October is a sweet spot for casting plugs and poppers for rockfish

That goof was definitely on me. I should’ve been much more specific when telling the angler what time to meet. After all, it was his first Chesapeake top water fishing trip.

I said we want to be ready to fish by 6:45 a.m., meaning we’d be geared up and already on the water. He took it to mean, understandably, that we’d meet at the launch at that time. Although we scratched out a few, it’s no surprise we missed the top-water bite. OK, OK, it downright sucked. I won’t make that mistake again.

But tomorrow is another day, full of hope. After all, early October is a sweet spot for casting plugs and poppers for rockfish, particularly at first or last light. No finer fishing exists, in my book.

Surface lures can be placed into two general categories. Poppers and walkers, also called spooks by those who were eligible to vote when Nixon was on the ballot.

I’m sure there are sub-categories I’m leaving out, but for the sake of this conversation we’ll stick with these two general descriptions.

Both share the basic premise that they are designed to mimic baitfish in distress, and therefore make for easy pickings for an opportunistic rockfish, redfish, or speckled trout. Sometimes called chugging lures, poppers have a cupped face that spit water when retrieved.

Poppers are usually easier to fish, and most also have built-in rattles that cause even more commotion. Examples are many, but my short-list of favorites includes Smack-it, Lonely Angler, and the venerable Atom plug.

It isn’t difficult to make poppers pop, but it does takes a bit of practice to do it right. That’s part of the fun. Everyone has their take on just how to do that, and here’s what works for me: Point the rod tip at the plug with the tip six to 10 inches above the water’s surface then crank the reel handle two to four times, steady but fast. On the last half of the final turn, lift the rod tip slightly and then snap it down. Pause, and repeat. Rockfish will follow a lure to the boat, so don’t pull it in too quickly.

Spook-style lures are made with a rounded or bulletshaped face. I’m a big fan of both MirrOlure’s ‘Water Dog’ series and Heddon’s Super Spook

Jr. Making them “walk” properly takes a bit more practice compared to a popper.

The basic walk-the-dog technique goes something like this: With your rod tip low, swing it left to right using a light twitching motion. Done correctly, it’ll make the lure move side-to-side, hence the “walking the dog” moniker. Careful not to overdo the jerk part; a short twitch works fine. And be sure to reel in the slack in the line, paying attention not to pick up on the spool the tight part.

Suspending stickbaits are technically not either poppers or spooks but I consider them to be kissing cousins, and as such are also fun to use this time of year, too. Rapala’s X-Rap and Yo Zuri Crystal Minnow are two I like quite a bit. Most of us can cast them a country mile. Broadly speaking, stickbaits have great built-in action that when retrieved will tipsy-doodle, wobble, shimmy and shake. The “pause” in the retrieve can be too much for even the wariest of rockfish to resist.

Generally, I like colors that either resemble the baitfish that swim in our part of the Chesapeake Bay. Bone (red head/ white body) and two-tones (blue-chrome, black/white) are

standards in my tackle bag. Yet because I’m a fisherman — and therefore a hoarder of lures — I have a lot more varieties and in color combos than I care to admit.

I never use any hardware with these plugs when I’m fishing the bay. I tie a 30-inch shot of fluorocarbon leader (15- to 25-pound test monofilament) directly to the plug. If I don’t have time to swap out the treble hooks for a single hook, or if they don’t come with that option, I either clip off or bend back at least one of the tines. For bonus fun, I add a teaser fly as a trailer, usually a minnow pattern three to five inches long.

I’m also big on a stealthy approach, and before I even make one cast, I almost always pause to observe a spot for a few minutes to see if any bait is dimpling the surface. If I don’t see any signs of life, I’m much more likely to press on.

In that same vein, fish spots characterized by structure of some sort — be it a rubble or rock pile, shoreline rip-rap, or natural substrate — are ideal. Land points, mouths of creeks, or other places in which current is disrupted are also fishy spots. Fishing over flat, non-descript bottom typically hasn’t been productive in my experience.

Oh, and one last suggestion: Make sure your knots are tied right and tied tight. These lures ain’t cheap!