Trouble With Top Water Lures

[Brett Strohl]

I've been having trouble with top water lures and I was wondering if I'm doing something wrong?  I haven't used them before this year, but I've spent a large amount of time trying to get them to work.  I've even been fishing a lot on a pond that no one has used in years, and has very aggressive feeding bass, but so far I've only had one bite from a very tiny fish.  

 

I've been using a hula popper, super spook jr, and rebel jumpin minnow, rebel Frog-R, and buzz plug jr.  

 

Is there a time of year, or day that these baits are only used?  I've great reviews for many of these, but I wonder if I'm doing something wrong, or if I just need to give up on top water all together? 

[Senko lover]

Those are great, proven lures. I have been catching them on topwater about a month now, so it's probably not a bad time of year, although you may live a good ways from me. Have you gotten any strikes that didn't result in hookups?

 

Sometimes playing around with the retrieve helps a lot. Let the lure sit for a long time, then twitch it a little, pop it a coupla times, then let it sit still again. Sometimes they don't want a noisy, aggressive retrieve.

[Josh Crye]

I feel like mornings and evenings are best for topwater, but that's not to say you cant get a bite in the middle of the day.  of the lures you mentioned a spook is probably the hardest to fish, you really want to work it with a slack line so you get good side to side motion.  you might want to look into a arbogast jitterbug, one of my all time favorite top water lures to fish.  and for topwater that doesnt make noiss, check out a zoom or other brand fluke/super fluke, these are fun to fish and I can always watch the bass follow this thing... sometimes the bass want a slow fluke, other times I fish it fast.  basically want to imitate a dying fish with this, you kind of work it like a spook (slack line) so you get too side to side action.

 

I feel like top water works best when there is some type of structure or cover the bass can hide in then pop out and smash the bait.  top water bites are great fun!

[the reel ess]

The easiest topwater for me is the Rebel Pop R. Pretty simple. Just pop-pop-rest. repeat. It's also the most effective for me. The Torpedo works the same. I would assume the Hula Popper is similar. But you rarely get  bite on any topwater in the middle of the day when the sun is up. It's pretty much confined to an hour at sunrise and one at sunset, unless it's overcast or raining all day or if youc atch bass chasing shad at the surface.

 

Now the frog, like a Spro or Snag Proof, can get more daylight bites in a weedy pond. But not usually just out in the open away from weeds or pads.

[deep]

What's the water temp? What other baits are you catching fish on?

[papajoe222]

Welcome. You don't list your location in your profile, but I'm guessing you live up north. The reason I say that is topwaters baits don't really start producing until after the females have spawned. Not that they won't, there are just better presentations then. Bass guarding their beds will often slap at one but not take it in their mouth. Chances are the fish haven't spawned out yet.

Don't give up on topwaters. They are without a doubt, the most exciting way to catch fish.

Time of day and overcast skies can be beneficial, but I've caught literally hundreds of bass mid day. The best advice I can give you is to vary your retrieve until you find the way the fish prefer it. You can throw the right bait in the right place at the right time and have the fish ignore it until you find the right retrieve speed. That fact goes for any bait, not just topwaters.

[Josh Smith]

Folks say that "walking the dog" doesn't look like anything found in nature.

I agreed until I saw water bugs, and bass eating them.

Now I throw Heddon Spooks whenever I see bugs being eaten off the surface, and it works.

Josh

[Brett Strohl]

Ah thanks for the advice, I live in east-central Indiana.  I'm not sure about water temp, TBH but we've been trying them about all year.  Will water clarity affect these lures? We've been fishing slightly muddy spots.  

 

So far the lures that have worked for me really well at my friends pond are a Rapala shallow scatter lip crank bait, and a plastic worm with a chartreuse tail.  (so lures that I can get to go just under the surface but over the weeds).  The rivers around here are pretty bad for fishing, but we've been able to catch smallmouth and rock bass on square lipped crank baits.  I did have one strike from a rock bass on my super spook jr, but the fish was at least 6 inches away from the lure lol.  

 

We found a new pond to fish yesterday and got some strikes on spinners and diving crank baits.  We're going to be fishing that place a lot this summer and it has tons of cover around all the edges so I'm going to be trying top waters around the edges of that place so hopefully I'll be able to produce some strikes.  What time of the year do you think the fish might be done spawning here?  

[Josh Smith]

Brett,

 

I live in Wabash, so I'm fairly close to you I think.

 

I've seen strange stuff so far this year. 

 

For example, I found bluegill beds, but haven't seen bass beds.  Bluegill are supposed to spawn after bass.

 

Now, either the bass haven't spawned yet, or they've moved the spawn away from their traditional spawning grounds, at least on the lake I'm referencing.

 

We shouldn't move into spawn until late May or early June, but it looks like it was several weeks early this year... unless, like I said, something triggered an early spawn with bluegill.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

[Brett Strohl]

I live near Muncie, so that isn't super far away.  Sometimes my dad and I will go up to fish Shock Lake, which I'm guessing is pretty close to you, but we've never had a lot of luck.  One year we caught 8 or 10 giant blue gill, but they were all gravid so we threw them back.  

[BassMaster17]

I feel like mornings and evenings are best for topwater, but that's not to say you cant get a bite in the middle of the day.  of the lures you mentioned a spook is probably the hardest to fish, you really want to work it with a slack line so you get good side to side motion.  you might want to look into a arbogast jitterbug, one of my all time favorite top water lures to fish.  and for topwater that doesnt make noiss, check out a zoom or other brand fluke/super fluke, these are fun to fish and I can always watch the bass follow this thing... sometimes the bass want a slow fluke, other times I fish it fast.  basically want to imitate a dying fish with this, you kind of work it like a spook (slack line) so you get too side to side action.

 

I feel like top water works best when there is some type of structure or cover the bass can hide in then pop out and smash the bait.  top water bites are great fun!

I caught my PB on a on a Jitterbug, a 5 lber, and not even an our later i caught good 4 lber. both really early in the morning. I would also suggest buying a Jitterbug, their probably the easiest topwater lure to use too

[DocNsanE]

Top waters are fantastic lures for the excitement they provide. They can also cover a lot of water quickly. However there are certain conditions that will make them more viable. Usually low light conditions are prime time for fishing top waters (dawn, dusk, evening, night, and overcast). Often times a little bit of chop on the water will also help.

 

Sometimes bass just aren't feeding on the top. That's why a decent strategy is to fish top to bottom. If they aren't hitting the top, go to the mid water column, and then to a bottom presentation.

 

I love to throw a jitterbug at night, so exciting.

[bigbill]

Presentation is the key. A sloppy presentation catches nothing. You need to do a golden globe winning presentation.

Walk the dog

Cast it out, let it sit till the ripples are gone.

Now hold the rod tip down and do a 1, 2, 3, short rips and a pause.

Make the rips exactly the same distance.

I do the same thing with poppers, floating crankbaits, minnows.

Pay attention to the way you crank your reel. You need to make a circle on the crank. Not an egg shape circle. If the circle crank is off the bait goes fast and slow it's uneven.

The fish look for flaws in our presentation.

I'm just a shore fisherman I'm fishing backwards than you boat guys. You can be as good as you want to be just get into the zone and stay focused and motivated. Pay close attention to your presentations the bass will let you know when you get it right.

I fish all the local places I can gun and move to the next place very quickly there a few minutes from each other fed by the same river run off from a large stocked lake.

[J Francho]

I destroyed them on a Popmax this past Monday. They work now, and up north.

[Brett Strohl]

Would it be worth throwing a smaller lure? I got a bunch of zara puppies for 50 cents a piece in a discount bin without even knowing what they were.  I had a little trouble making them "walk" I think partially b/c they were so small.  Is that something I should go back to, or should I just stick with the larger walk the dog lures?

[J Francho]

I start big, and downsize if there's no bite. Sometimes I downsize just because the smallies won't choke it down. They often try to maim bigger lures first. A small lure gets a better hook up rate in that circumstance.

[dday07]

my buddy would have no luck in Ohio topwatering..i asked what time you go out? he'd say about 11 in morning..now there is no rule to when they hit topwater..but if you shore fish your chances greatly approve right before sunup or evening into nite.

[J Francho]

I throw a topwater when they hit my bait as soon as it hits the water. If that's where they want it, then I'll throw a bait that stays there.

[MainelyBASS]

The most important question has yet to be asked...What are you throwing the topwater on? Braid, Mono, Fluoro? What gear ratio reel? What action rod?

[Brett Strohl]

I'm pretty sure it's a medium action ugly stick and I'm using 30lb spider wire braid.  I'm not sure about gear ratio etc.  

 

I could see that stuff effecting walk the dog lures, but I've been fishing my buzz plug jr, and hula popper quite a bit and aside from one very tiny bass, have got nothing from them.  I'm actually a little curious about getting a full sized buzz plug b/c I think it would create more turbulence with the larger spinner, but I probably don't need to spend another $7 on one bait just to have a variation lol.  

[jitterbug127]

I think braid is too "stiff" for a top water. Try a mono leader to give it some stretch

[WRB]

Spinning tackle right? Any line that floats is OK.

Generally speaking the top water bite starts when the bass are nearer to the surface and you see evidence of surface feeding actitivty. The speed,cadence, pace or rhythm you in part to your lure depends on bass reaction to the lure. The Hula popper is a slow retreive lure; pop it and let it sit, then repete. Spooks of all types are met to be walked to disturb the surface without moving forward too fast. Pop-R types work best at a faster pace creating lots of spitting before resting. Prop baits are worked like a Pop-R, more of a surface jerk bait with lots of surface disturbance. Pick the lure for the bass activity level, quite for less aggressive, noisy for more active bass. Calm surface use slower retrieve, broken surface faster retreives.

Tom

[the reel ess]

Would it be worth throwing a smaller lure? I got a bunch of zara puppies for 50 cents a piece in a discount bin without even knowing what they were.  I had a little trouble making them "walk" I think partially b/c they were so small.  Is that something I should go back to, or should I just stick with the larger walk the dog lures?

Yes, you'll get more bites from a smaller lure of any kind. But even though you downsized, it's still a niche thing. They don't hit a Spook every time out. I tried it last time out thinking conditions were just right for it. Post spawn, big bass roaming, nothing. Try it, but if you get no takers, don't be afraid of the buzzbait, PopR or just go straight to a spinnerbait. They need to be chasing actively to go after a Spook. You may still get a straggler though.

[bigbill]

I change baits till I get action. Topwater is my first choice to throw out there. Read the water. If the bass are breaking the surface then go topwater. Don't cast into were there breaking. I cast along side them and past them. I pop the popper along side them drawing them out. If we cast at them we spook them.

[iceintheveins]

The key with topwaters in my mind is to use them MOSTLY in low light or cloudy conditions. They work best at these times, and are often my go to presentation in these conditions, catching more fish than anything else.

 

Doesn't mean they don't work during the day at times too. A frog especially will work during the day when you throw it into shade pockets under overhangs or chug it over heavy vegetation. However I once caught 50 - 60 bass on buzzbaits one day, during the middle of the day when it was about 100 degrees. Go figure.