A topwater walk-the-dog lure is deadly for redfish when fished around boat docks and grass beds. Photo by Mike Marsh.

The boat floated like a feather across the oily slickness of a windless stretch of salt marsh. The only sounds were water dripping from a pole, the flipping of baitfish and grass stems tips scraping ever so lightly across the bottom of the hull.

"There he is," said my companion, Fisher Culbreth. "See his tail sticking out of the water?"

Culbreth was whispering, his voice shaking with excitement as eased down on the poling platform at the stern to a kneeling position. I followed his finger, which was pointing at what looked like a plastic sandwich bag with a black spot poking up from the water. Vibrating slightly, it slid below the surface.

The big topwater lure splashed down 12 feet beyond the fish. I began working it back to the boat. A twitch of the rod tip timed to the turn of the reel handle made the lure flip-flop like a wounded mullet.

It seemed strange to have stalked a redfish so silently, yet now to be using a lure that was making the loudest sound in the marsh. But it got the attention of the redfish immediately.

"Keep it coming," Culbreth said. "He's following it."

I held my breath and kept up the rhythm. The fish struck and missed twice with the sound and commotion of a cement block tossed into the water. It finally caught the lure 30 feet from the boat. Feeling the weight of the fish, I set the hook. The fight was filled with the bulldogging runs typical of a redfish.

Red drum are caught in many ways, including floating live baits or drifting dead baits along the bottom. They strike jigs fished in deep channels or prospecting along structure areas and grass beds. But these methods of catching red drum are "ho hum" compared to catching them with topwater lures. A big red drum makes the one of the most savage strikes in inshore fishing, with the rod jarring the angler's arms to the shoulders at the hook-up. It's no wonder topwater fishing has taken the redfish world by storm.

The most common way of fishing for red drum with topwater lures is moving along slowly through the marshes where they feed during high water conditions. Many places where they occur are subject to lunar tides or wind tides. As the water covers grass flats, the fish move into the grass to feed on crabs and other crustaceans.

The best conditions for using topwater lures in a flooded marsh are calm days with the sun at the angler's back. The still water allows the angler to see redfish and the sun angle illuminates the subsurface. A set of polarized glasses is standard equipment for topwater fishing. Even when fish are not spotted before a cast is made, being able to see down into the water allows the angler to see fish that are following the lure.

An elevated position can help an angler spot the fish, so poling platforms on redfish boats are common. But anglers can also catch redfish from lower positions, as the success of wade fishermen attests. In fact, the most common method of getting about the marsh today is with the use of a bow-mounted electric trolling motor. Many redfish boats are also equipped with a stern-mounted electric-powered anchoring pole to stop the boat's forward motion on a dime when a spot-tail is spotted. But other styles of anchors, such as a mushroom anchor with no chain, can stop the boat just as well.

While sight fishing is exciting, topwater lures are also prospecting lures. Anglers can move along, casting along the edges of grass beds, and across sandbars. When the water level recedes redfish move to flats and drop-offs nearby. A topwater lure is just as effective when the fish move deeper because a redfish is no stranger to chasing baitfish and will come up at least 8 feet off the bottom to strike a topwater lure.