Best Place To Topwater?

[PondLvr]

I was wondering were to and when to use topwater baits?

[Marty]

I fish topwater much more than any other technique. Generally it's in water up to 10' with varying amounts of weeds. Conventional wisdom says to use topwater during low light periods, like mornings, evenings, overcast days and at night. I'll fish them all day long because I've caught a lot of fish on them on sunny days.

[Teal]

Add to what Marty said, ill fish topwater in places that it extremely difficult to fish a bottom bouncer or a subsurface treble lure. For example think matted vegetation, thick emergant plants/grasses.

For the matted hydrilla,milfoil and such, i like either a soft plastic frog or soft plastic that you can buzz the surface with. A buzz bait or inline buzzers work well too. The hollow body frogs work well too.

For sparse water willow or sparse tullies (bullrush) i ll try a treble bait like a Sammy or a Popper, but if its too thick ill go to the buzzers,frogs, and hollow bodies.

And when the heat of the summer comes, there will be coves with matted vegetation and it will be shaded by trees. I like to hit those even in the middle of the day.

[Greenstealth]

summer nights and a jitterbug tied on. Lots of fun, lots of misses as well, one of my favorite techniques.

[Teal]

summer nights and a jitterbug tied on. Lots of fun, lots of misses as well, one of my favorite techniques.

Right on with the jitterbug. Last april, i went and found some fish stack up in a little pocket and. It was already cloudy, then the bottom fell out, i stood there on the deck of my boat in the rain boating fish left and right with a black jitterbug. One of my best days!!

[iceman11]

The Jitterbug is the only thing I have had success with. I seem to strike out whenever I go with Buzz Baits and never really tried frogs. I will say top water is really fun when it works! 

[joetomlee]

Marty has a good post concerning this. I've personally had the most success with topwater baits when I fish early mornings.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

My biggest bass was with frog near noon 90+ outside on slop here in pic

 

 

 

 

And thick weed mats are good places as well like this

 

[OkeechobeeAngler]

Speaking of night time, I like the Hula Popper plus a Jitterbug, 

[Snakehead Whisperer]

One of my favorite topwater strategies is to burn a buzzbait sideways across heavy current in rivers for smallmouth. This presentation also works on striped bass here in the tidal portions of the river when fishing bottlenecks where the current is strong on outgoing tides. 

[lmbfisherman]

The Jitterbug is the only thing I have had success with. I seem to strike out whenever I go with Buzz Baits and never really tried frogs. I will say top water is really fun when it works! 

You're missing out!  FROGS are awesome!

[Marty]

My biggest bass was with frog near noon 90+ outside on slop here in pic

 

That's some pretty inviting looking stuff.

[PondLvr]

What other lures are good besides jitterbugs, buzzbaits,poppers and frogs?

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

What other lures are good besides jitterbugs, buzzbaits,poppers and frogs?

Look at Rage Toad this is different from a frog.

[ww2farmer]

Except for right after ice out, and very late in the season. I throw TW all year long.

[thehooligan]

What other lures are good besides jitterbugs, buzzbaits,poppers and frogs?

 

Sammys !! owner zip & ziggys, yozuri banana boats, propbaits, the list goes on and on...

[Bankbeater]

I like to work jitterbugs around cover that is up out of the water.  They also work good if you bring them across a deep hole that is surrounded by weeds. 

I'll throw a frog right in the middle of slop and bring it back slow and loud.  Flipping and pitching frogs under trees and bushes works well also.

[Greenstealth]

What other lures are good besides jitterbugs, buzzbaits,poppers and frogs?

A walk the dog type lure can be fun. Rapala makes them topwater or subsurface. I use 9" 3.5 oz gliders when I muskie fish and actually catch bass. I'm sure a scaled down bass size would work.

[The Young Gun]

A walk the dog type lure can be fun. Rapala makes them topwater or subsurface. I use 9" 3.5 oz gliders when I muskie fish and actually catch bass. I'm sure a scaled down bass size would work.

Some of my biggest bass were on musky baits 7" in length about, with top water creapers (kinda like a jitterbug)

[Greenstealth]

Some of my biggest bass were on musky baits 7" in length about, with top water creapers (kinda like a jitterbug)

I don't fish topwater for musky very often. I remember catching a nice 4lb lm on a super top raider (9 inches). 80lb braid, 8'6" rod and a 400 calcutta te has a way of taking the fun out of bass fishing. Still, any boated fish is better than nothing.

[Fishes in trees]

I nearly always have a top water or 2 tied on.  (when you fish by yourself most of the time and have 20 rods rigged and ready, you can do that)   Generally a popper or a spook on one rod, and a frog with  braid on another.  I throw them in similar spots to what other guys have mentioned earlier.  I have mixed results with top water baits, especially frogs.  My experience has been that for every bite I get with a frog on top of the mats, I can get several dropping a senko on the deeper edge of the weed line, and it is the same general area.  So, I guess that there is a time and a place for top water baits, but for me it is just a minor period of time and only a few places.

[Run&Gun]

I like to hit the bank around cover in the mornings. When the sun gets high I usually target shade. I'll use a frog in spots I can't get away with treble hook topwaters. Frogs also work great on banks with tree lines. Another really good time for a topwater is when you see bass busting on shad. This usually happens on flats or right where the flat drops to deeper water. I've caught bass in 40ft of water busting on top.

[Lip 'em!]

I love fishing a rage toad around pads during late spring/summer. Make sure its texposed though or hookups will be a problem!

[KansasAngler]

Weed mats and other vegitation mats but one place i really like is over a rocky bottom in shallow water.  But timing is more important to topwater fishing than anything else.  Generally the fish will let you know when to do it.  If its early morning or late evening you can do it the whole time but otherwise i only do it if the fish are actually jumping.  If not i throw out other lures and if that doesnt work ill throw out a topwater lure.  But just remember in general terms to try it the most during sunrise and sunset and near cover or submerged cover.  And dont be afraid to throw on the little topwater lures like grasshopers and other insect lures.