Topwater vs Wakebait vs Twitchbait (HARD BAIT CHALLENGE!)
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
Are hard baits effective when fishing inshore? Hard baits are lures that I don’t throw often, so I wanted to challenge myself to only throw hard bodied lures on this trip and stash the soft plastics.
I used 3 styles of lures (see below the video for details), but one stood out from the crowd by landing a massive 43″ Redfish.
Which one was the winner? Find out in the on-the-water video below!
Some of the same lures used in this video are featured in our Hard Body Bundle!
Hard Baits Used In This Video:
Moonwalker: Best suited to use early in the morning under low light conditions and a slight ripple on the water.
Fat Lipper: Best suited to use in choppy and/or calm conditions and overcast skies in water 3ft or less.
Skinny Lipper XL: Best suited for windy/choppy conditions in water 3ft or less when fish aren’t committed to striking on the surface.
Gear Breakdown:
- Rod: 7’6 Slam Stick Medium Power Fast Action
- Reel: 3000 Shimano Spheros
- Line: 10lb Power Pro
- Leader: 17lb Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon
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– Tony
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
I have juvenile Tarpon (15 -30 lbs) rolling regularly along my backyard seawall. Which hard lure would you suggest.
They don’t work as well for tarpon. I would go with a small soft plastic on a jig head such as the prawn jr or 2.0 paddletail.
Nice information Tony. I have to ask. Water temp? Our temps in Freeport still show to be about 70 degrees. We do not have many if any “grass flats” to fish but we have many Oyster bars and reefs. I have thrown many “wake baits” if you will to no avail. Hard bodied twitch baits are new to me as i have always thrown bass assasins.
Thanks Jerry! Hard baits are great around oyster bars as well, especially the floaters that can stay out of the oysters and keep from getting snagged. Temps in the 70’s are perfect for fish to be more aggressive. I prefer to throw them whenever there is chop on the water.
Great Redfish! Haven’t caught a Red that big by me in the 10,000 Islands.
Thanks Salvatore! These reds where I’m at are resident fish. They stay in the rivers and lagoon here year round since it can support them and the inlets are far away. Down there you will likely get the bigger fish coming in around Fall when its spawning season. Thats when they’ll push into the inlets and passes as they are more migratory in areas like that. They push offshore the rest of the year.
Skinny lipper for the win!
Yes sir!
Nice, I have to try this.
Worth a shot!
Havent fished in awhile but I had great success with the mullet skinny lipper last time out. Two reds landed and several blow ups.
Nice! They love that thing!
Nice, I’ve had luck with moonwalker and skinny lipper
Good stuff!
I fished the Pepperfish area out of Horseshoe Beach this past Saturday 4/5. We fished live shrimp under popping corks and caught a boat load of short Speckle Trout (12-14.5 in.). Our only slot fish caught were on the moonwalker on a incoming tide. I tried the fat lipper and skinny lipper with no results. The wind was a factor from early morning continuing all day.
Most of my biggest trout have been caught on topwater, they love it! The skinny lipper and moonwalker take a bit more patience and a lot of casting to dial them in.
like this
Thanks Ronald!
Nice Red Tony! Thanks for the info and tips!!
You’re welcome Nelson!