Initially designed to catch muskie, The Doc has change into the favourite topwater providing for hundreds of striped bass anglers. (Picture by Jimmy Price)
On a scorching sizzling afternoon in early June, Matt and I pulled up beside a big college of bunker on our means in from a profitable day of striper fishing. We had been drained and sunburnt, however nonetheless stopped at each bunker college we noticed as a result of it’s what any angler would do. On the final college, we observed a pleasant mark towards the underside of our graph, so we eagerly grabbed our rods rigged with Docs to see if we might draw up the fish.
After just a few casts alongside the outskirts of the bunker college, my Doc received hammered. This wasn’t your typical topwater blowup. The bass hit the plug a number of occasions, even knocking it filter of the water earlier than committing. When fishing a Doc, only a hit brings an unmatched thrill. That fish ended up being my private finest at 44 inches. It jogged my memory of how particular this topwater could be when rigged and fished accurately.
The Doc is an outsized, walk-the-dog topwater lure, half of a big household of topwaters generally known as spooks named after the unique strolling bait, the Heddon Spook. My good buddy and creator of Albie Snax, Alex Peru, described a spook as a lure that “provides you limitless methods to fish.” You’ll be able to work it sluggish or quick, twitch or pause it, let it glide by way of the water, or pop it. The Doc is particular in that it may possibly do all of this stuff on a bigger scale; nevertheless, it was by no means designed for saltwater functions.
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Working the Doc for Huge Bites over Deep Water
Preserve your rod angle low when working the 9-inch Doc to take care of the plug’s side-to-side “strolling” motion.
On extra aggressive retrieves, the Doc will pop beneath the water when it turns—giving your presentation the attention-getting sound of a popping plug whereas sustaining the zigzag sample of a distressed baitfish. This splash constantly attracts fish up from deep water.
I preserve my rod tip pointed down whereas aggressively twitching it with my wrists to attain a walk-the-dog sample. The retrieve is extraordinarily sluggish, however the twitching should be intense to attain the splash. Alex Peru defined, “You understand you’re working the Doc correctly if the folks you’re fishing with flip their heads as if a fish has eaten your lure.”
Alex additionally defined that the angler’s job is to make the Doc “sound like a popper, however swim like a spook.” This mixture makes it merely irresistible.
The Drifter Deal with Doc originated as a topwater bait to focus on muskellunge. However, years in the past, saltwater anglers within the Northeast received maintain of this spook and made it a staple when fishing for striped bass. Whereas the corporate has acknowledged the plug’s reputation in salt water by introducing in style striper colours like bunker, inexperienced mackerel, and all-yellow, the terminal deal with nonetheless leaves a bit to be desired by saltwater anglers.A Doc comes customary with weak break up rings and two massive treble hooks positioned far again on the physique. Whereas that is excellent for muskies, it’s not excellent for concentrating on massive stripers.
When re-rigging the Doc with a single hook, the creator makes use of a 60-pound break up ring and a 7/0 Proprietor ZO-Wire inline single hook.
Each time I buy a Doc, I instantly take away the break up rings and treble hooks from each the stomach and tail. I rig the stomach hook with a 60-pound break up ring and a 7/0 Proprietor ZO-Wire single substitute hook, leaving the plug with out a tail hook.A common rule when changing treble hooks with inline single hooks is to make sure that the hole of the only hook is the same as your entire treble.
This rigging model has quite a few advantages. First, including an inline single hook to the stomach reduces launch mortality in striped bass. Utilizing only one single hook lowers the probabilities of a fish being hooked within the eye, head, or throat by the tail hook. Second, it prevents fish from gaining leverage to bend out the hook and escape. Additionally, it results in a safer hookset as a result of that bigger hook hole. That is essential when after an enormous bass with a decrease lip that’s twice the thickness of the trebles that come customary on the Doc.
Changing the terminal with one inline single hook may improve the Doc’s motion. Eradicating the tail hook reduces drag, so the Doc glides by way of the water extra simply, giving it a wider side-to-side motion.
