Topwater Question

[YeahSure]

I have only been fishing for bass for a few months now and have yet to start my topwater fishing. I was wondering though, what is the deepest water you will fish a topwater in? I've only seen my friend use them in about 4-5 foot of water tops. Can you fish these things over 10 foot of water or even more and still call fish up? Any input is much appreciated 

[aarogb]

A lot of people use them in extremely deep water to pick off the suspended fish and the fish that are feeding on shad or other baitfish.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

A whole lot of that depends on the overall water clarity.Around here in a lot of the murky stained tanic water most success will come in 3 feet or less,for example. You can generally catch them over deeper water as the water gets clearer, and although I haven't experienced it yet,they say you can call fish out of 20 feet or more of water when it is very clear.The type of lure can also be a factor.Is it loud and noisy,subtle and quiet,is it a fast or slow moving bait? Also remeber that in dirtier water the fish tend to relate tighter to cover and structure.Topwaters in dirtier water will be fished very close to or in cover.Baits in clear water will be fished out over points,humps,along deep weed edges,and over top of sunken brush or timber.

[Micro]

If I see fish feeding on the surface, I'll use topwater lures.

[Primus]

BDub I've caught fish in over 50' of water on topwater baits and regularly. fish them in the summer in depths up to 20', that said the majority of lakes I fish have clear water. I usually do best with topwaters during low light conditions such as early in the morning or early evening but don't rule out the middle of the day in deep water especially if you are seeing the bass attacking forage in the upper part of the water column. The time of year to throw topwaters for me would be late spring through mid fall, it's seems to slow down when the water temp drops below the mid 50's which where I'm at in Michigan the lakes I'm fishing are already in the 40's. As to tackle if you are fishing clear water I would reccomend baits that have a white belly for overcast days and a tranluscent Ghost type of color for clear days. I would reccomend you start with popper baits such as Pop R or an Excalibur Zell Pop and when you catch a few fish and you want to expand you arsenal add a few topwater walking baits like a Super Spook Jr or a Lucky Craft Sammy. These type of baits I like to fish on a Med power 6'6" casting rod with 12-14 lb mono. When fishing shallow water and especially heavy cover it 's tough to beat Frog baits like a Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect Frog, crawl it around lilly pads and be ready! Also, there are soft plastic buzz type Frogs like the Zoom Horney toad or Stanley Ribbit, these usually work on a slow steady retrieve. For my Frog fishing I like to use a 7' Heavy or Med Heavy Action casting combo with about 50-65 lb braid so you can winch them out of the grass. If you are fishing stained water a classic bait to try would be a 3/8 oz buzzbait, I usually use White, Chartreuse/ White and sometimes Black. I usually throw it on my spinnerbait rod. Another classic especially during post spawn in clear water is to twitch a floating rapala, I typically throw this on a spinning rod with 8 lb mono, in addition to the natural colors sometimes the firetiger has done well for me. These are some of the basic topwaters that you can throw, eventually you may want to expand your selection by adding prop baits, wake cranks/ swimbaits. Don't let all these choices overwhelm you, if you can only go with one I would pick up a couple of poppers and go from there. Good Luck, check back and let us know how you do.

[Chaz Hickcox]

A whole lot of that depends on the overall water clarity.Around here in a lot of the murky stained tanic water most success will come in 3 feet or less,for example. You can generally catch them over deeper water as the water gets clearer, and although I haven't experienced it yet,they say you can call fish out of 20 feet or more of water when it is very clear.The type of lure can also be a factor.Is it loud and noisy,subtle and quiet,is it a fast or slow moving bait? Also remeber that in dirtier water the fish tend to relate tighter to cover and structure.Topwaters in dirtier water will be fished very close to or in cover.Baits in clear water will be fished out over points,humps,along deep weed edges,and over top of sunken brush or timber.

x2

Summertime in clearwater you will call up the active summer fish from extreme depths where they are escaping the heat of the day.  Primus was spot on as well, except one thing, in murky water you can call em up from 10-15 ft if it's loud enough.

[YeahSure]

Wow! I would have never though thought that was possible. I will deff make mention of this on my next outing.. Thanks for all the great and thorough responses everybody!! 

[bassin is addicting]

X2 on all the info....

but...

don't forget the good 'ol black jitterbug....

early morn and at dusk..

it's almost idiot-proof (maybe that's why i like it!  )

i've had luck in 15-20ft of water

[J Francho]

I was wondering though, what is the deepest water you will fish a topwater in?

This is a VERY clear lake.  Its only about 4 miles long, and 4/4 mile wide.  Smallies will suspend in the top 15-25' of water, hunting bait balls.  A Sammy 115 in MS Am. Shad will trigger explosive topwater bites on this lake at dawn and dusk.  During normal daytime hours, they will be more structure oriented, and less aggressive.

[YeahSure]

I was wondering though, what is the deepest water you will fish a topwater in?

This is a VERY clear lake. Its only about 4 miles long, and 4/4 mile wide. Smallies will suspend in the top 15-25' of water, hunting bait balls. A Sammy 115 in MS Am. Shad will trigger explosive topwater bites on this lake at dawn and dusk. During normal daytime hours, they will be more structure oriented, and less aggressive.

WOW! That is pretty amazing, I would have NEVER thought that was possible. Thanks for posting!

[J Francho]

Its not really about "trying" this, or "trying" that.  its about getting to know a body of water, and understand what the fish are doing.  I figured this out my 2nd or third outing there, and honestly, a spinnerbait, weighted fluke, hard jerkbait, or even a crankbait probably would have worked on these fish.  Anything that resembled a fishy meal. 

Topwater was more fun, though. 

[llPa1nll]

I think its more dependent on present conditions of the day than anything. On my home natural clear northern lake if its cloudy out in the fall I will throw a "walk the dog" type bait if its calm on the water surface. However the more disturbance on the water surface due to wind or rain there is, I will generally move to a more "aggressive" top water bait. This fall hasnt been real good for me for top water fishing. Where in years past on an over cast day I remember catching fish if I positioned the boat in 10-12ft and fished out deeper to 20-25ft. I had a smallmouth straighten out a #2 treble hook that day.