Author: Rob Belloni
Overview/History: The Rago Top Trout was released in 2004 and is available in two sizes, a 7” and a 9”. These are composite baits and are fairly light for their size with the 7” weighing in at 2.5oz and the 9” weighing 3.5oz. The baits come stock with VMC hooks and are available in about 8 to 10 different colors. Pros: When you look at the Top Trout, it looks like a wake bait. The bill is almost at a 90 degree angle to the bait and the body has a very round overall shape. The interesting thing is that the bait’s natural action is not on the surface, but just below the surface. On a medium/slow retrieve the bait will run just under the surface with a gentle swishing side to side action. On a fast retrieve, the wobble will get wider and it starts to look more like the Rago Rat action wise. The Fin-S Fish tail will whip back and forth harder the faster you retrieve it. When you’re fishing it fast, the bait will dive down to 3-4 feet max on a long cast, or you can hold the rod tip up and keep it in very close to the surface if you like. It’s a fishy action, and an interesting depth range for a hardbait. The construction on the Top Trout is solid and the paint jobs are fairly durable, on par with any of the other Rago composite baits. It’s the usual scenario where if you don’t mind a few scratches you can fish the bait as is, or if you’d like to preserve the finish you can coat over it with some Aristocrat or Devcon 2 Epoxy. The Top Trout casts well on standard swimbait tackle and it’s the type of bait that is definitely easy to fish with. It’s not going to get fouled on the cast very often or tumble when casting into the wind. The best word I can think to describe the bait is approachable. It’s something you can pick up and just start chuckin. Cons: There’s nothing specific I can think of that is a real negative about this bait. The hooks are VMC's so you should sharpen or replace them. You might also want to carry a spare tail or two in the event that it gets chewed up or nipped off. To give your bait different actions, you could try substituting the tail with a swimbait tail or a MS Slammer type tail. There’s some good customization options there if you like to tinker. Overall the bait is just a solid performer… It’s easy to fish, has decent action and a nice variety of paint jobs. I don’t think the Top Trout will ever light the world on fire but it should definitely catch some fish.As far as I know, this lure is no longer in production.