Capt. George Tunison

This year, add these underutilized lures to your inshore tackle box to fool more trout, redfish and snook. Slim minnow style Rapala/Rebel/Bomber floating/diving lures have caught tons of freshwater bass over the years and even though large Bomber plugs caught on with the tarpon crowd years ago, locally you don’t see them used that often by the local flats crowd.

Inshore seatrout absolutely love slim-minnow freshwater plugs like Rapala’s and they typically take larger specimens. Snook go for them as well and for the last 20 years I’ve depended on a gold-colored, two-hook version, old-school Rebel floating minnow to put snook on the line when fishing hard plugs along mangrove shorelines. When fishing closer to the Gulf I’ll opt for chrome.

These floating/diving-style plugs are extremely versatile. Simply casting one out and reeling it back in works well, but it can also be used with a slow retrieve as a surface wake bait — reel it down then slowly let it rise. Twitched, jerked, even speed-reeled all produce fish in shallow water day and night.

With these freshwater plugs I change out the standard hooks and upgrade split rings and hooks to saltwater grade strength being careful to not kill the delicate action and balance of the plug by going too large on the replacement hardware especially with delicately balanced Rapala’s.

I buy packs of Owner replacement trebles and quality split rings to upgrade my lures. If your minnow doesn’t have a split ring on the front eye, simply add one, otherwise always use a loop knot to connect lure to leader. These well balanced lures must swing freely to get the best action and work best with lighter leaders. Anything heavier than 30-pound test dampens the action.

With redfish schooling on the flats just around the corner, this season make sure to add bass-style spinnerbaits and buzz baits to your arsenal. Not used much for redfish here in Southwest Florida, the bass spinnerbait is a go-to bait in other parts of the country, especially in New Orleans where redfish is king. When a good sized redfish hits a spinnerbait, they really wallop it and you should see two or three reds all competing trying to eat a buzz bait on the surface. A sight to remember! Give them a try next month.

In shallow water, top-water plugs and schooling redfish go together like chicken and dumplings, and locally, top-water plugs like Rapala Skitter Walks and Heddon Zara Spooks get the most play. Another fun, top-water redfish plug in my box, originally designed to catch largemouth bass and even musky, takes good numbers of schooling redfish each year.

If you can guess exactly what it is, I’ll send you a free Southwest Florida saltwater lure and tackle accessory pack. My model is not considered to be an antique lure and was offered not too long ago by a famous and long-running U.S. lure company that’s still in business. Current, standard configuration models come in straight or jointed bodies although my discontinued version was only made using a straight body. It offers two sound attraction features — a distinctive plopping sound when slowly retrieved and a water “spray” feature from the back. Send an email with the correct answer and full shipping address for your prize. First correct answer gets the free lure package and the winners name will be announced in a future column. Ends 9/6/22 at noon.

Tarpon reports are all over the place from coastal and pass catches, Charlotte Harbor and north Matlacha Pass, to the upper harbor and Peace River mouth. The twin 41 Bridge at Punta Gorda is also a dependable spot to spend a fun night casting lures at tarpon with big bridge snook as by-catch. For up to the minute, anything Charlotte Harbor or offshore info, Fishin Franks is a great resource (941-625-3888).

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. Contact him at 239-282-9434 or captgeorget3@aol.com.