Whether you’re fishing freshwater for bass, estuary for Bream or reef for GT's casting surface lures can make for an exciting and fun session. But how to retrieve surface lures for maximum strikes?
The secret to using surface lures is mastering the “walk the dog” technique, which involves slightly twitching your rod during the retrieve to make the lure move in a side-to-side action.
It's important to use a medium-heavy rod with a stiff tip to get the best action from your lure. Braided line is also important, as it has no stretch, which means the lure is highly responsive to the rod movement. Braid also makes it possible to get some nice “snap” into the action of surface lures, and improves the chance of setting the hook on the strike.
The walking the dog action starts with the rod slightly pointed downward, with the tip about 10cm off the water. After the cast, twitch the rod’s tip sharply a few inches, then immediately drift the rod’s tip back toward the lure a few inches, creating a bit of slack in the line. Then, twitch and repeat, all the way back to the boat. Jerking against the slack in your line is the key to achieving the correct left-to-right action.
If a fish strikes and misses, you need to keep the lure going. The fish will often come back for a second strike as long as you continue the retrieve. A very good tip is to keep a second rod and reel nearby, rigged with a soft plastic. After a missed strike on the surface lure quickly switch rods and cast a soft plastic right to the spot where the fish made it's strike. The amount of times this backup combo rigged with a soft plastic will help land a fish after a missed strike on the surface lure will shock you.