Five Spinning Rod Strategies for Specks, Reds and Flounder

Spinning reels and rods are popular on the Texas Coast for rank and file anglers seeking to soak live or dead bait in pursuit of specks, reds and flounder.

However, did you know spinning gear makes possible some high-end and in some cases seriously technical techniques? You’ll never look at spinning gear the same again, if you keep on reading. Things are about to change.

1| Drop-Shotting Jetty Specks

I caught a nice flounder in a deep hole while fishing a drop-shot rig, a setup popular with bass anglers fishing deeper water. Baitfish were holding on a ledge in 14 feet of water, and I lowered down the drop shot to see what I might be able to catch. It ended up being a flounder.

This was not the only flounder we caught in the same area in two days of fishing. Flounder will feed in deep water, but tend to concentrate around depth changes, so look for drop-offs and try the drop-shot rig.

I think this is even more effective for finding trout at the jetties in the late winter and early spring when few anglers are looking for them. You might want to consider using a drop shot rig for some exploratory fishing to target trout at the jetties between now and full on spring.

Spinning gear is perfect for vertical fishing. Using a drop shot over some of the suspended rocks at the edge of the jetties and around boat cuts is a great way to find trout.

A great setup would be a Daiwa Ballistic reel rigged on one of their medium-light 7-foot 6-inch Procyon rods. I would fish it with 30-pound braided line, which with most brands is about 10-pound diameter.

Just lower the lure and move it up and down slowly—very slowly. Keep your finger on the line to help you feel any bite. Vertical fishing for trout is difficult and sometimes they will barely tap a lure.

If you have good quality electronics to set up and mark fish, try to get that lure going right in the middle of the fish. Then work it over and over. Sometimes you have to keep at it to get a bite started.

2| Finessing Flounder

Speaking of flounder, I discovered something late in my flounder fishing life. During the latter part of the fall run and in the early part of spring, little lures can make a big difference. Although speckled trout will shift to eating a couple of big fish a day versus dozens of smaller ones after they hit maturity, flounder are opportunists.

They will eat whatever they have the opportunity to eat. Sometimes that means lots of tiny baitfish.

The biggest flounder I’ve caught in the last decade have been on tiny curl-tailed grubs. Spinning gear is much better suited to fishing with tiny lures. This is why bass fishermen switch to spinning gear when the barometric pressure gets high, and the fish get finicky. Sometimes you have to use small lures to catch fish, and nothing is better for that than spinning reels.

I use fluorocarbon, which has less stretch than mono and is also more abrasion resistant. I usually spool up 10-pound flourocarbon for late fall flounder.

Although I catch more big ones in the early part of the spring run, they don’t bite as aggressively, so the fluorocarbon allows more of a subtle approach.

Additionally, if the water is running clear, which it often does. the fish can’t see it. Fluorocarbon is virtually invisible in the water, and flounder are very visual fish. I have seen them totally avoid offerings on braid in clear water. The same fish will take fluorocarbon-attached offerings.

3| Slowing the Approach for Shallow Reds

Redfish in shallow water can be really spooky. And burning a lure past them can freak them out. Spinning reels typically come with about a 5:1 gear ratio. That means it retrieves the line more slowly than say a 7:1 casting reel.

Throwing a soft plastic topwater such as a frog on a spinning reel that forces you to fish slower is a great way to get something to those reds at a pace that does not make them nervous.

4| Against the Wind

Perhaps the most advantageous reason to fish spinning reels is they rarely backlash. Even when you cast into or across the wind (sometimes you have to), they almost never fail. This alone makes them invaluable when brutal winds are bearing down on the Texas Coast.

Throwing a heavy, lipless crankbait down the jetty wall or a spoon cast into an emerging slick on the bay can be a difference maker.

When it’s super windy I almost always fish spinning gear out on open water.

5| Chunking the Cold Shad

I could not cover spinning gear without talking about live bait applications. After all that’s what is chiefly used along the Texas coast.

Shad are the key to successful summer fishing on the Upper Texas Coast and overlooked on the Middle and Lower Coast.

During the summer, the shad “ball up” in the bay, and the trout and reds get under them really thick.

What we call “shad” most of the time, are actually menhaden, which eventually migrate into the Gulf of Mexico and serve a similarly important role out there.

The best rig is a live shad under a popping cork on spinning gear. You can tie on a big rig and throw with ease—and the aforementioned rarity of backlashing.

The live part is easy to figure out. A live shad moves around a lot, emits oil, and has a reflective shine that makes it irresistible for predators. Unless you have an oxygen diffusion unit for your livewell, however, it is difficult to keep shad alive during summer months. The good news is another option is available, the cold shad.

At some point anglers figured out that by laying shad on top of ice and keeping them dry, the fish retain a hookable texture and work just as well as the live version. Most anglers keep the drain plugs in their ice chest pulled so the water goes out instead of immersing the shad, which makes them mushy once dead.

As you can see, spinning gear is versatile and can give you an opportunity to score on reds, specks and flounder in many different ways. Consider spinning gear if you have not before and expand your strategies with these technical tips.

SPINNING GEAR SPOTLIGHT

Ballistic LT Reels & Procyon Inshore Rods

The Ballistic LT series of spinning reels were designed lighter and stronger in a more compact package. The strength of the Zaion housing is an example of the LT design concept of Light but Tough. At the heart of the reel is a machined A7075 Aircraft Grade Aluminum DIGIGEAR designed for smoothness, strength and durability.

The main shaft utilizes the Magseal which prevents water and debris intrusion. The reel is long-casting and extremely smooth employing a seven bearing system. With models ranging from 1000 to 6000 size the Ballistic LT line of spinning reels are designed for a wide range of gamefish, incorporating many different techniques.

The Daiwa Procyson series of eight spinning rods will suit the needs of the shallow water fisherman on both coasts.

The blanks are constructed from 24-ton standard modulus carbon with split-grip cork handles and wrapped with tough titanium oxide guides. They come in sizes ranging from six-foot to seven foot, six inches.

—by Chester Moore