Topwater Help

[Brock Grigsby67]

I am new to fishing topwater baits. What are some baits to start out with, and when is a good time to start using em?

[WIGuide]

Zara Spook, Pop-R, and the almighty Booyah Pad Crasher. Those three will have you covered in most situations.

[roadwarrior]

Zara Spook, Pop-R, and the almighty Booyah Pad Crasher. Those three will have you covered in most situations.

 

Perfect!

 

I would just add a couple others to consider:

 

MegaStrike Cavitron Buzzbait

 

Rage Tail Toad and Menace

 

Lucky Craft Sammy and Gunfish

[bassin is addicting]

pop-r

buzzbait

frog

spook

dawn and dusk...the almighty jitterbug

[Christian M]

X2...

pop-r,

buzzbait

jitterbug

walk the dog (sammy, spook, ect.)

hollow body frog & soft plastic frog

(easiest to most difficult to land fish on IMHO)

 

...no one mentioned the prop bait though! I know a lot of guys that don't even own one. They come in so many different shapes, sizes, colors, actions, and they catch fish consistantly. I feel like a lot of guys just see them as "old school", but the jitterbug was made in the late 20's (darn near a 80 years ago) and its still a go to bait for most fisherman, myself included. don't discount the prop bait, you might land your PB on one just because its never seen one before!

[mod479]

Get yourself a skitterprop in the frog color.

[dday07]

zell pop

strike king buzzbait

jitterbug-these three great starters

zara spook

spro frog-these two baits when you learn to walk the dog,which i have most of my success with

[Montanaro]

All you need is a frog and a buzzbait. Doesn't matter which h brand.

Poppers and stick baits can be situational. Buzz for semi open water and frog in the slop. After you get those catching fish try out fancier stuff.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

buzzbaits, hula popper, spooks,frogs(hollow bodied and soft plastic).

[Grizzn N Bassin]

jitterbug!

[bassguytom]

A prop bait is a good lure to start topwater fishing. The Heddon torpedo is a good starter and easy to fish.

[Montanaro]

A prop bait is a good lure to start topwater fishing. The Heddon torpedo is a good starter and easy to fish.

My favorite childhood lure. Slayed smallmouth on it. I learned quickly to throw it at logs and try to get it snagged

[bigbill]

Rebel POP R in blue

Mister Twister Top Prop

Spooks

Frogs

Torpedos

[fish365]

Some great choices listed here. would add a Bomber Long-A and v-wake it on top along rip-rap

[michang5]

I've had some luck with a Cavitron buzzbait and a Scumfrog, but I really want to figure out other topwaters.

I spent 40 minutes this morning with a Zara Spook Jr. and a Zara Puppy. I was on the bank casting out to 12-16 FOW and retrieving it over the drop-off and back over 2-6 FOW with a large bed of grass underneath. Water alternated between glass smooth to having a bit of chop. Cloudy skies.

Same conditions another morning with a jitterbug.

Not a bite with any of 'em. And last year's jitterbug experiments also caught zero fish.

I switch to a drop shot and usually can pull in a few. Any suggestions?

[AK-Jax86]

Stanley Ribbit frogs, hollow body frog, rebel pop'r, buzzbaits

[bclark7b]

All these baits mentioned are great my one favorite is a hollowbody frog on a sunny summer day.... throw it on a weed mat and watch the fish pound it.

[Jay Ell Gee]

I've had some luck with a Cavitron buzzbait and a Scumfrog, but I really want to figure out other topwaters.

I spent 40 minutes this morning with a Zara Spook Jr. and a Zara Puppy. I was on the bank casting out to 12-16 FOW and retrieving it over the drop-off and back over 2-6 FOW with a large bed of grass underneath. Water alternated between glass smooth to having a bit of chop. Cloudy skies.

Same conditions another morning with a jitterbug.

Not a bite with any of 'em. And last year's jitterbug experiments also caught zero fish.

I switch to a drop shot and usually can pull in a few. Any suggestions?

Maybe something slower? I would try a popper, broken back rapala, or hollow body frog twitched on the surface with long pauses in between. A prop bait wouldn't be a terrible choice either, you can fish it with short, slashing rips and cause a lot of noise. If the water is super clear, feathered trebles and such always help.

[tcbass]

I'd say the Ragetail Toad is perhaps one of the greatest topwater baits ever. Really.

I have sacrificed catching more fish because I want to try to catch them on topwater. My friend got me into bass fishing about 5 years ago and he let me use a Ragetail Toad. On days when nothing else has worked and I've tried crankbaits, senkos, spinner baits and buzz baits, I have put on the Ragetail Toad and caught fish consistently.

It's an amazing lure. The one thing is that it doesn't seem to get the huge topwater bite that say a frog or popper will get. It's more of a splash and swallow.

Either way, they are relatively inexpensive. Buy yourself two packs and go fish.

I've caught fish with them by letting them sink to the bottom on the initial cast and by churning them across the top of the water.

[fish365]

I've had some luck with a Cavitron buzzbait and a Scumfrog, but I really want to figure out other topwaters.

I spent 40 minutes this morning with a Zara Spook Jr. and a Zara Puppy. I was on the bank casting out to 12-16 FOW and retrieving it over the drop-off and back over 2-6 FOW with a large bed of grass underneath. Water alternated between glass smooth to having a bit of chop. Cloudy skies.

Same conditions another morning with a jitterbug.

Not a bite with any of 'em. And last year's jitterbug experiments also caught zero fish.

I switch to a drop shot and usually can pull in a few. Any suggestions?

What was water temp? If its still faily cool, try smaller with a feather on treble hook. After a pop or two, let it sit and let feather slowly expand

[michang5]

What was water temp? If its still faily cool, try smaller with a feather on treble hook. After a pop or two, let it sit and let feather slowly expand

 

I'm in Central Texas so it's HOT. Don't have a thermometer, but the lake reports from TPWD say it's around 64–68. I'll definitely take a look at the feathered treble hooks.

 

But honestly, I just need to go for it. I went out in a kayak on Saturday with intentions of throwing the spook jr./puppy and a scum frog. I was expecting sunny skies and calm water early in the week. Turned out to be overcast, windy and choppy. At the last minute, I chickened out and tied on my confidence rig (wacky senko) and did OK. But I'm left wondering what could have been.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

[michang5]

Picked up a Pop-R at Academy today. Looking forward to trying the entire topwater arsenal tomorrow morning.

Thanks again.

[iceintheveins]

I would start with a rapala skitterpop or a Pop R. Throw it out, and give it a pop of varying intensity, then pause for a few seconds and repeat. Topwaters almost always work best in low light conditions and overcast skies and are my go to in those situations. Don't follow that rule too hard and fast though because there are times when they work well in sunny conditions. The other one to start out with is a buzzbait. Cast it out and reel it in just fast enough to keep it gurgling on the surface. Once you master these, add the walking bait (like a spook) and a frog to your arsenal. Prop baits such as torpedos, skitterprops, and the like are good fished with a pull and pause retrieve.

[michang5]

I don't want to derail this thread with fishing reports, but I believe this still attempts to answer the OP's original questions.

 

Went out this morning and tied on my new Pop-R. Sun had already been out for over an hour. No clouds. 68 degree air temp. Variable breeze (N 9-16mph) and the water had some intermittent chop along with the slow current. Hit each cast area at least 3 times before throwing to another. Varied intensity and cadence with several pauses along with way. Could hear the nice "bloop bloop" from far and near. As mentioned earlier, I would have covered deeper spots, the drop-off, and the huge shallow grass bed.

 

Nothing after 30 minutes.

 

Switched to the Spook Jr. and did the same.

 

Nothing after 20 minutes.

 

Tied on trusty dropshot and tried two baits.

 

Nothing after 20 minutes. Packed up and went to work.

 

The frustrating thing is that I saw at least 6 splashes at the surface (half of which were reachable from where I was casting). Could have been carp or other non-bass, of course.

 

I plan on trying the lures on a different BOW soon. Keep plugging away before I move them to the back of the tackle box.  

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Getting the hang of the Walk-the-dog retrieve takes some practice and is a necessity for those to work. The Rage Toad, Pop-R and Jitterbug are hard to work wrong. Also, resist the urge to set the hook on a blowup. Wait until you feel the fish, then set the hook. Early, late and overcast days are prime for topwater action but it can last all day.