came right out of the water, tailwalking and shaking its head like a leaping tarpon,” David recalled.

A redfish may have been a more likely candidate in such shallow water, but the aerial display ruled that out right away. This fish was in fact a trout. A really big trout.

After a battle that lasted several minutes, Ponce's friend Freddy Carlson slid a landing net under the tired speck and hoisted it into the boat. The fish was so big that half of it was still hanging out of the net.

Ponce held the trout up to admire it. The head was almost even with his belt buckle, while the tail touched the bottom of his flats boat. Freddy and Kevin Carlson helped measure the fish. It was an incredible 33 inches! Quickly they slid the big speck into the release well and continued casting the shallows.

Seconds later, the lid of the well burst open and the fish flopped out onto the deck. David rushed to return his prize to the well, as it was sure to be a high scoring entry in the live-release tournament he was fishing. This time, Freddy sat on the lid until the big speck settled down. The fish, however, wasn't through.

The anglers just couldn't resist another peek, and when David reached in and lifted the fish out to admire one more time, it thrashed violently, broke his grip and splashed overboard to freedom.

“I went weak in the legs; I sat down and felt like crying,” said Ponce, remembering the fateful loss of the fish. Good estimates put the weight at somewhere near 12 pounds.

However, this fish tale doesn't end here. Still frustrated by losing his giant speck, David began to cast his chugger to the very same slough. Within moments, he watched a second fish home in on the lure. “This trout was so large that it actually had to swim on its side to get my plug,” said Ponce.

A similar battle ensued, only this time it didn't take long for the angler to practice his famous catch-and-release tactics. The fish shook its head so hard it dislodged the plug and sent it flying into the morning air.

“I would've bet anyone that the second trout was even larger than the first one,” he said.

Even though he lost his catch of a lifetime, Ponce commissioned a taxidermist to produce a replica mount based on the length of the fish. The giant speck now shows off its massive frame to onlookers who often listen to David's tales of chugging the shallows.

David Ponce is among a multitude of northeast Florida fishermen who have discovered a developing fishery for “gator” seatrout. Most attribute the increase in sizable fish to the net ban, which in 1995 halted excessive commercial taking of trout and trout forage. The once diminished schools of mullet have returned to shallow mud flats and narrow sloughs that feed them—and so have hungry seatrout.

Amongst northeast Florida trout anglers, however, it seems only a relative handful have the patience to wait for a trophy fish to engulf a topwater plug. Most still fish with live shrimp or a variety of deepwater speck lures, though the odds of catching gators (five pounds and larger) on such baits are often fairly slim. Of course, there are the exceptional livebait fishermen who catch their share of fish long as a man's arm in these northeast waters. But for dependable shots at truly big trout, topwater fishing shallow water—particularly with a loud, splashy chugger—seems to be the key.

Ponce works a 20-mile stretch of Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) that begins just south of Jacksonville, where it is known as Palm Valley, and runs to St. Augustine's Salt Run. There, the ICW is a deep channel bordered by shallow mud flats extending 15 to 30 feet out from shore. Also creek mouths, shell beds, sloughs and marsh-lined banks point the way to fishy territory.

“Although this shallow-water action remains good all year, I look for the best action to start in September and run right through the month of December,” said Ponce. “The main key is the water temperature, which should be at least 72 degrees or warmer. I also find that the outgoing tide provides the best action, particularly when the falling tide is running over a shallow-water shell bed. There, giant seatrout will often ambush baits as they pass over the shell bed.”

Proximity to deep water is another thing Ponce looks for. “Many of my favorite flats have deep holes nearby, ranging in depth from 20 to 30 feet,” he said.

Ponce also pointed out that strong weather fronts, heavy rainfall, discolored water, high winds and the full moon are all factors which lead to a poor bite.

“The full moon produces fast-running tides, which make it extremely difficult to work the shallow flats,” he said. “The current causes your boat to drift too fast, and you don't get time to work a topwater plug properly. You could run against the tide with your electric motor, but I strongly believe that the noise created by the motor spooks seatrout. This is why I prefer to drift slowly with the tide and occasionally employ the electric motor to guide the boat.”

David Ponce's chunky trout blasted a prop bait.

After selecting a stretch of shallow flats to fish, Ponce keeps the boat far enough away from the shoreline so that he can work the skinny water first and then the dropoff as well.

“The first objective is to cast a large chugger to the river's edge and then work it all the way across the flat. If my topwater plug doesn't attract attention, I will continue to work it out across the dropoff and into deep water. Some of the most exciting strikes of the day will often come right at boatside.”

Ponce also fishes large chuggers that run straight, instead of with a side-to-side action.

“One of my favorite chuggers is the 5-inch Johnny Rattler,” David said. “I like it because it runs straight and not from side to side, so trout have a better chance of catching it. For straight swimming action I keep the rodtip pointed down and twitch it straight down to the water. I also try to make the chugger move four to six inches at a time. The rear propeller helps produce a unique chugging action and sound.”

David also looks for early morning, calm days, overcast skies and a light drizzle to produce the best action, much as such conditions would for largemouth bass. In fact, David also prefers to fish with conventional freshwater fishing tackle, which includes a 61⁄2-foot casting rod and reel.

“I prefer a stiff rodtip for working large topwater plugs,” he said. “That helps keep the plug working straight and with short chugs. I also spool my casting reel with 20-pound line, which helps work the plug as well.”

Like many serious topwater fishermen, Ponce also elects to swap out the standard trebles for hooks of his own choice— in this case 3X strong, No. 2 VMC trebles.

“Big specks have huge mouths; that's why I prefer larger, extra heavy-duty treble hooks,” he explained, adding that he uses light drag when fighting a fish to prevent the hooks from pulling out of the tender mouth tissue. When a big speck begins to tire, Ponce thumbs the spool of the casting reel to apply extra pressure. Other lures Ponce favors include the Pop-R, Storm Chug Bug, Devil's Horse and Heddon Torpedo. Color is not as important as the noise that big chuggers create, which many seasoned topwater anglers think simulates a gator trout striking a bait on the surface.

“Fishermen often ask me how a really big speck hits a large chugger,” said Ponce. “I tell them to imagine all of the water suddenly disappearing from under the plug, with the sound and splash of a large pelican diving into the water.”

Larry Miniard of Jacksonville is a successful backwater tournament pro and guide who targets the St. Johns River and ICW from Jacksonville to St. Augustine. He often fishes the shallows with large topwater plugs, particularly during tournaments.

“I look for the last of the incoming and the first of the outgoing tides to produce the best topwater action,” said Miniard.

“One of my favorite topwater plugs is the Super Spook. It has three large treble hooks, which gives the lure more flash and also increases the chance of a solid hookup. There's also a sound chamber with a metal ball inside. But more importantly, the side-to-side action gives you a better chance of attracting a fish that has just missed the plug. You can keep the plug moving in a small area where the big speck may come back for a second and even third strike.

“One of my favorite topwater plugs for charter clients is the Bagley Stinger. I call this a ‘zip' bait, as it makes long jumps on the surface, with a zipping action created by the rear propeller. The Stinger is easy for even the novice topwater fisherman to fish. I recently had an angler catch an 8-pound speck with a Stinger while fishing the calm, early morning hours.”

Miniard also recommends the Chug Bug when big specks are popping baits right on the surface. Color isn't critical, but such mullet patterns seem especially productive, as they match a common forage for shallow-water specks.

“Some of my favorite spots have a deep hole or slough nearby which affords the fish security when danger threatens,” said Miniard. “During the lower tide phases, Iook for shallow sloughs, rockpiles, pilings and shell beds to hold good numbers of big specks. In Mill Cove on the St. Johns River, for example, fish normally hold in the shallows between the rockpiles and the shoreline. Specks over the 7-pound mark have been taken there on topwater plugs.”

North of Jacksonville, excellent topwater fishing is also readily available in Sisters Creek, Nassau Sound, the Amelia River and Tiger Basin. In fact, Sisters Creek and the Amelia River are virtual carbon copies of the ICW that runs from Palm Cove to St. Augustine. Both northern waterways feature shallow flats that extend out to the main channel, with a

multitude of feeder creeks and sloughs.

Once again, the high outgoing tide is often the key for taking giant specks. During a summer fishing outing, my son Terry David Lacoss guided bass fishing pro Shaw Grigsby on some of Amelia Island's best trout flats.

On the trip, Grigsby asked Terry David about the best time of year to fish topwater for specks.

“Actually we have excellent topwater fishing all year long, particularly if we have a warm winter,” Terry David replied. “However, my favorite topwater speck fishing comes in the fall when there are plenty of baitfish in the shallows.”

The words had barely escaped my son's mouth when a big speck sucked all of the water out from under his Chug Bug. Seconds later, a much larger seatrout engulfed Grigsby's lure.

“Terry David, look at this, this big trout is taking out drag like a big bass,” he remarked. “I can't do anything but hold on!”

Minutes later, both fishermen were admiring their catches, which was topped by Grigsby's 5-pound speck.

Grigsby asked, “Now when were you telling me is the best time of year to catch big specks, before we were interrupted?”

“Anytime, just anytime of the year!” Terry David exclaimed.

They had originally planned to target shallow-water redfish, but found themselves enjoying great topwater action for seatrout. Like many redfish anglers in this region, they discovered that trout are also waiting in the shallows to attack topwater lures.

The way things are looking in northeast Florida, if trout continue to strap on the pounds, in a few years the reds might be considered the bonus catch in the shallows.

FS

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