Lets Talk Topwater!!!!

[Ray Esboldt]

I'm with you Rob. Topwaters are always tied up on smallmouth waters, and they have their place for largemouth. However, I get such great satisfaction from probing deep water for bass that I only fish shallow on lakes when there is either no alternative or the day is perfect for doing it.

And, why do you torture yourself with those muskies, Rob?

[bassNspear]

Hey Ray,

I see where your coming from. Everyone has there different ways of fishing. Im a huge topwater fan, but when the time is right, of course your going to get fish deep as well.

[fishmarket]

What topwaters work better for smallies vs largemouth? Do you work them differently..slower or faster??? Thanks for the input.

[SluggoMaster]

Smallies are much more agressive than largemouth, so I think smallies are more apt to hit a surface bait. There are many factors on this.

I do like the Lucky Craft Sammy, at least down south. The toothy critters like them too much up here!

[bassNspear]

I am a huge fan for running a double bladed buzz bait. Get alot more water spray, and have alot more noise on the water.

[Wayne Ek]

I may be way of the mark on this one. And if I am, then will one of our Fisheries Biologist that are on the site jump in an correct me. I vaguely remember reading or hearing that smallies have physical control of their swim-bladder and largemouth are limited to enviromental control. In other words a smallie can run up out of 20 feet of water and hit a top water bait, then head back down to the bottom without physical problems or discomfort. And a largemouth takes a longer time to make the adjustment to the differance in water pressure. I think I got that correct

[SCUMFROG]

POP, POP, POP, WHAM....

[EBass]

Learn something new everyday - thanks Wayne.

[HossFisher]

Someone mentioned the Smithwick Devils horse earlier, this is also one of my favorite topwaters.

[Fever]

Poppers, chuggers, buzzers, walkin the dog... all good but slowly slipping that frog off the pad then... WHAM... Tough to beat. Frogs in the pockets of heavy slop. My personal favorite. I do spend much more time worming but the frog... WOW!

[bassNspear]

There is so many things that are out there. ALl depends on the different ways you want to take it.

[lookincalifornia]

so i was fishing topwater on friday and did ok. i noticed that my hook up ration was much better with my spittin' image than my pop-R. i was only catching 13-14"ers, but had many more strikes with the pop-R, but more actual hook ups while walking the dog. jsut wondering if it is a hook size thing, or what?

[bassNspear]

not fair that your fishing now, and we are waiting for the ice to melt.

[lookincalifornia]

gonna be in the 80's today the spawn is only a week or so away oh yea, the closest real lake has florida strain largemouth in it. and they stock trout year round. i've seen a pic of a 20 pounder caught about 4 years ago. I WANT ONE

[kt]

I've got a few of the sammy's by lucky craft and they are by far the best walk the dog bait i've ever used. The things cast a mile, the hooks are unbelievably sharp and they don't dull, and their extremely easy to work. There are also several different sizes of them. A Ghost bluegill sammy 100 is my go to walker.

[Central Bassman]

Do you use the sammy's year around?? I have been looking into them!!! I'm a big lucky craft fan

[kt]

I use them from the opener until the end of summer usually. Once it starts cooling down quite a bit, i usually switch to more buzzbaits for topwater action in the fall. The sammy has been dynamite for me on opener though. Both post spawn and prespawn bass will just hammer it and like someone had mentioned earlier, it's kind of like the jig of topwater fishing. In that, it seems to catch a better quality of fish than say a popper or prop bait. Another thing that i have done to them in the past is add a feathered treble to the back. Sometimes that gives it a little more action and color especially if im using some pauses in my retrieve. Ive really found it to be much more versatile than other walker type baits, it's really easy to work it with different retrieves from a slow gliding motion to quick darts and a pause, to extremely fast darting motion. Its also a dynamite schooling fish bait.