Imitating an injured baitfish

A MirrOlure Top Dog is a walk-the-dog topwater bait that imitates an injured baitfish and draws plenty of attention from red drum.

While inshore gamefish in the Surf City area will strike natural baits such as shrimp and mullet, they also take kindly to rattling lures.

One angler favorite is a MirrOlure Top Dog, which is retrieved using a “walk the dog” cadence — imparting a back-and-forth action by twitching the rod tip while taking up the slack with the reel. The side-to-side action imitates an injured baitfish, which incites an attack response in gamefish, especially red drum.

The lure will attact fish even more if it carries an internal rattle chamber. The sound of the rattle shaking can really stir up the fish if they are lethargic, and it can help them attract fish them from long distances away.

Sometimes color matters, at other times, not so much. The most-important thing is selecting a color that contrasts with the water surface and sky reflections so the angler can see the lure to work it properly.

About Mike Marsh 356 Articles
Mike Marsh is a freelance outdoor writer in Wilmington, N.C. His latest book, Fishing North Carolina, and other titles, are available at www.mikemarshoutdoors.com.

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