favorite topwater (prop bait)?

[cbrooks]

What are your favorite topwater prop style bait? My favorite is the pacemaker because of the clicking sound it makes from the prop hitting one of its hooks.What are the characteristics that make one prop style stand out from another that makes it productive? I've also had some luck with the pacemaker last year with a storm rolling in ,that was a blast.

[castmaster]

Ryan Jinkersons Tap Dancers are a great bait, actually the bait Ty modeled the Pacemaker after. Joel Wick makes some excellent custom tailbaits, can get them done with a dropper hook on the belly that helps keep the bait from rolling and also increases hooking %. The new tailbait being sold by Suick looks like it might be a winner as well. Nice short/fat profile on it. And of course the Top Raider will always have a place in my boat, just a fool proof tailbait.

I guess for me, when it comes to topwater, I prefer hand made custom baits vs store bought factory baits.

[10,000 Casts]

I like the old wooden pacemakers. I'm not a huge fan of the new plastic models. It's a great bait for shallow rocks when it's windy.

My favorite prop bait is the Rumbler. It doesn't hold up very well and can be a one fish wonder, even a one blow up wonder but they catch fish.

[porterhouse]

Slammer Thunderheads and Lee's water chopper.

Brian

[dan z]

would have to say the good ole pacemaker blk and prpl of course

[Musky Buck]

Don't own 1. Tried off and on for a decade to get a follow, blow up, or strike and couldn't do it so mine are hanging in my uncles garage after he bought them at my garage sale for 50cents a pop. I simply don't know how to use them and when to fish them and zero faith in them.

[50inchpig]

One word, Buck: September

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

One word, Buck: September

June, July, August, October and November can be pretty good too. lol

the key is to throw it where you know fish are present. Otherwise you should be throwing a walk the dog, that's just my opinion.

[Musky Buck]

He meant Buck Lake in September, just kidding.

[Musky Buck]

hey 10,000 I did throw it where fish were present but when I have a topwater prop and my cousin lands 2 or 3 fish on a different topper and having about a 10 year trial and error with it, I had to give it up quick as my cousin was making hay all these years.

[Bobby Bass]

My long time favorite ( 30 years) is the Smithwick Devil Horse. With a front and rear prop it is a go to bait when there is calm water and even a little chop. When fishing these baits you have to pretend you are teasing a kitten with a yarn ball. Slow twitches and then short spurts work well along with just casting it to a fish looking spot and let it sit till the rings from the bait landing are about ten foot away and then just twitch it. Key to fishing these baits is when you think you are fishing slow. s l o w down some more. Of course you can just cast them out and rip them back to, sometimes that works just as well. I do like fishing them slow around docks and fallen timber.. another tick is let them sit and shake your rod, the shake is transfered down the rod to the line making the lure just quiver. a good little topwater trick... I'm bad this is more of a topwater bass bait.. I did not see where I was posting.. sorry got the shakes a little when I saw someone actually posting about open water fishing...

[Musky Buck]

Thanks Bobby, maybe I'll blow the dust off that super humper and gun it 1 more time.

[50inchpig]

Awwwwww dude, you're killing me now Buck. Super Humper? No confidence? Feel free to send it my way if you still hate it this year.

[JRedig]

I like lowrider's and topraiders.

[Musky Buck]

Will do 50inch, why can we boat 91 fish on walk the dog and zero on prop baits ? I know I don't try them much anymore but why before pressure became a major factor I couldn't get anything going on them ? A guide with 40 years experience tried a humper last summer and as of Labor Day never had a strike on it or any prop bait,that was the last time I talked to him, I know last year was a bit off the norm but this guy can fish every day if he chooses to and has boated many hundred of them. He was fishing "new" humpers we can't even buy yet, prototypes. I probably don't throw them enough and when are they most effective, I couldn't get a theory on them.

[guideman]

Topraiders, pacemakers(wooden ones) Thunderheads, Topwalkers

Super Topraiders, Globes, Topper stoppers.

If you aren't getting any action on your prop style top waters, you are probably going to fast. You want to get that nice clean plop, plop sound to get their attention.

My personal best of 53.5 44lbs was caught on on a prop bait.

So "Sllllooooow" them down and believe me, you will get bit.

"Ace"

Ace guide service.

Beautiful Lake Vermilion.

[HuntBigFish]

For me, it's probably the pacemaker and the lowrider. Those are about the only 2 I throw, mostly because i'm more of a walk the dog guy. But i am going to pick up a mini super humper, so we'll see how that one produces.

[b1gf1sh1]

besides my own, made to my specs? topraiders super or not. (BTW, there was three wooden pacemakers left at sportsmans warehouse in woodbury... and a plastic one) topraiders cast nice. and catch fish.

IMO. if you fish a prop-bait the way that gives you confidence, your fishing it right. if your not getting fish theres a reason and it's not the bait. might not be the lake and it might not be the user. but theres reason other than the prop-bait. just MHO. i blame my lack of fish finding ability every time i skunk out. motivates me.

personally my favorite(favorite, not what i use most) is long pauses after a few cranks or a rip. long being 20 seconds or more. durring the pause there's slack being pulled in from the weight of the line or waves. i just try and keep as little slack as possible off the waters surface by verrrrry slowly, almost non-existant movement, cranking in slack. i just love it when i'm completely concentrating on my lure at about 12 seconds or whatever and a fish hits. talk about heart jumping? whooowwie. awsome. but i fish 'em every way possible in every single area i fish almost every time, just in case there's a fish looking for something different than one retrieve. rip and pause, burn half way pause, slow methodical retrieve, burn it in, rip the heck out of it all the way in. anyway i feel like it. but if they didn't work for me would i fish them? who knows, i'm just glad they do.

[DHanson]

50inchpig is right on about September. I have kept a log on all of my catches and that proves September turns on for prop baits. A lot of mulitple fish days mixed in with some big fish. Top Raider and Super Top Raider have caught a lot of fish for me.

I should add that the topwater bite has been a little slow for me the last 2 years for reasons unknown for sure, but that could change this year. I do believe part of the reason topwater has been a little slow is because fish have become conditioned on high pressured lakes that have seen a lot of top waters.

[Muskiefool]

If the don't turn on a super slow retrieve I don't like them, most need tuning to acquire this, some need a different box and boat to ride around in LOL, I like the B.S. Willey globe, Pacemaker and make a few wide profile slow working baits myself.

[MUSKY18]

Gotta go with the 3 that have produced the best for me. The Jackpot, Top Raider and Mini Humper. Humper was really good for me from Aug - Oct. Doesn't shut down in waves like the raider. Jackpot is a good search lure.

[cbrooks]

I do have a superhumper.Haven't really given it a chance yet but I will add a minihumper to the must have list. I think I'll get that one in the purple haze pattern.

I had some success with the lowrider(orange/black).The topraider, maybe a follow few and far between. Maybe I was reeling it in too fast like someone mention above.That will be something I will work on this summer.Thanks.

[MUSKY18]

One rule of thumb that I try to follow when throwing my prop style topwaters is to reel them just fast enough to create a bubble trail behind the bait. Surprisingly, it doesn't take much to make a bubble trail. On topraiders, I try to make it create the deepest, loudest pop possible and it happens when you are reeling slow. One other trick to use, and it goes hand in hand with reeling it slow, if you have a fish following your bait, just give your reel one quick turn and then continue back at the same pace. That one quick little turn will more than likely trigger the strike!

[Musky Buck]

Thanks guys, the picture is clearer, I'm somewhat done by mid-august because my boat partner and I coach football, no wonder our prop baits didn't get a fair go.

[Scoot]

Musky Buck, just an FYI- I've caught dozens of muskies in the past few years from mid-July to mid-Aug on prop baits. Not disagreeing with anything that's been said, but just telling you my results.