Topwaters, which ones and what retrieves?

[PourMyOwn]

On 11/30/2019 at 8:00 PM, ol'crickety said:

I have caught thousands of smallmouth on F11 Rapalas. They do seem to prefer this color or that, but that color preference changes, so i go with various colors, like orange, yellow, or the plainer ones. I let it land, wait a couple seconds, and then repeat. I do that five or six times and then simply retrieve it. On a retrieve, I'll rarely catch a fish. 80% of my fish come in the first three twitches. 

Good stuff.

 

Rapala F11s have been catching bass for ages, I have one tied on when they just roll on a Torpedo rather than attack it.  

[Michigander]

The standout topwater hardbait from the last two years for me has been the Yo-Zuri 3DB Series Pencil 100. It walks the dog without moving very far at all, so it's almost like a popper in that sense.

 

[Bird]

Does a floating Jerk bait count as top water  ? 

SM harrass it here in the rivers, bone no doubt. 

[Sam]

On 11/19/2019 at 12:09 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Whopper Ploppper-slow, steady retrieve, just fast enough to get it plopping.

 

Walking baits-typically walk them as fast as I can for smallmouth.

 

Poppers (chug bug is my favorite for smallmouth)-pop, pop, pause, the bait should walk while it pops also.

 

Crawlers-slow, steady retrieve. (pompadour, Deps Buzzjet, and Livingston Walking Boss Part II are my favorites).

Add to Blue's post:

 

Buzzbaits fished fast to slow. Just cast and start reeling back.

 

Frogs presented with a chug-chug rhythm of your choice until the fish tell you what they want.

[TBAG]

I have the best luck here in the creek with a WP 75 or 90 but prefer the 75. Steady retrieve

[Drew03cmc]

Honestly, on the rivers and creeks I fish most, they just love walking baits. I can throw anything from a Zara Puppy to a Megabass Dog X Diamante and get hit. When I'm wading, my money is anything from 3.33 to 3.75" around 3/8oz. I'm partial to a couple that are tough to find anymore though. One I have 4 of, the other 5. I have thrown everything from buzzbaits to Whopper Plopper 90s and everything in between. When they don't hit topwater for me, I'm slinging a Tackle HD Hi-Def Craw, either as a finesse jig trailer or rigged solo on the Stealth HD head. 

[Cdn Angler]

On 2/8/2020 at 8:00 PM, Scott F said:

I don’t think that any one particular brand or exact lure will out fish every other in all conditions. Learn how to “walk the dog” and pick up a Zara Spook. Get a Rebel  Pop-R popper, and a Whopper Plopper in whatever color suits you. Ive also never found any one color that always did better than another.

Agree with this. Nearly any topwater "works" for SMB. Tailor the lure to the conditions (water clarity, chop, are fish feeding actively, water temp etc).

 

I've had a LOT of SMB strikes on extended pauses. Like sending a text to my wife mid retrieve type pauses. Anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds. 

[Tizi]

I like using small prop baits, like the creek chub injured minnow mostly.  I also like using labino rico popper, small jitterbug, #9 rapala, and zara puppy.

[Ogandrews]

I throw ploppers, poppers, frogs, but walking baits more than anything. Two favorite are the rapala skitter walk and the skitter v, walk has a tighter walk with a knock in it and the V has more of a rolling wider action and is a bigger profile. Both are good for different situations. Also any time I’m around grass I generally will walk a frog. Usually throw the smaller river2sea bullywa but jackal makes a great smaller frog too I’m blanking on the name of it but I can walk that one well too. Most treble hook topwaters I throw on my jerkbait rod which is a st croix 6’8” m xf mojo bass with a curado 70 with 20 lbs maxcuatro to a 8-12lbs mono leader depending on what I’m feeling. For frogs of any size I throw them on a dobyns 7’3” mag heavy Sierra with a curado k and 65lbs maxcuatro straight time the frog. Don’t be afraid of braid to a leader with topwaters, as long as your not using too heavy a rod then it will be fine.

[WI_Angler1989]

Whopper Plopper 75 and 90

Super spook jr 

Yo-zuri poppers and pencils