Topwater fishing is something I grew up doing, albeit in freshwater. My lure of choice was called a Zara Spook made by Heddon. There is a technique called, "walk the dog" where the cigar-shaped lure is retrieved in a slow, side to side twitch I guess. There is nothing like seeing the strike when it comes, usually violently. I have since done quite a bit of topwater fishing in the sea with the largest version of the Zara Spook. I have caught lots of kahawai and rat kingis on the lure below.
I do not reckon it is up to the job for yellowfin tuna but I might just give it a go if the fishing is hot tomorrow. So Steve and I got two brand new stick bait setups, a few different lures and set out East of Whakatane. Seventeenth miles out or so, we came a cross a bait ball and tried our luck. We were both hooked up almost right away. It was amazing. With our first yellowfin tuna on the deck, the pressure was off.
We landed a few, dropped several other fish had a few gear issues before the main work went down. I had switched from a sinking stick bait to an Oosh 160 mm topwater lure in a kohero pattern. I was finding the birds to interested in it so I put on the 225 mm version. We cruised and looked for workups and that big lure did the job twice. Below is an example of how awesome it was.
It was amazing and the best day I think I have ever had on the ocean. Definitely my pb with three yellowfin landed. We wound up landing five and releasing two. I can't wait to do it again!
