Topwater Lures for Redfish – 7 Best Surface Baits for Explosive Action

Last updated on February 2nd, 2024 at 08:51 pm

I don’t know what it is about topwater. Maybe it’s from fishing with a cane pole and a bobber as a kid and watching for that bobber to go under. Or, maybe from throwing frogs in the pond and watching the bass attack them as they tried to swim back to safety. What ever it is, I love catching fish with topwater lures.

Living along the Texas Gulf Coast, I spend most of my time fishing saltwater and redfish are one of the primary targets of my fishing activities. And, they are more than willing to smash a topwater lure. Let’s take a look at how to fish topwater lures for redfish, and the techniques and gear you will need to tangle with them.

WALKER	TWITCH BAIT	BUZZ BAIT	PROP BAIT	POPPER
Walk the Dog	Shallow Diver	Steady Retrieve	Surface Splash	Popping Noise

What is a Redfish?

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The largest red drum on record weighed just over 94 lb and was caught in 1984 on Hatteras Island. Male red drum make a knocking or drumming sound during spawning by vibrating their swim bladders.

Redfish or Red Drum can be found anywhere from the back lakes and marshes, open bay, running the surf and even offshore. They are fun to catch and known for long powerful drag screaming runs. They readily take live and dead natural baits as well as artificial lures.

Redfish are opportunity feeders, their mouth position is designed for rooting crabs and shrimp out of the mud and grass along the bottom but they also prey on baitfish like mullet, pinfish, menhaden, mud minnows, croaker and whiting.

In the summer and fall, redfish feed primarily on crabs, shrimp, and mullet. In the spring and winter, their diet focuses more on menhaden, mullet, pinfish, Atlantic croaker, and mud minnows. Redfish are mainly bottom feeders, but when in pursuit of baitfish, they will feed throughout the water column and even on the surface.

Typically, your best baits for catching Redfish will be live or dead shrimp, crabs, mullet, menhaden, pinfish, or mud minnows. But, they can also be fooled with artificial lures that mimic these natural baits. Everything from spoons, soft plastics, jigs, and yes even topwaters.

Catching Redfish with Lures

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Yes you can catch Redfish with lures. In fact, the old reliable gold spoon has probably caught more redfish than any other lure made. The flash and vibration put off by the spoon resembles a fleeing baitfish and draws some vicious strikes from Reds.

Soft plastics are the next best lures for catching Redfish. Shrimp imitations like the D.O.A. shrimp and Berkley Gulp are great choices. And, shad tails and jerk baits like Saltwater Assassins, C.A.L. shad, and those from Z-Man and Tsunami will put Reds in the boat.

Typically, the best time to catch Redfish with lures will be early morning and late evening when they venture into the shallows in search of a meal. Also, at night under the lights of docks, piers and offshore platforms, reds can be caught using artificials as they feed on the shrimp and bait fish attracted to the lights.

Under the lights, try to match the hatch with your lure selection. Whatever bait is gathering under the lights, try to find a lure that mimics it as closely as possible. And, sometimes that will include topwater lures. A big Redfish busting your topwater at night under the lights is a real adrenaline rush.

Using Topwater Lures for Redfish

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A topwater lure is basically any lure that floats on the surface at rest and when worked stays either on the surface or within a few inches of the surface. Topwater lures come in a variety of types the 5 most common are:

Any and all of these will catch redfish in the right conditions. The most popular are the walkers like the Rapala Skitter walk, Zara Spook and Mirrolure’s Top Dog. They get their name from the “walk the dog” side to side action they produce when you twitch your rod tip as you work them. They stay on the surface and the Reds will ponce on them.

Topwater poppers are those floating surface baits with a cupped face built into the front of the lure. When you twitch your rod, the bait pushes water ahead of it and makes a popping noise. This mimics the sound of feeding fish which attracts fish to your bait to see what all the commotion is about.

You can fish topwater lures with both bait casting and spinning tackle. Bait casting tackle seems to be the most popular for topwater fishing. But spinning tackle will work just fine and, In fact, may actually be better in windy conditions or when casting lighter lures.

When fishing with topwaters you will need a heavier action rod to get the proper action out of your baits. A good 7-foot medium heavy action rod with a fast 7:1 gear ratio reel will get the job done. You can find “popping rods” that are designed for fishing with stick baits, poppers and popping cork rigs.

Braided line is very abrasion resistant and stronger for a given diameter than monofilament so you can hold more on your reel, or use a heavier test line, and cast farther. Monofilament will work fine for topwater fishing and it does offer some stretch when a fish hits.

I typically don’t recommend the use of swivels with topwaters as the added weight can change the lures action and it’s not needed for topwater fishing. You can add a split ring to your bait and often get more action from your lure, but a good loop knot will have the same effect.

Fluorocarbon line, while nearly invisible under water, is a sinking line and can make it more difficult to work topwater baits for maximum action. Much like the added weight of a snap swivel it causes the nose of the bait to dip and can change the lures presentation and effectiveness.

Of course in order to catch Redfish with topwater lures, you need to be where the redfish are and they need to be active. And, while you can sometimes entice a topwater bite in winter, your best topwater action usually starts when the water temperature get into the upper 60s to 70s. That means spring through the fall seasons.

The best time of day for fishing topwaters is usually early morning and late afternoon. With the low light conditions, Redfish will venture into the shallows looking for easy prey. As the sun gets higher in the sky, the Redfish will retreat to deeper water and be less likely to hit surface lures.

When you go to pick a topwater lure, you will want to try to match the hatch. In other words, what baitfish are the Redfish feeding on, what size are they and what color best matches them. Then it becomes which topwater lure type best mimics the bait and feeding activities.

If you can match the size, color and profile of the baitfish, the type of topwater is less important. Whether you want to use a walker, popper, jerk bait or buzz bait, as long as you can match the hatch, you should be good.

You best color options for topwater baits will be white, bone and natural patterns in sunny day with clear water. Darker colors and noisier lures, like poppers and buzz baits, will work better in cloudy conditions and murkier waters. White topwaters are always a good choice as most baitfish have white bellies.

You will want to vary your retrieve by adding some pauses and then resume walking the dog. It may take time to figure out what retrieve the fish like so be creative and keep covering water. If the fish are actively feeding and aggressive, you will want to skip the pauses and maintain a steady retrieve. The Redfish will follow the sound and vibration, track it down and crush it.

If you are fishing stick baits or jerk baits, you will again use a twitch and reel retrieve varying you the speed and distance of your twitches until you find that sweet spot that draws strikes. Each twitch will cause the lure to dart a few inches under water and forward. Then it will begin to float back to the surface. Most strikes will come at the pause between twitches as the lure is floating up.

To fish with buzz baits you will need to maintain a steady retrieve that is fast enough to keep the bait on the surface as you retrieve. If you stop your retrieve, the blade stops turning and the lure sinks. It’s a very good bait for covering a lot of water fast and locating actively feeding fish.

Topwater poppers, like the name implies, make a popping and splashing sound by using short twitches of your rod on the retrieve. This sound mimics the sound of feeding and jumping fish. You can vary the speed of your retrieve and the size of your rod twitches to get more or less popping action. These baits move a lot of water, create noise and vibrations that will draw fish from long distances and trigger some impressive strikes.

7 of the Best Topwater Lures for Redfish

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Mirrolures by L&S Bait company have been catching fish along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts for decades. The MirroLure Top Dog is a walker type topwater bait that has built in rattles and comes in a rainbow of color combinations and various sizes. From the Top Dog, Top Dog Jr, She Dog, and She Pup.

Another walk the dog topwater lure, the original Rapala Skitter Walk is legendary for catching largemouth bass, Stripers and even a Northern Pike or too. It would seem only natural that they would catch Redfish in saltwater and they did. Unfortunately the saltwater wasn’t kind to the hardware on the original so the folks at Rapala added some corrosion resistant hardware and saltwater color patterns to create the Saltwater Skitter Walk.

Another cross over, walk the dog, topwater lure from bass fishing was the Heddon Zara Spook and it’s larger cousin the Super Spook. Like the Rapala Skitter walk, they caught fish in saltwater but the saltwater made quick work of the hooks and hardware. Enter the Heddon Saltwater Super Spook with corrosion resistant hooks and new saltwater color patterns.

A new offering from L&S Bait Company is the Paul Brown Sotf-Dog. Built from the designs of the legendary lure maker Paul Brown, this soft top water walk the dog lure can be rigged weedless and fished in and around cover that would snag ordinary topwaters. The soft plastic body also give it a more natural feel so fish bite and hold on longer for a better hook up ratio.

The Daiwa Mebachi Popper, like the name implies, is a popping lure designed from the ground up as a saltwater popper for big fish. It is great lure to use in the surf for big Redfish and any Jack Crevalle, Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel or sharks you may encounter as well.

The Storm Chug Bug, like the Skitter Walk and Super Spook, is another cross over bait from the freshwater bass fishing crowd. And, like the others, it caught lots of saltwater fish that is until the saltwater took its toll on the hooks and hardware. Now enter the Storm Rattlin Saltwater Chug Bug a saltwater popper for topwater fishing. They are smaller than the Daiwa Mebachi, so better for chasing redfish in the bays and marshes. But, they will catch fish in the surf too.

The D.O.A. Lures PT-7 is a new topwater soft plastic that, much like the Paul Brown Soft Dog, can be rigged weedless and fished right in the grass and cover where no other topwater dare go. Of course, like all D.O.A. Lures, the PT-7 has real baitfish molded into the plastic for added scent and attraction.

Check out these Topwater Lures for Redfish, and many more, at tackledirect.com or on amazon.com below:

Redfish on Topwaters is a Blast, Literally!

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