Just for a moment, put yourself in the shoes (OK, OK - fins) of a big speckled trout. You've been relaxing in a mud flat in the East Matagorda bay. Finally, what you've been waiting for comes to pass; the light starts to peek through winter cloud cover, warming the shallows where you've been waiting out the winter.
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 lay motionless where the black mud's edge meets oyster. The tide pulls water overhead and an appetizing mullet approaches alarming you of a potential feast.
Before the mullet even knows what happened, you're drifting back to the bottom feasting on your first catch of the season.
Soon after, a wobbling, wounded-looking mullet pierces the water's surface, several feet away. Vibrant in color, the four inch bait fish gently dances, flaunting its dazzling body as it sinks leisurely through the water column.
Your spotted body jumps back into attack mode and seals the wounded mullet's fate. Only this time the mullet fought back.
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.
"10 pounds!" is yelled by a man bundled up beneath layers of outerwear.
Two other people come up and look you over approvingly. You think you see the flash of a camera.
Then it's over as quickly as it began and you're back in the water, free but utterly exhausted.
"Courtesy of a Corky Fatboy!" is faintly heard as you dash back to the warming protection of your feeding ground.
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 work your lures a bit differently based on what part of the coast you're on, but I try to pop the knot off while trying to keep up with the slack if at all possible," says McBride. Contrary to the advice you'll find in many of the fishing reports, Captain McBride doesn't generally go with the slower than slow approach many use. He instead uses more aggressive movements which mimic the behavior of real baitfish, which as he points out is the beauty of a Corky in the first place.
Captain Jesse Arsola, a Matagorda trophy-trout guide, swears by a particular science when working Corky's.
"When you're dealing with trout who are in an aggressive mood they'll bite just about anything. However, those times when you have to work at it to get them interested, that is when your technique really matters."
"If I use a Corky, I'm usually using a counting system. I keep track of how long it takes the lure to hit bottom, then I vary the amount of time I allow my Corky to sink before I pull out the slack. From there, it's just a matter of identifying what count you tend to get bites on. This is a really easy way to figure out just where in the water column the trout are feeding."
Captain John Havens is an accomplished tournament angler from Clear Lake who tells us that his favorite out of the many saltwater fishing lures he's tried is the Corky Devil, either in gold, chartreuse or white. He uses a standard retrieve with his Corky lures and claims this has always worked best for him.
"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 lay motionless where the black mud's edge meets oyster. The tide pulls water overhead and an appetizing mullet approaches alarming you of a potential feast.
Before the mullet even knows what happened, you're drifting back to the bottom feasting on your first catch of the season.
Soon after, a wobbling, wounded-looking mullet pierces the water's surface, several feet away. Vibrant in color, the four inch bait fish gently dances, flaunting its dazzling body as it sinks leisurely through the water column.
Your spotted body jumps back into attack mode and seals the wounded mullet's fate. Only this time the mullet fought back.
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.
"10 pounds!" is yelled by a man bundled up beneath layers of outerwear.
Two other people come up and look you over approvingly. You think you see the flash of a camera.
Then it's over as quickly as it began and you're back in the water, free but utterly exhausted.
"Courtesy of a Corky Fatboy!" is faintly heard as you dash back to the warming protection of your feeding ground.
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 work your lures a bit differently based on what part of the coast you're on, but I try to pop the knot off while trying to keep up with the slack if at all possible," says McBride. Contrary to the advice you'll find in many of the fishing reports, Captain McBride doesn't generally go with the slower than slow approach many use. He instead uses more aggressive movements which mimic the behavior of real baitfish, which as he points out is the beauty of a Corky in the first place.
Captain Jesse Arsola, a Matagorda trophy-trout guide, swears by a particular science when working Corky's.
"When you're dealing with trout who are in an aggressive mood they'll bite just about anything. However, those times when you have to work at it to get them interested, that is when your technique really matters."
"If I use a Corky, I'm usually using a counting system. I keep track of how long it takes the lure to hit bottom, then I vary the amount of time I allow my Corky to sink before I pull out the slack. From there, it's just a matter of identifying what count you tend to get bites on. This is a really easy way to figure out just where in the water column the trout are feeding."
Captain John Havens is an accomplished tournament angler from Clear Lake who tells us that his favorite out of the many saltwater fishing lures he's tried is the Corky Devil, either in gold, chartreuse or white. He uses a standard retrieve with his Corky lures and claims this has always worked best for him.
"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 professional fishing guide who submits featured saltwater fishing tips to Texas FishCast. You can submit saltwater fishing tips 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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