Strange Cork Tactics that Work

There’s no denying that traditional popping cork fishing is effective for catching speckled trout. Does it always work? Of course not. But when the usual “pop-pop-pause… pop-pop-pause…” isn’t working, that doesn’t mean you should ditch the rig. The next time the bite seems off when you’re corking for specks, try these nontraditional but sometimes effective tactics.

• Instead of popping and pausing, try a slow but steady retrieve while twitching the rod tip. You’ll lose the fish-attracting clicking of the beads, but sometimes for whatever reason the specks seem to prefer this more subtle approach.
• Ditch the bait, and instead tie on a half-ounce or quarter-ounce jighead with a four-inch soft plastic paddletail. Then when retrieving, eliminate the pause and speed up the pops. In fact, think of it more like chugging the cork along the surface nonstop, so that paddletail is always wiggling and waving. Sometimes this will trigger utterly vicious strikes, when suspended shrimp go ignored.
• Rip the cork nonstop through an area where you suspect there are inactive fish. Then pause for a few moments, and re-cast to the same starting point. Give the cork gentler pops, as you bring it back along the same path. No hits? Give it another rip-roaring retrieve, follower by another subtle one. The theory behind this tactic is that you’re essentially annoying the fish on the fast passes, then giving them the opportunity to kill whatever the heck is creating that annoying racket on the slower ones. On occasion, it’ll work (though this should be saved as a last resort, because the fast rip can also spook fish in some conditions).
• Try shortening your line an absurd amount, so there’s only a foot or less line between the cork and the bait. This is another last resort sort of tactic and it doesn’t work all that often, but for whatever reason, sometimes it’s just the trick.
• Try a tandem rig under the cork, with a streamer fly between a larger, heavier offering and the cork. Often this works well with several pops followed by pauses that allow the streamer to slowly sink down above the jig.

And when all else fails, “pop-pop-pause… pop-pop-pause…”