Topwaters
Popmax Tonosama Frog
I love to watch a fish come up and bust a topwater lure! The anticipation of a bass crashing a topwater just gets my blood flowing and my heart pounding. I find myself fishing them sometimes just because, knowing it might not be the best bait but just to see one bust the lure. There are a lot of different topwaters out there but I primarily fish three types; a walking lure, a chugger, and a frog. I am going to discuss the three and how I decide to fish them.
I use a walking type bait like the Giant Dog X pictured above when fishing broad areas or schooling fish in calmer water. I have caught numbers and some big fish on this bait. If fish are busting all around you it gives you the opportunity to fish it back to the boat and pull a group of fish up to bust it. It is also typically heavier and will allow you to cast long distances to reach groups busting away from you. I like to fish these on flats or over points where or offshore structures with schooling fish.
I use a chugger style bait like a spit-n-king or pop-r when I am fishing specific covers like a bush or standing timber where I am fishing it slower and trying to force a reflex stike from fish not necessarily schooling but that are just hanging around a piece of cover. This can be really fun when they are active and can give you such a rush because you expect to catch one at every piece of cover. When you can see them come up before they even hit it, it can be absolutely never racking!!
I use frogs in weeds and tough cover that requires a weedless bait that can come thru cover. A frog can be walked and skipped under overhanging trees and limbs and can be great in those tough areas where throwing other baits is hard to do. Plastic frogs like a horny toad are great for buzzing over grass where you may want to cover a lot of water quickly. I always have a worm or creature bait tied on so if a fish misses these baits I can cast right back to the boil to catch those fish you may miss.
Topwaters are not just a morning or foul weather bait. Anytime fish are near the surface and you are seeing an occasional blow up give these baits a try. One of the best days I have ever had on topwater was a 100 degree sunny day on a lake with standing timber. The bream were sunning at the top of the water column nest to the timber and occasionally you would see a bass bust one of them. I tied on a chugger type bait and would stop it next to the timber and pop it just a couple of times hard next to the wood like a fish had hit it. I caught 15 fish over 3# with two over 5. It was a really fun day even in that heat. I had fished crankbaits and worms all morning without any bites. I was just fishing under the active fish.
Here is a video from Wired2Fish on picking topwaters from Timmy Horton and another with Koby Kreiger from FLW Outdoors.
http://www.wired2fish.com/choosing-the-right-topwater-lure-m17015
http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/tips-and-techniques/154419/pro-lessons-prespawn-stages/#.UTs9JDbnaUk
Hope this information helps and good luck fishing!!
I use a walking type bait like the Giant Dog X pictured above when fishing broad areas or schooling fish in calmer water. I have caught numbers and some big fish on this bait. If fish are busting all around you it gives you the opportunity to fish it back to the boat and pull a group of fish up to bust it. It is also typically heavier and will allow you to cast long distances to reach groups busting away from you. I like to fish these on flats or over points where or offshore structures with schooling fish.
I use a chugger style bait like a spit-n-king or pop-r when I am fishing specific covers like a bush or standing timber where I am fishing it slower and trying to force a reflex stike from fish not necessarily schooling but that are just hanging around a piece of cover. This can be really fun when they are active and can give you such a rush because you expect to catch one at every piece of cover. When you can see them come up before they even hit it, it can be absolutely never racking!!
I use frogs in weeds and tough cover that requires a weedless bait that can come thru cover. A frog can be walked and skipped under overhanging trees and limbs and can be great in those tough areas where throwing other baits is hard to do. Plastic frogs like a horny toad are great for buzzing over grass where you may want to cover a lot of water quickly. I always have a worm or creature bait tied on so if a fish misses these baits I can cast right back to the boil to catch those fish you may miss.
Topwaters are not just a morning or foul weather bait. Anytime fish are near the surface and you are seeing an occasional blow up give these baits a try. One of the best days I have ever had on topwater was a 100 degree sunny day on a lake with standing timber. The bream were sunning at the top of the water column nest to the timber and occasionally you would see a bass bust one of them. I tied on a chugger type bait and would stop it next to the timber and pop it just a couple of times hard next to the wood like a fish had hit it. I caught 15 fish over 3# with two over 5. It was a really fun day even in that heat. I had fished crankbaits and worms all morning without any bites. I was just fishing under the active fish.
Here is a video from Wired2Fish on picking topwaters from Timmy Horton and another with Koby Kreiger from FLW Outdoors.
http://www.wired2fish.com/choosing-the-right-topwater-lure-m17015
http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/tips-and-techniques/154419/pro-lessons-prespawn-stages/#.UTs9JDbnaUk
Hope this information helps and good luck fishing!!
