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How to Walk the Dog Surface walkers are retrieved with a twitching action called “walking-the-dog.” Make as long a cast as possible, then retrieve the lure back to you in a straight line while twitching your rod. This will make the lure dance quickly from side-to-side. Each time you pop your rod tip, you will hear a sonic click coming from your lure. This “fish calling” rattle inside the echo chamber of the Dog produces explosive strikes.
Here is what Jim Hammond says about working a
top water lure.
To walk the dog you DO NOT move your rod tip
from side to side. Make your cast, get the slack out of your
line, hold the rod tip towards the water. Using your wrist only,
briskly drag (snap) your rod tip towards the boat about a foot,
the lure should dart to one side or the other and move towards
you about 3 to 6 inches, turn the reel handle to take up your
line slack. REPEAT until you catch a fish. DO NOT go home until
you catch a fish. I will know if you leave early. So keep at
it. You are NOT trolling for MARLIN. You are trying to draw a
strike from a fish that is usually in an area that has more food
than it could eat in a lifetime, so work the lure slow. Between
each twitch of your wrist, give it a second or two before the
next twitch. UNDER NO circumstances yank back and set
the hook when you have a strike. These strikes are usually so
violent the fish sets the hook and your rod will be doubled
over. I have see HUNDREDS of strikes where the angler
yanked back on the strike and MISSED the fish. Sometimes these
fish will strike your lure several times before they get hooked
up. If you yank the bait away from them, FORGET catching this
one and remember, you cant go home until you have caught one
using this method.
Here are my favorite colors for this style of
fishing.
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