Topwater's and you

[JRedig]

I'm curious what kind of success people have on topwaters on metro lakes. I've heard minnetonka can be great for them at times in certain locations, but have yet to experience it.

My first muskie came on a topraider a few years ago. Since then, I have spent a lot of time throwing them, but only had a handful other fish come up and look at them.

It seems they do better on different lakes too, IME, Bald Eagle seems better for them than WBL.

Discuss!

-JR

[Andrew Erickson]

ive done good with vipers on tonka and indy.

[cupper]

Big fan of the topraider/super topraider.

[Tippman]

I have yet to catch a fish on a topwater

[Rebel9921]

Still trying and trying... same goes for plastics...

[bronzeback]

I've caught one fish on a topwater. Whatever the real name is for those squirrely topwaters with the soft plastic tail. Worked it really slowly with gentle pulls back to the boat. The fish boiled around it about thre times before taking it. Wasn't a ferocious hit by any means but I knew he was there.

I've only had one other hit on a topwater and it was on a topraider. I've seen one other follow on that squirrely guy and that was it. I love to try and fish them but i feel like my odds are better with a bucktail.

[no_bod]

Me + Topwaters = NO LUCK....EVER!!

[TBone1]

I have had good success with topwaters on both Waco and Tonka, Walk'n the Dog has produced best with probably 20-25 fish caught and 1 caught on a Pacemaker. IMO there is no more exciting way to catch a Muskie!

[cjac]

Weagles have produced for my boat in the Metro in the last couple years. I say my boat since my buddy has really done well with a black Weagle, a custom loon pattern from the winter shows. Numbers for both of us, but his count is higher and he had one pushing 50 last Fall on WBL.

Hard to beat that feeling of watching a wake come up behind the bait.....

[MUSKY18]

Have done pretty well with topwaters. Best luck has come on Jackpots and Hawgwobblers. Pretty hard for the fish to miss a Hawgwobbler. Pretty interesting fishing with Chad Cain this past week up at Operation Muskie. He threw a Mini Humper for almost the entire day and caught two fish on the bait. What he does when the fish humps up behind the lure is, instead of speeding the bait up, he simply gives one quick crank with the reel handle and then goes right back to the normal pace. Both of the fish that he caught were humped up behind the bait, and as soon as he gave that quick crank of the reel, they just smashed the bait. Really cool to watch it happen. In all, he had 5 different fish up on the bait. So of course, on the way home, we stopped in Walker at Reed's so I could pick one up!!

[JRedig]

Weagles have produced for my boat in the Metro in the last couple years. I say my boat since my buddy has really done well with a black Weagle, a custom loon pattern from the winter shows. Numbers for both of us, but his count is higher and he had one pushing 50 last Fall on WBL.

Hard to beat that feeling of watching a wake come up behind the bait.....

I've thrown WTD's for DAYS on WBL and never had anything but pike hit them. Caught plenty of fish out there by every other means, but can't put that one in the bag! <just keep throwing just keep throwing just keep throwing>

[TBone1]

I make a few differant types of lures and 2 topwaters that I do well with are Big MaMa topwaters and also Bubba baits. Big MaMa's have a nice profile and also do a bit of a headbob when being walked back to the boat and the Bubba Baits have a choppy wtd action along with a little wider profile. Both have been stellar baits for me. They are available at Cabin Fever Sporting Goods in Victoria and also Wayzata Bait, Give'm a try!

http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/ff353/bigmamalures/MuskiePics007.jpg

http://i539.photobucket.com/albums/ff353/bigmamalures/052-1.jpg

[Lare Pie]

I've had success w/ Jackpots and prop style topwaters on WBL casting over the deep weedline. They will come out of 20 fow to smash it!

[JRedig]

SUCCESS! I had a pretty good sized muskie blow up big time and miss the bait tonight, then come back and chase the [PoorWordUsage] out of it. Of course it took another swing and a miss at the boat and I never saw it again. But boy that helps with confidence though!

[TBone1]

Thats cool stuff, gets my lood boiling everytime.May your next reaction be that big girl that comes shooting straight up out of the water with you lure t-boned in her mouth. There is no prettier sight. Good luck Have fun!

[cjac]

I know you guys like to pick on me about the amount of bass fishing I do, but it really helps, and especially with topwater. It takes some practice to increase the odds on converting topwater strikes, and the bass fishing is a great way to practice.

Biggest key for me is to not react visually, but react by feel. Sometimes they'll hammer it, sometimes they quietly slurp it in. Either case, you can pull it away if you set too quickly. Put a Scum Frog or Heddon Torpedo on and go work some lilly pads for bass, great way to practice.

Another key is to maintain the retrieve. I've had fish swing at it and miss multiple times on a single retrieve, same as Redig did last night, nice work by the way. Didn't convert but he learned, upped the confidence, and gave himself a 2nd chance at the fish by keeping it going. Temptation is to stop and cuss, the right way is to keep the bait moving. It takes patience and practice will help with all that.

[Fishhawk17]

I am a rookie Musky fishing but I caught one last year on a Jackpot. Threw the bait where she was jumping, as soon as the bait hit the water, she jumped on it but missed it, then she spun around and t-boned it. Got me hooked on Musky fishing. I had 1 boil around the bait and I did figure 8's at the boat, didn't see her so I lifted the bait out of the water to cast again. When I lifted the bait she came out of the water and slammed into the side of my boat. Very cool!!. My knees shook for several minutes after that.

[propster]

In the words of PH - that's hot

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Thought I would add to this with a question on topwaters myself. This has happened to me a few times, have a fish blow up on a topwater, miss the hookset completely and only have teeth marks on the lure to remember it by. When this happens, does anyone have luck throwing it right back out there to see if it strikes again or is it better to switch to a completely different lure and work it through the same area? Thanks

[MuntzAngling]

The rule I stick with is if you think they felt hooks, toss something else at them. Either way, I like to pause before casting back at them to let them get back to an attack position. One of my favorite throwback baits is a Rapala long minnow and just twitch it slow.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

in the back of my mind I have always thought the old saying "fool me once" so throw something else, but the other side of the brain keeps telling me, well they went at it before why not again, but I still have nothing to show for it.

[HuntBigFish]

We have caught quite a few on topwaters, including 5 over 48, but only a 41 on a jackpot this year so far. Had a follow from a pretty good one this morning on a mag pacemaker. Took off at the boat. Can't stand it when you run out of room.