Top Water Stripers “Walking The Dog” | Buzzards Bay Outfitters
Capt. Jamie Simmons shares a late May morning targeting Cape Cod Stripers using the Hogy Charter Grade Dogwalker Topwater. One of our favorite plugs for creating the classic “walk the dog” topwater retrieve.
“It’s late May here in Buzzard’s Bay and fish are really starting to migrate into the area,” Simmons says as he works a rod. “Big fish showed up this week. A lot of healthy 28 to 35-inch fish showing up.”
The crew locates the fish and sets up a drift on top of them, going downwind with the current making sure to be quiet and not spook the fish.
On light tackle and topwater, the action has been fantastic, Simmons said.
Step One: Locate the big piles of fish.
Step Two: Set up wind from the fish and drifting downward, using the trolling motor to stay in the area.
Step Three: Using the Hogy Charter Grade Dog Walker, cast out over the school of fish, landing on top and working the lure back to the boat, twitching slowly to create the “dog walking” motion, imitating a larger, fleeing bait fish. Sometimes, the commotion of the lure landing in the water is enough to draw a strike.
Tip One: In choppy conditions like today, don’t be afraid to switch up your retrieve, Simmons said.
Tip Two: When it gets windy and you’re trying to finesse the topwater plugs, let the cast go out and control the bail. Stay tight on the line and real in all the slack to maintain direct action with the plug. In windy conditions, it’s important to do this to make sure the plug works right.
