Picture yourself as a mature speckled trout basking in the shallows of a barren East Matagorda Bay mud flat. At last, beams of light penetrate wintry clouds and are warming an insulating mud bottom, energizing your lethargic attitude.
All ten pounds of you cruises along the temperate flat soon reaching your familiar feeding ground-a distinct patch of boggy mud and elevated oyster shell. Approaching it sparks memories from seasons ago. Pastimes of gorging yourself with jumbo sized shrimp and feasting over endless schools of finger mullet come to mind and fuel your hunger.
You take up your favored feeding spot right where the mud meets the shell bed, watching the water above you for signs of a meal. You spot a delicious looking six inch mullet at two o' clock and get ready to spring into action.
You leap forward, breaking the surface and return to the bottom slowly, mouth filled with your reward.
Almost as soon as you've swallowed the first mullet, you see a slow moving, wobbly mullet a few feet away. Looks wounded, you think as you watch it's brilliant colors sparkle in the water column as it sinks right towards you.
Like a flash of lightning you're on the mullet and it's in your jaws - but this one seems to be stronger than you!
A fierce head shake hurls the previous 6-inch mullet from your jaws; but the invisible, pulling force never ceases. You grow tired and succumb to the grip of a Boga at your lip.
"Ten pounds at least!" a man yells.
Two other men approach, admiringly looking you over. Is that a camera flash you see?
Finally they unhook you and pit you back in the water, exhausted but relieved to have survived the ordeal.
While making your way back to the bottom, you can faintly make out someone saying "And that's why I like Corky Fat Boy lures." You're not entirely sure what that means, but you know you'll think twice before pouncing on a wounded mullet next time.
Of course, trophy trout don't actually understand what we're saying (do they?). Otherwise, they'd be well aware that being fooled by that lure was the fulfillment of an angler's fondest wish.
When word broke out that James Wallace broke the state's speckled trout record, an infection had spread across the gulf coast; fishermen turned to an arsenal of Corky's, a slow sinking soft bait, when hunting for the trout of their lifetime. Packing the size of a topwater and the wobble of a broken-back, the tempting attraction of a slow retrieved Corky in winter is just flat out effective for trophy specks.
"James Wallace really grew our business with that catch," says B&L Corky founder Paul Brown. "Once the word got out, we were sold out of each and every Corky almost instantly." Of course, Corky saltwater fishing lures are still the hottest item at this family owned Houston shop, as they have been since that famous catch.
One of the many experts who counts himself as a Corky fan is Port Mansfield guide Captain Mike McBride. These are one his favorite lures for specks on Texas' lower coast and along with a unique retrieval style, work wonders for this angler.
"You'll definite work Corkys a little different depending where you are on the coast, but personally I pop the knot off when I'm trying to keep the slack under control." Against the common wisdom and frequent mentions in fishing reports, McBride doesn't use the ultra slow technique, preferring to work his lure vigorously. "The point of a Corky is that it makes those unpredictable movements that realistically imitate prey," McBride states.
Captain Jesse Arsola, a Matagorda trophy-trout guide, swears by a particular science when working Corky's.
"When trout are aggressive they will nail anything; but when you have to work for them to bite, technique really comes into play."
"I use a counting system when I fish with a Corky. It's actually pretty simple. I count how many seconds until the lure hits bottom, then I try switching up the time I let it sink before I take the slack out of the line. Then I just figure out what count I'm on when I get the most bites. If there's an easier way to tell where the specks are feeding in a water column, I haven't found it yet."
Captain John Havens, a tournament angler from Clear Lake, Texas favors chartreuse, white, and gold sided Corky Devil and a rather routine retrieve.
"Make sure to stay in contact with the lure at all times to feel the most subtle of bites." When working a Corky Devil, Havens retrieves with a lift of the rod with one or two twitches before allowing the lure to fall.
All ten pounds of you cruises along the temperate flat soon reaching your familiar feeding ground-a distinct patch of boggy mud and elevated oyster shell. Approaching it sparks memories from seasons ago. Pastimes of gorging yourself with jumbo sized shrimp and feasting over endless schools of finger mullet come to mind and fuel your hunger.
You take up your favored feeding spot right where the mud meets the shell bed, watching the water above you for signs of a meal. You spot a delicious looking six inch mullet at two o' clock and get ready to spring into action.
You leap forward, breaking the surface and return to the bottom slowly, mouth filled with your reward.
Almost as soon as you've swallowed the first mullet, you see a slow moving, wobbly mullet a few feet away. Looks wounded, you think as you watch it's brilliant colors sparkle in the water column as it sinks right towards you.
Like a flash of lightning you're on the mullet and it's in your jaws - but this one seems to be stronger than you!
A fierce head shake hurls the previous 6-inch mullet from your jaws; but the invisible, pulling force never ceases. You grow tired and succumb to the grip of a Boga at your lip.
"Ten pounds at least!" a man yells.
Two other men approach, admiringly looking you over. Is that a camera flash you see?
Finally they unhook you and pit you back in the water, exhausted but relieved to have survived the ordeal.
While making your way back to the bottom, you can faintly make out someone saying "And that's why I like Corky Fat Boy lures." You're not entirely sure what that means, but you know you'll think twice before pouncing on a wounded mullet next time.
Of course, trophy trout don't actually understand what we're saying (do they?). Otherwise, they'd be well aware that being fooled by that lure was the fulfillment of an angler's fondest wish.
When word broke out that James Wallace broke the state's speckled trout record, an infection had spread across the gulf coast; fishermen turned to an arsenal of Corky's, a slow sinking soft bait, when hunting for the trout of their lifetime. Packing the size of a topwater and the wobble of a broken-back, the tempting attraction of a slow retrieved Corky in winter is just flat out effective for trophy specks.
"James Wallace really grew our business with that catch," says B&L Corky founder Paul Brown. "Once the word got out, we were sold out of each and every Corky almost instantly." Of course, Corky saltwater fishing lures are still the hottest item at this family owned Houston shop, as they have been since that famous catch.
One of the many experts who counts himself as a Corky fan is Port Mansfield guide Captain Mike McBride. These are one his favorite lures for specks on Texas' lower coast and along with a unique retrieval style, work wonders for this angler.
"You'll definite work Corkys a little different depending where you are on the coast, but personally I pop the knot off when I'm trying to keep the slack under control." Against the common wisdom and frequent mentions in fishing reports, McBride doesn't use the ultra slow technique, preferring to work his lure vigorously. "The point of a Corky is that it makes those unpredictable movements that realistically imitate prey," McBride states.
Captain Jesse Arsola, a Matagorda trophy-trout guide, swears by a particular science when working Corky's.
"When trout are aggressive they will nail anything; but when you have to work for them to bite, technique really comes into play."
"I use a counting system when I fish with a Corky. It's actually pretty simple. I count how many seconds until the lure hits bottom, then I try switching up the time I let it sink before I take the slack out of the line. Then I just figure out what count I'm on when I get the most bites. If there's an easier way to tell where the specks are feeding in a water column, I haven't found it yet."
Captain John Havens, a tournament angler from Clear Lake, Texas favors chartreuse, white, and gold sided Corky Devil and a rather routine retrieve.
"Make sure to stay in contact with the lure at all times to feel the most subtle of bites." When working a Corky Devil, Havens retrieves with a lift of the rod with one or two twitches before allowing the lure to fall.
About the Author:
Captain Kyle Tomek is a Texas Gulf Coast fishing guide who submits featured Texas saltwater fishing reports to Texas FishCast. You can submit Texas saltwater fishing reports through your Facebook account to Texas FishCast. You can share pictures and videos and tag your fishing buddies for everyone to see.
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