Zara Spook Fishing Tips and Techniques
The best way to fish with a Zara Spook is using the walk the dog fishing technique. By twitching your rod tip you will create a zigzag retrieval pattern on the water's surface that is irresistible to gamefish like snook, tarpon, redfish and speckled trout.
Zara Spooks are one of the Heddon lure company's best selling lures. James Heddon started the company back in 1894 and it is still making some of the world's best lures today. Heddon lures is the oldest lure company that is still producing lures in America today.
I am a big fan of Zara Spooks and the Super Spooks. The walk-the-dog style of lures is all that I use when top water fishing in saltwater.
The snook to the left fell for this white Zara Super Spook. That is my favorite color to fish with followed by a natural green or black back with a white belly.
In my opinion, the Heddon Spooks and the Top Dog line from MirroLure and the best of breed for walk-the-dog types of lures. They are both balanced well which means that they both cast and perform very well.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the grass flats and mangroves of South and Central Florida for over 40 years. I like to target snook, redfish and tarpon using Zara Super Spooks.
Okay. Let's talk about where to use the Zara Spook fishing lure and what kind of fish you can catch with them.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with Zara Spooks.
The best way to fish with a Zara Spook is using the walk the dog fishing technique. By twitching your rod tip you will create a zigzag retrieval pattern on the water's surface that is irresistible to gamefish like snook, tarpon, redfish and speckled trout.
Zara Spooks are one of the Heddon lure company's best selling lures. James Heddon started the company back in 1894 and it is still making some of the world's best lures today. Heddon lures is the oldest lure company that is still producing lures in America today.
I am a big fan of Zara Spooks and the Super Spooks. The walk-the-dog style of lures is all that I use when top water fishing in saltwater.
The snook to the left fell for this white Zara Super Spook. That is my favorite color to fish with followed by a natural green or black back with a white belly.
In my opinion, the Heddon Spooks and the Top Dog line from MirroLure and the best of breed for walk-the-dog types of lures. They are both balanced well which means that they both cast and perform very well.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the grass flats and mangroves of South and Central Florida for over 40 years. I like to target snook, redfish and tarpon using Zara Super Spooks.
Okay. Let's talk about where to use the Zara Spook fishing lure and what kind of fish you can catch with them.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with Zara Spooks.
Zara Spook Fishing Tips and Techniques--Snook, tarpon and redfish in the mangroves
When you are targeting snook, tarpon and redfish and in 4 feet or less of water the Zara Spook works wonders. If you are fishing the mangroves, a parallel cast along the mangrove line is deadly for snook, tarpon and redfish. This is works especially well when the schools of finger mullet are in the area.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about snook fishing with lures. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Just make sure to cast up current so that the lure is coming in the same direction as the current. Snook especially are always facing into the current. If you bring the lure from down current you will most likely spook the snook and give it a bad case of lock jaw. Redfish and tarpon aren't usually as picky.
The Spook looks and acts just like a wounded finger mullet once you have perfected the walk-the-dog retrieve. You can usually get away with heavy leader too. The retrieval that works best for me is a slow one with a pause every 20 feet or so. The bite is more of a reactionary bite and the snook, tarpon and redfish don't usually look too closely when hitting the lure.
The video below shows you how to walk-the-dog with a Zara Super Spook.
Zara Spook Fishing Tips and Techniques--Snook, Flounder and redfish around docks
Shallow water docks are another great place to target snook and reds with a Zara Spook. Early in the morning, later in the day around sunset or at night around the dock lights are the best times to use the Zara Spook for snook around docks. BUT if the water is murky you can fish them all day.
You will want to cast as closely as possible to the actual dock pilings for the best effect. If you are 5 feet or more away from the pilings you are probably out of the snook's and the redfish's strike zones.
The great thing about dock pilings is that they hold lots of other types of fish that you will want to target. Big spotted sea trout and flounders are a couple of other species of fish worth catching. In the flounder's case you might want to downsize your Zara Spook.
They have a 3 or 4 inch version that is perfect for catching flounder. The strike zone for top water flounder fishing is about 3 feet of water depth at the maximum. They will be covered with sand or mud on the bottom waiting to pounce on unsuspecting shrimp and fish that swim by.
I wrote another article on this website all about how to catch a flounder. It covers the subject in great detail and you can read that by clicking here.
A flounder will not swim up in the water column very far to hit a lure. When I target flounder on a top water lure it is usually in about 2 feet of water. I also like to slow down the retrieve as much as possible.
WANT TO CATCH SNOOK AND REDFISH? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Zara Spook Fishing Tips and Techniques--Snook and spotted sea trout on the grass flats
The sunrise and sunset top water bite on the shallow grass flats can be amazing when the mullet schools are around. The key to success is a water depth about 4 feet deep or less. That is the strike zone for the snook and the sea trout that are hiding in the grass waiting to ambush a wounded mullet.
The great news for you is that you have a wounded mullet with hooks on it. There is more great news too. Yours also swims in zig zags slowly enough for them to slam it when it comes over them.
I think that the best spot on the grass flats to catch snook and trout are around the sandy pot holes. Both of these fish like to hide next to the pot holes waiting for a fish to visit them. Just make sure to present your lure from up current because these fish will most likely be facing into the current.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail how to catch a spotted sea trout. You can read that article by clicking right here.
I like to swap out the treble hooks on my top water lures in order to not hurt the fish too much. I am usually a catch and release type of fisherman. It doesn't matter as much if you are a fillet and release into the grease fisherman.
The video below shows you how and why to swap out the treble hooks for single hooks.
Best gear for top water lure fishing:
If you are going to be fishing with a top water lure all day you will definitely need to protect your eyes and skin from the sun's harmful rays. Polarized sunglasses are a must for lure fishing. A high end pair of sunglasses will run about $250 and a lower end pair will run you about $25 with glass lenses. You can find them with plastic lenses for about $5 at Walmart.
Whatever price range you decide to go with you must wear polarized sunglasses or you can not sight fish for trout on the flats; redfish around the docks; snook around the mangroves.... The polarized lenses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water so that you can see under the surface.
The best color lenses for inshore and dirtier water scenarios are amber, rose and copper. If you are fishing super clean and clear water or you are fishing offshore a blue or a gray lens is best.
You will also want to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. These shirts have built in sunscreen and are moisture wicking which means they evaporate your perspiration more efficiently keeping you cool on those hot days on the water.
Conclusion:
I hope that this article about zara spoke fishing helps you catch more of your target species with top water lures. I love fishing with walk the dog types of lures and you will to once you master the technique.
Zara Spooks are one of those lures that my grandfather used when he was a kid. I still have his tackle box and it is full of old lures and lots of them are from Heddon. Those lures worked 80 years ago and they still work just fine today.
I personally love fishing with the walk-the-dog types of top water fishing lures like the Zara Spook and the Zara Super Spooks. Those are two of my go to lures for fishing for just about everything inshore that I am trying to catch.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in detail how to catch a redfish with lures. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Those lures will catch snook, tarpon, speckled trout, redfish, flounders, bluefish, sharks, Spanish mackerel, jack crevalle, cobia, largemouth bass and the list goes on and on. My point is that once you perfect the technique for using a walk-the-dog type of top water lures, then you can catch just about any predatory fish.
I have been fishing the grass flats and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years. If you ever see me fishing at first light, then there is a 90% chance that I will have a walk-the-dog top water like a Zara Spook lure tied on to my fishing pole. If you learn how to fish them effectively, then you won't regret it.
I hope that this article helps you be a better fishermen. Thanks for reading it.