Gulf Coast Fisherman Magazine Vol 39 No 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 8

by Colby Sorrells

Tackle Time

SPOOK SIZE
MATTERST

oday, anglers have a wide variety
of surface, walk the dog type
lures to choose from. Colors,
rattles, hooks, wood or plastic,
are all important features of these lures.
But perhaps the most important is the
lure’s size. Lure size often determines
the size and number of fish caught.
Some companies have become
known for a specific type of lure. Creek
Chub Bait Company is known for their
Pikie Minnow. Arbogast is known for
either the famous Jitterbug or the equally
famous Hula Popper. For walk the dog
type surface lures, it was Heddon
mastering the market. The Heddon
Zaragossa Minnow, one of the earliest
walk the dog lures originally made of
wood in 1922, has been sold for close to
100 years.
While Heddon has brought numbers
of different lures to the market for coastal
anglers, they’re best known for their
surface, walk the dog type lures. Perhaps
no other company has tried to meet
coastal angling demands as much as
Heddon has with their line of Zara Spook
lures. Heddon first used the word
“Spook” to represent the see-through,
skeleton-like appearance of the first
plastic version of their famous lure. The
lure has become an iconic representation
of walk the dog type lures to the point
where many anglers, when quizzed about
the lure they fish, simply answer
“Spook”. The word Spook, the large
walk the dog type lure and Heddon are
forever linked.
Heddon has offered no fewer than 20
variations of the original Zaragossa
Minnow, and they continue as a major
part of the company’s offerings today.
From the Super Mag Wood Zara Spook
measuring 8 inches long and weighing
3-5/8 ounces, down to the smallest Zara
Pooch measuring only two inches long
and designed for ultralight fishing,
Heddon has covered anglers’ needs with
this topwater lure.
With so many different size options,
how are anglers to determine which size
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GULF COAST FISHERMAN

lure they need? On-the-water time and
experiments help determine which lures
work best for coastal fishing. The largest
of these lures, the Heddon Super Mag and
Magnum Wood Zara Spooks are really
too big for most fishing. Due to their
heavy weight, these lures cast a mile but
land on the water with an enormous crash,
shocking not only the water but every fish
within fifty yards.
Heddon heard the desires of coastal
anglers wanting a larger, stronger lure that
could handle rugged coastal game fish
and came out with the Super Spook, a five
inch, 7/8 ounce version to meet their
demands. The Super Spook is slightly
larger than a normal Zara Spook and
includes three saltwater treble hooks and
a loud rattle. Heddon’s Super Spook is
really the maximum size lure for most
anglers.
Now that the upper size has been
established, what is the smallest walk the
dog type lure that can be effectively
fished? Again, Heddon covered all the
bases and made Zaras down to two inches
long. The tiny Zara Pooch lures are much
better suited for the extreme light weight
of ultralight spin fishing and not for the
demands of coastal fishing.
The Super Spook Jr., at 3-1/2 inches
long and Zara Spook Puppy at three
inches long are about the smallest lures
that can be effectively cast with regular
coastal fishing tackle. Some of these lures
are only sold with lighter weight
freshwater hooks so anglers will need to
replace the hooks with saltwater hooks
and O-rings. Anglers should keep their
topwater lures between three and 5-1/2
inches for most fish catching possibilities.
Recently, anglers decided they
preferred a large walk the dog lure with
only two treble hooks. Many simply
remove the middle hook on a Super
Spook. Heddon, being ever responsive
to angler’s desires, has now brought out
the Super Spook XT with only two 3X
strong saltwater treble hooks, heavy duty
hangers, stronger oversized O-rings and
different paint schemes. At five inches

in length it fits right in the target size
range fish seem to prefer.
Anglers can also adjust the size of
lure they use to affect the size fish they
catch. There is little doubt bigger lures
catch bigger fish, but with a little
adjustment lure size differences can play
a much larger role in successful angling.
Anglers should adjust their lure offerings
to mimic the size of the baitfish present
at the time they’re fishing.
In the spring, most natural bait is the
largest size it will be all year. Only
mature baitfish, like mullet or piggy
perch, inhabit spring time waters. As the
months go by and roll into summer, the
size of baitfish most prevalent decreases
as the young of the year hatch in large
numbers. As the summer goes on into
fall, these immature yearling baitfish get
larger with each day, until by late fall they
have grown to full adult size. Start out
in the spring with the largest size lure.
Then switch to a smaller size lure as the
young of the year hit the water. Return
back to the largest lure during the fall and
early winter.
Water temperatures follow this
seasonal change. Slightly smaller lures
may be the best bet when the water
temperature is at its hottest in August or
early September.
Anglers should also adjust their lure
size when fish give them signs to change.
If speckled trout are hitting at the lure
but not connecting, a decrease in size may
make the difference between strikes and
catches. If the angler is using a smaller
lure and only catching smaller fish,
switching to a larger lure may result in
fewer strikes but catching larger fish. If
the angler is not interested in filling a
stringer for dinner, then they may choose
to use only the largest lure seeking out
only the largest fish in the area. By
adjusting the size of the lure, anglers can
adjust their catch.
The correct Spook size? It’s
whatever fish want, and they like their
Spooks between three and 5-1/2 inches,
and Heddon makes them.
GCF
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