How aggressive do you fish topwater lures?

[Smells like fish]

I'm sitting here thinking how much I love throw all the different types of topwater lures and how few fish I've caught using certain styles of lures. Last summer I was using a Berkley popper, I had waded to a known musky and smallmouth spot of mine and I threw the popper about 5 times I can remember how well the Berkley threw water, very aggressive popping and action I thought. After my 5th cast to the little drain that ran Into the river my fishing buddy made it up to where I was and threw the whopper plopper and within 5 seconds the musky hit. All my casts had been on top of that fish and he must have been interested in the popper but would not take. 

 

It could of been the more aggressive action of the whopper plopper or its sound but with bass overall is your most successful topwater action subtle or aggressive? Poppers? Spook style? Etc...

 

it it blows my mind to see how aggressive lures are fished for predatory fish in the Amazon. Has anyone ever fished a lure that way and caught greenies and brownies?

[TnRiver46]

Sometimes they like it fast, sometimes they like it sitting still. Never fish any lure only one way 

[Dens228]

To be honest, it depends on the mood of the fish at that particular time.   I've caught fish with faster, more aggressive presentations when slow stuff didn't work, I've also done the opposite.  I've also had instances where whatever I did worked.  

I've walked poppers the entire retrieve and had it work....sometimes it hasn't worked and I've worked in pauses of various lengths that paid off.   I'm sure others can give you more specific answers as to the when and where. 

[Mobasser]

With a popper, I've caught more fish on a slower pop, pause, pop retrieve. Some guys like to fish a popper faster in lakes that have shad, trying to get the spitting sound of shad near the surface. I've caught more bass with a spook fishing slower too. A slower retrieve, with the spook gliding about 4" or 5" has worked best for me. Buzzbaits, I've done the best with as slow a retrieve as possible, to still keep the lure on the surface

[Way north bass guy]

For me, it doesn’t seem to matter what type of topwater I’m throwing at the time, it’s more about how and what the bass are feeding on. 
If it’s smallmouth on a deep lake feeding on smelt or herring, especially if they’re schooled up, it seems like a lot of times the bait can’t be moved fast enough. If I’m fishing slop or laydowns for largemouth that are often feeding on frogs, bluegill etc., for me at least, most times those are either single fish or very small groups in a particular area, and in that case it often seems a slower retrieve works best. 

[DitchPanda]

With a popper I like a slow subtle bloop bloop type technique with pauses of a second or more..however I do better with walking baits moving them fairly fast and almost walking them in place...buzzwords in also in the camp of slow and steady opting for a lighter bait or one with a larger blade

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Different topwaters different speeds. 

My 2 go-to's are definitely buzzbait and fluke. Buzzbait fished slow as possible,  fluke usually fished fast and real aggressive 

[A-Jay]

I can agree with most everything noted already in this thread;

But mostly, "variety is the spice of life".

Mixing it up has always been my modus operandi, especially presenting topwater offerings. 

The vast majority of my topwater brown bass hunting is done with either a walking bait or a popper.

While both may be sort of on opposite ends of the topwater action bait spectrum, there can be various type 'retrieves' or presentations made with both that may get a bite or two. 

 

   I'll use a walking bait to cover shallow water, routinely keeping it on the go all the way to the boat.

But a stop & go retrieve works many times, as does a fast waking retrieve.

Where I do nothing more than cast the bait out & reel it back; here' it's all about "the V". 

 

 

 When throwing the popper as mentioned above - quite often, it's ALL about 'the Pause'. 

But just like any bait I throw size & profile play a role in conjunction with 'the action' (or lack there of).

So a slow retrieve, waking the bait, has taken fish for me as well.

And on the total opposite end of the 'pause' spectrum, is one of The Most effective all be it, pain staking presentations I make with a popper.  Started doing it as a result of what at the time was a total 'accidental catch'.

A professional over run (backlash) had my popper just sitting there for a while while I picked it out.  

Smallie crushed it after it had been sitting there several minutes, almost lost the rig over the side(I was in a canoe) and didn't get the fish, but the light bulb went on. 

 So late morning to mid-day, after the morning bites has pretty my faded, I will present a popper in & around the same areas I may have taken a fish or two on a walking bait - so I have a decent Idea there may still be a few around. 

 The painstaking part is there is a Full minute between a single pop. 

The water splash & 'rings' are long faded away before I even think about moving it again. 

It's like a battle of wills - who will flinch first - the longer I let it sit, the more the anticipation grows.  

Seems to work best in super flat water no wind conditions - but having that bait just sit there in their face, making no attempt to flee, seems to really fire up big brown bass and sometimes, they will just slurp it off the top.

And other times they will totally hammer it.

I'm good either way

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[The Bassman]

One of my best bites on a Pop-R years ago came when I was burning it in for another cast. Caught several good fish in a short time. Since then I always give it a try. Lure comes through the water looking like a billfish teaser. It's a real rush getting bit at your feet. Doesn't work more often than it does.

[Michigander]

I cycle through retrieves until I find some that works or abandon the lure. Often I find if they won't hit topwater, they will hit a fluke fished a inch or so below the surface.

[Smalls]

It really depends on the fish. I've had luck gliding a walker super slow, and working a popper as fast as I could. 

I'll start out working it slow, and speed it up til I get bit. Seems like the natural progression of my irritability of not getting bit. 

[WRB]

I learned to fish top water lures slowly back when we let the ripples dissapear before twitching or popping the lure. Then a local showed how to rip a double prop Injured Minnow top water lure and that changed how I fished top water lures. 

Smithwick introduced the a Paw Scooter and Buck n Brawl top water lures so I fished them like the injured minnow by ripping them and caught more bass.

When the Pop R came out it was back to slowing down until a freind showed me a Micheals Japanese Pop R type lure that was ripped to mimic a panic shad and it back to fast retrieve to get good results.

Some lures work good slow and some worked fast If bass are targeting fast bait fish use a fast retreive, frogs use a slower retreive. When in dought trail and error until the bass react.

Tom

[Cdn Angler]

I've usually heard with musky that they aren't so fond of a big pause the way bass are, so that could partially explain why the whopper plopper got hit and your popper did not. You don't see many giant poppers for musky and the figure 8 is based on the don't stop moving principle. 

 

Similar to A Jay I've had smallmouth hit a whopper plopper on ridiculously long accidental pauses, sometimes on days where I'm getting zero other bites. I'm usually in a kayak so mid retrieve I might start paddling due to drift or to fiddle around. Minute or two later...blammo. 

[scaleface]

I have an old Pico Pop and old Rebel chugger [ a big Pop R] and I work them as aggressively as I can . Short sharp jerks that spit water over six foot . I like to use them in standing timber during the hottest part of the day during summer. I also have Bomber Prop A's which is a Long A Minnow with rear prop . I twitch them as fast as I can and still create a top water disturbance .

[Bankbeater]

I'll fish different topwater baits with different retrieves.  I've been on the water when the bass were hitting jitterbugs that are hardly moving, and fast moving buzzbaits, at the same time. 

[greentrout]

 

many years ago someone on a site like this, bill dance in the day, posted an article from a guide from the stick marsh in florida ... setting aside recommended equipment, he wrote pick up a chug bug, especially the 1/4 oz., and use a fast retrieve cadence chug bug ... let it rest ... chug bug ... let it rest ... the best i've ever used ... strikes can scare you ...

 

good fishing ... 

 

 

 

 

[Smells like fish]

@WRB when you're ripping a double prop lure are you ripping it 20-30 inches and pausing or just continuing to rip along?

 

@A-Jay what is your smallest sized popper you prefer? What material tied on the rear treble?

[A-Jay]

8 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

@WRB when you're ripping a double prop lure are you ripping it 20-30 inches and pausing or just continuing to rip along?

 

@A-Jay what is your smallest sized popper you prefer? What material tied on the rear treble?

The Megabass Pop Max does most all of my heavy lifting in the popper category.

While I have and fish and few others here & there (Strike King HC KVD Splash Popper and the Yellow Magic) something about that Pop Max just gets the right bites for me. 

May have to do with where I fish it as well. 

I dress my own trebles and will often reuse the feathers off the stock hook.

Once that is no longer serviceable, I'll use a little bucktail; nothing fancy.

 

A-Jay

 

[Bluebasser86]

My favorite answer;

 

It depends.

 

Sometimes I'll be walking a spook so fast it wouldn't seem like a fish should be able to catch up to it. Sometimes it I'll be fishing a popper so softly it barely looks like it's moving. Most of the time it's somewhere in between. All depends on a lot of different factors.

 

In your example, it was 2 different baits and the rapid fleeing action of the plopper was probably what made the difference.

[Harold Scoggins]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

The Megabass Pop Max does most all of my heavy lifting in the popper category.

X2

[papajoe222]

On a side note:

Musky are the only other fish I target regularly and from experience, I can tell you that repeated casts to a spot are often needed to get their interest.  Chances are good that another cast or two by you would have resulted in a reaction.  Your buddy just let you do the prep work. 

[WRB]

11 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

@WRB when you're ripping a double prop lure are you ripping it 20-30 inches and pausing or just continuing to rip along?

 

@A-Jay what is your smallest sized popper you prefer? What material tied on the rear treble?

Ripping is very similar to a  6"-12" jerk bait retrieve to create lots of surface splashes. I use mostly a  1/4 oz & 3/8 oz Splash-It in lieu of a Pop-R with Owner white/chartreuse chicken feather dressed rear treble hook. Still use the old wooden Pa Scooter and Buck n Brawl for rear prop baits with upgraded hooks, they work good.

I prefer wooden top water lures like the wooden Sammy just like the action better or plastic is a Vixen for larger size or Zip n Ziggy for smaller dog walking lures.

Tom

PS, my largest top water bass was 11 lb on axSammy using the dead stick pick a backlash out retrieve.

[bazzelite19]

Ive had my most intense blowups working a frog so hard that your forrarms would be burning after a few cast. As fast as you can chop the handle and chug that frog. The big ones match the aggressive retrieve with a equally as aggressive strike. Though that usuallu works best in warm water. I dont see very many work a frog that violent which is why I think it works. And I had that most recent experience at a public lake with steady pressure

[gim]

It’s been at least a few years since I got on a good topwater bite here. They used to attack it pretty regularly on the bodies of water I frequent. For some unknown reason they just don’t bite it anymore, aside from an irregularly patterned buzz bait. It sucks because I really enjoy a good topwater bite too.