Topwaters for bucketmouths

[Lunker]

So, I went fishing yesterday for large mouth bass having only fished topwaters minimally. I have done ok with scum frogs and caught a lot of pike on spooks, but never done well with poppers, spooks for bass, or buzzers. Yesterday though I went off a tip and threw a popper and caught a couple dozen bass, the biggest being a hefty 18"er. Having had that experience, my interest in topwaters has spiked, and was wondering how and what you throw for topwater bass, and under what conditions. I've always fished for bass, but topwaters have never been a big part of my arsenal. Thanks

[Blackstarluver]

Well, here goes; Location, along the sides of reeds, and especially around lilly pads. Also along the edges of rocks around drop-offs. The best luck I have ever had is during overcast days however I have had good luck on sunny days also. When fishing around pads, use 12+#test line as the smart little sobs very frequently make a bee-line into the heart of the lilly pad boquets. Where are you having the luck on toppers? I have trained all the bass near my favorite holes to toppers and they have been all but useless for a few years.
My2
God lyk!
JC

Oh and lures, BPS poppers, Storm chug bugs tenn. shad, Chrome+blue firetiger. Excalibur swimmin and poppin image citrus shad and bluegill, Super spooks and skitter pops.
Another really fun bait is the Lunker City Salad Spoon, it is a multi dimensional bait!

[This message has been edited by Blackstarluver (edited 06-13-2003).]

[EBass]

A couple dozen!?! That's doing pretty well Lunker. (I'm jealous) I think you have the topwater bug now. It's hard to get rid of to.

Scum frogs types are my favorite for in and around cover. I don't toss buzz baits that much. I do like the Excaliber swimming image in the frog color. Also, the tiny torpedo by heddon for smallies on the river. Heck I like poppers to.

Topwater action is the best!

[BUSHWAC]

I love the top water, poppers, scum frogs, buzz baits. my all time favorite has to be the Super Spook. I fish some clear lakes and routinely pull bass out of water deeper than most people would consider using top water baits in. also, I fish the Super Spook in choppy water. I am under the impression that most people only fish calmer water with these baits. they are missing out on some great action!

[Yaeger Guide]

I always have a Spook or spitter lined-up ready to go. Best times seem to be sunrise and sunset, but don't forget about midday over the pads. I always throw the Spook at anything surfacing in the area. Depending on the lake, usually a smallmouth, largemouth or pike with the occassional musky lurking. Topwater bite does get the heart racing, especially if you ever see the 'wake' behind the lure.

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God bless,
Judd Yaeger
Yaeger Guides (Twin Cities Guides) www.yaegerweb.com/guide

[kt]

Heres an interesting topwater story for you.

Last weekend i was bass fishing and got a nice topwater bite going on a shallow weed flat. Sammy's and chugbugs were the ticket. Anyway after catching about a dozen, my brother had one blow up on his chug bug. He went to set the hook and his line flies back at him (must have had a nick in his line). About ten seconds later a 1 lb bass jumps out of the water shaken its head and throws the chug bug out of its mouth. It was crazy. By the way, we did retrieve the chug bug and continued to catch bass on topwater until the sun came out.

Here's a couple things that i like to do when topwater fishing. Be patient when you get a fish to blow up. Don't set the hook on sight, set it when you feel the fish. Also, i always like to have another rod on deck rigged with a tube, fluke, or senko to cast back at fish that i didn't hook up with. Also, don't get discouraged when you miss fish on topwater. You are not going to hook as high a percentage of fish as you would with other techniques. Experiment with different colors or styles of baits if the bass aren't really commiting to your bait. Topwater is a great way to catch bass, and the bass don't even have to be that big for it to be fun.

[Blackstarluver]

When I started fishing top waters I used a berkley poppin/live bait rod. It is 7'long has a moderate to fast midsection and a slow top section. I found that if I set the hook too early the flexibility of the rod and the stretch of the line were more forgiving on my hook set, and gave me a half second or so margin for error. Since the "good old days" I use faster taper rods since I can hold off on my hook set 'til I feel the fish. Took A LOT of practice though.
God lyk!
JC

[Lunker]

Thanks all. Heres what we were doin. Weededges, both milfoil and pads, I was throwin a popper and my buddy was tossing a shallow diver crank but using it as a topwater. It was overcast, a little breezy, and boy were they aggresive. We had bass all over the things, some individuals would hit it three times before I got a hook set. The 18" and 17" didn't fool around though, they destroyed the popper. The 18 went straight to the pads, and i had to go in a pull some pads up to get the fish. We also caught about a half dozen 9" gills that were slammin our plugs and giving us almost as much fight as the bass. It was a lot of fun, and I think I'll head there again with the popper. Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll be sure to try them out!

[Guest]

Lucky 13 is the fist topwater I reach for.

[Steve Foss]

Best deadwater surface bait I ever saw was called the Superfrog.

It is a chunk of rubber frog with thin kinked and folded legs. Single hook underneath with fine wire guard.

A finesse bait. Only really works when water is totally dead. Works great in pads or open flats.

The trick is to cast it and let it sit until the ripples have faded away totally. That takes at least 30 seconds. I like it best in pads, because its plopdown sounds like a frog jumping off a pad.

Often, fish will hit while the frog is sitting and you're wating for the ripples to go away. Most fish, however, hit when you twitch it the first time. Just a little twitch, a bump, not a jump. Patience. Those early morning curious bass come to the sound of the plop and lay there underneath, waiting. Twitch, POW! If no strike after the first twitch, wait another 30 seconds and twitch again. If no strike, reel in and cast in a different direction.

As previously stated, count one-mississippi before setting the hook. Bass engulf a bait and turn away. If you set before the bass turns away, you pull the lure out of its mouth.

I saw some Superfrogs in a couple stores recently, though I haven't bought one for several years.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[vern]

I remember the old Superfrogs! I haven't seen one for years though. I used to fish a lot of topwater 15+ years ago, but don't do it nearly enough now. It is probably the most fun way to catch bass. These days when I'm out bass fishing I'm usually wormin' or jigging. But this last weekend I decided to force myself to fish nothing but surface baits & had a blast. I was up on the Upper Mississippi fishing smallies with Torpedos & Zara Spooks. I even tried an old Jitterbug for a while. Caught lots of nice smallies & missed quite a few too. Biggest about 18". Like KT said, don't set the hook too early. I was a little out of practice & couldn't always control that impulse to set the hook. But a lot of times the fish just explode & miss the bait completely. Very exciting fishing! My favorite topwater bait is probably the Torpedo. I think I threw that more than anything else fishing Calhoun & Harriet as a kid. Vern

[Guest]

Lunker,

Over my years of fishing topwater one lure has outfished all other lures in my boxes in the waters I fish. It's a weedless fake frog with hooks wrapping around the body of the frog that sells for $2.59 at wally world. You need to sharpen the hooks but after that they are deadly for me. I fish them in the weeds and pads by throwing it out there, let just sit for about 20 secs. twitch it a few times so there's little ripples and then lift my pole to slide it across the top of the water pausing reeling in the slack and repeating it till it gets back to the boat. It's important to pause after each slide because the frog when rigged right will dart left or right. Once one of them slams it wait a few seconds then set the hook. Early on I made the mistake of setting to early and lost many which lead to my four letter word vocabulary. I've used jitter bugs, spook's, moss boss, popper's and they all work at times, but my most consistant is the fake frog. Where I fish (Cloquet area) they are dynomite in the early morning sun up till maybe 8:30 and at night 6:30 till dark and after. At night I use the frog like a popper

[EBass]

Frogs,

I think I know excatly what you're talking about. It's my all time fav to. I liked them so much I bought all the colors. Dark Green and the Yellow out produce the rest.

[Forestlaker]

I learned to fish topwater when I was a kid from an old geezer from Kentucky. All he ever used was a #11 gold floating rapala. If the waters calm just throw near some cover and give it a few twitches. If you have the patients its also deadly slowing crawling it back to the boat so it leaves a small wake behind it. If you want to fish faster its tough to beat a pop r or spook. Lost my favorite spook to a Muskie on Forest lake the other day. Waited around to see if it might spit it but never did.