“Catching Specks and Reds in Texas on Mepps and Mister Twister with Phillip Cambra”

Part 1: The Little Wolf Spoon Isn’t Boring

Editor’s Note: Phillip Cambra of Clear Lake, Texas, a tournament red fisherman and speckled-trout fisherman, has fished tournaments for 20 years. This week, he’ll share his secrets for catching speckled trout and redfish.

Question: Phillip, where do you fish?

Cambra: The Galveston Bay system in southeast Texas.

Question: Tell us about the last redfish tournament you fished.

Cambra: The tournament was held in September out of Clear Lake off Galveston Bay. We started just at sunrise, ran about 1-1/2-miles from the boat ramp and moved to a 2- or a 3-foot-deep mud flat covered in oysters and clam shells. We used the trolling motor and the wind to travel to a fishing region with plenty of structure and a drop-off. Too, there were old pier pilings and grass in this region. We anchored our boat in 3 feet of water and cast into 5 feet of water. We used the 1/4-ounce Mepps Little Wolf spoon with a single hook, which is less likely to get hung-up in structure.

I’ve found that regardless of the water conditions (clear or stained from wind chop), the Little Wolf spoon produces specks and redfish. The color of the lure doesn’t matter. I’ve had success fishing gold-and-red, silver-and-blue and silver-and-chartreuse colors. Flash is the main factor I’m looking for in a spoon. I’ll run the spoon close to the bottom, so it stirs up mud. Only two redfish per angler can be weighed in at these tournaments. In the last tournament I fished, my two redfish weighed a total of 14.2 pounds, placing us third in the tournament.

Question: What pound-test line do you use?

Cambra: I’ll throw 10- or 12-pound-test line on a Shimano Chronarch Mg 50 baitcasting reel with the Shimano Cumara rod. I like this reel because it has a magnesium crane, it’s small and super light, plus the action on the rod allows me to land heavier fish. Even though I’ll land plenty of big fish, I can cast for 8 hours and not be terribly fatigued at the end of the day because of my extremely-light rod-and-reel combination.

Question: How did you start fishing the Little Wolf spoon?

Cambra: I became bored catching redfish on soft plastics like the Mister Twister Exude D.A.R.T. and the Exude RT Slug – although they’re great lures. I wanted to see what other lures would catch redfish. So, when I saw the Little Wolf spoon in a Mepps catalog, I decided to try it. Today, it’s one of my go-to baits for redfish tournaments. There’s no other bait that consistently lands redfish better than the Little Wolf spoon. Much of its success comes from its flash and ability to attract redfish.