Picked up some spooks the other day. Want to learn the technique
Walk-the-Dog, how do you do that? Anybody got any pointers on
how to work a spook. and under what conditions are the best?
Thanks.

Throw it out as far as you can. Retrieve it with short qiuck twitches of your rod tip. Most hold thier tip fairly low to the water. It takes a little practice. The tricky part is coordinating the twitching with the reeling to take up slack.

I started by twitching until I needed to reel and then stopping while I took up slack. You will get some strikes in the pauses. It might help to hold your rod up a little to keep your line from sinking in between twitches and pulling your plug under.

As you get better, you can reel and twitch at the same time. Keep some pauses, but you will be able to experiment with the timing of your walks and pauses, rather than be limited by the need to reel in slack.

The Sammy by Lucky Craft is good bait to learn with (a bit pricey though). The Spook looks great after you learn to walk it, but can be discouraging while learning. The Sammy looks great the first time you attempt to Walk the Dog, and gets better from there.

NoTrollMotor

Just go fishing and learn it for yourself!

exactly. go toss the spook, or a sammy, whatever, let the fish tell you what works. Put down the keyboard and pick up a reel, you'll be stoked! Info on the net is great, obviously, but time on the water will make or break you- go kick some a$$ with that spook!

When I first tried "walking the dog" I tried what most people do, but it didn't work for me. Keeping the rod tip high never worked. I learned the hard way and by accident. I was throwing a Storm Chug Bug, and I was popping it every few seconds. Then I was giving it three to four twitches at a time, and I noticed it was going from side to side, like I was walking the dog. I had my rod tip low, and from lure, to rod tip, to me, was about 80 degree angle, standing a bit sideways to the water (cast out, and think "7" shape). I started twiching it rhythmically like that, and wala! I was walking the dog...and catching fish. Not sure if it can be verified that the Chug Bug is harder to walk, but for me, now the Zara Spook and the Sammy are a piece of cake, especially the larger sizes. Your wrist will hurt after the first days of doing it because it's a lot of work. If you've got the equipment, think ergonomics, like the low profile baitcasters that you can rest in your palm. And yeah, it takes some thought at first to reel in the slack slowly as you twitch, but it all comes together pretty quick once you do it. Once you learn, it's an awesome thing to know, because you can even start applying that technique to suspended jerk baits (like Smithwick Rogue)...it's really cool under water! Well, that's how I do it, so not sure if it'll work for you, but good luck learning.

Oh, by the way, as far as conditions, primarily calm, clear water, like when you'd use other surface lures. Still water's best when just learning...it'll be easier to see the lure, and your most likely to get hit in the morning and evening, during low light. But spooks and sammys will catch fish any time of the day, even when the water is a bit choppy...and they'll come up an charge a spook from deeper water than you'd expect.

what the heck is a spook, or a sammy, this is totally new to me. But don't jump down my throat, I am learning evryday, and words are not lost on me, Please? Honest question.
I used to be told, no question was a dumb question....
xsk8rgrl

A Sammy and Zara Spook are both topwater lures that when you twitch the rod the bait zips to the left or right. By "Walking the Dog" the bat comes back in a Z movement to the boat. The two links below will show you pictures of both


Zara Spook

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0011966110414a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=cat90001&podId=0011966&catalogCode=IC&parentId=cat90001&parentType=index&rid=

Sammy

http://www.luckycraft.com/LuckyCraft/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=Products&category%5Fname=Top+Water&product%5Fid=Sammy+100

No biggie and no shame xsk8rgrl...we all gotta learn! Zara Spook is made by Heddon (and there is another version called Super Spook made by Excalibur). It's literally the simplest lure ever...it's shaped like a cigar or a hot dog, and other than the variety of colors, that's it. I remember the first time I saw it, I was like, how the heck does that catch fish, BUT IT DOES GREAT! The Sammy, which actually looks like a fish, complete with scales and gills, is made by Lucky Craft. It's an import from Japan (my peeps!)...fantabulous lures, superbly crafted, but DAMN they're expensive! Over 13 bucks for just one of those things! The Zara Spook's regularly priced and readily available, even Walmart, but the Sammy can be hard to find...

any good colors you'd suggest for local waters puddingstone or perris

12 ft aluminum "Smally Roger"

we build mini choppers!!!
http://www.smithminichoppers.com