Trophy Grade Topwater Poppers
Charter Grade Dog Walkers
The Hogy Classic Dog Walker is one of our most relied-on and best-selling topwater lures. Designed for precision casting, walk-the-dog action, and balanced presentation, it offers a refined take on a timeless surface plug—built for modern inshore applications and tuned for exceptional control and range.
Hogy Charter Grade Dog Walker: This 6-inch topwater plug is a simple but highly effective lure, ideal for a variety of species, including schoolie stripers, large striped bass, snook, tarpon, and even tuna up to 200 lbs.
Watch Video
“Small Frame. Big Attitude. The Jack Russell of Topwater Plugs.”
Hogy Classic Dog Walker:
With its slender body, rear-weighted balance, and through-wire construction, it casts like a missile and dances like a baitfish in distress. Its versatile profile is small enough to imitate sand eels or peanut bunker, yet big enough to pass as herring or smaller pogies. That’s why it’s become a confidence lure for anglers chasing both aggressive surface feeds and pressured, picky fish.
Where and When to use: The Dog Walker shines in calm to moderately choppy water—particularly during low-light conditions like dawn, dusk, or overcast days. It’s a go-to inshore lure around structure like docks, rocks, and estuary mouths, and it produces best when fish are feeding near the surface.
It’s especially deadly during spring through fall, when water temps rise and predatory fish become more active and aggressive on top.
How to Fish It:
Walk-the-Dog Retrieve: Rod tip down, short rhythmic twitches, medium retrieve speed. Creates a zig-zagging panic pattern that’s irresistible to gamefish
Fast Darting Retrieve: Faster cadence and tighter twitches. Triggers strikes from fired-up fish chasing bait. Covers more ground in shorter time.
Pause-and-Twitch: Pause mid-retrieve, then twitch gently Slows the bait down just enough for tracking fish to commit. Ideal for fishing the swing in rips.
Hogy Charter Dogwalker:
“Excellent action and profile. Extremely productive on stripers when they're on top. Very impressive paint job. Paint shows minimal damage after catching more fish than I tried to count. Good hardware. No complaints. - Hogy Customer Daniel P.
FAQ
Quick answers for most commonly asked questions about the Charter Grade Dogwalker and fishing applications.
Can I swap out the hooks?
Absolutely. The Dog Walker is balanced to fish with either two inline singles or one hook + a bucktail flag. This flexibility makes it easy to rig for performance or for conservation.
What baitfish does it imitate?
It can represent a wide range—peanut bunker, sand eels, anchovies, squid, butterfish, herring, and small pogies. It’s
that perfect “in-between” size that covers a lot of scenarios.
What setup should I use?
A 7'–8' medium power spinning rod, 3000–5000 size reel, and 15–30lb braid is perfect. You want a light tip to walk the plug and enough power to drive hooks home.
TIPS & TECHNIQUE
CHARTER GRADE DOGWALKER
Walk The Dog Stripers | Capt. Jamie Simmons
How To: Casting Big Topwater Plugs for Striped Bass
Topwater & Jig Fishing for Giant Striped Bass | Block Island
Early-Season Topwater Stripers & Open Water Feeds
Plug Casting Rods
Built with a soft, yet sensitive blank, these rods resist accidental breakage due to high sticking but still offer high sensitivity to light bites on smaller presentations, plus they have plenty of backbone in the blank to apply added pressure for larger inshore species. Paired with an appropriately sized reel, these are a pleasure to fish for daily applications.
- Mod-Fast Action Black For Increased Sensitivity.
- Premium Grade Cork Grip
- Heavy Duty Locking Aluminum Reel Seat
- Premium Ceramic Guides
