Topwater Bite

[Captain Phil]

I probably posted this before, but it's worth repeating.  I fished against a tournament fisherman in Florida that never used any lure but a Smithwick Devil's Horse.  He worked for fish and game. On the weekends, he fished local money bass tournaments.  These tournaments are very popular in Florida.  So much so that it is possible to make a decent living off the winnings.  His name was Charlie Orme. We lost him a few years ago.

 

I became friendly with him later in life.  The only real modifications he made to his lures were to tune the blades and change the hooks.  He was a master at knowing when a fish was behind his lure.  He had dozens of retrieves from sitting dead still to chugging like mad. He was an exceptional caster that would throw his lure into the deepest cover.  Fishing magazines wrote articles about him.  One even took him fishing to see if the tales were true.  They were. 

 

At the time we had a tournament series for anglers over 50 called the Senior Pro Bass Tour.  These guys were on a different level than everyone else. Any one of them could have won a Bass Master's Classic if they choose to.  Jack Adams also fished the Seniors.  Ray Scott invited him to the first Classic.  He was the only angler who turned him down.    

 

Charlie (Top Water Charlie) was the toughest of the bunch.  The bags of fish he carried to the scales were so heavy, they often broke through the bags.  I'm not sure his technique would work anywhere but in Florida.  It sure did when he fished it.  Rest in peace Charlie.   :>)

[scaleface]

3 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

I probably posted this before, but it's worth repeating.  I fished against a tournament fisherman in Florida that never used any lure but a Smithwick Devil's Horse.  He worked for fish and game. On the weekends, he fished local money bass tournaments.  These tournaments are very popular in Florida.  So much so that it is possible to make a decent living off the winnings.  His name was Charlie Orme. We lost him a few years ago.

 

I became friendly with him later in life.  The only real modifications he made to his lures were to tune the blades and change the hooks.  He was a master at knowing when a fish was behind his lure.  He had dozens of retrieves from sitting dead still to chugging like mad. He was an exceptional caster that would throw his lure into the deepest cover.  Fishing magazines wrote articles about him.  One even took him fishing to see if the tales were true.  They were. 

 

At the time we had a tournament series for anglers over 50 called the Senior Pro Bass Tour.  These guys were on a different level than everyone else. Any one of them could have won a Bass Master's Classic if they choose to.  Jack Adams also fished the Seniors.  Ray Scott invited him to the first Classic.  He was the only angler who turn him down.    

 

Charlie (Top Water Charlie) was the toughest of the bunch.  The bags of fish he carried to the scales were so heavy, they often broke through the bags.  I'm not so sure his technique would work anywhere but in Florida.  It sure did when he fished it.  Rest in peace Charlie.   :>)

I remember reading about him . He liked new silver shiny Devil Horses . Didnt like them once they got roughed up .

[Captain Phil]

This is the only lure he ever used.  At the end of the day, his boat floor was covered with them.  

 

[soflabasser]

15 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

It's no different in central Florida, where topwater action is a year-round event.

With respect to "peak" topwater action, that belongs to April & May, which takes place like clockwork.

That's post-spawn when cows are supposedly recouping, but it yields some the best pigs of the year

As for Florida-strain, if you're fishing south of Ocala, you're most likely dealing with Florida-strain bass

 

Roger

Throughout the years I have noticed that Summer is a better time for topwater fishing for me than April-May in the places I fish in South Florida. I am familiar with Ocala and the northern part of Florida since I have fished across the state for bass and many other species of fish. Have caught several species of bass in Florida in my fishing vacations.

[Captain Phil]

It's worth noting why this particular lure may have been so effective for Charlie. Top water lures attract large fish. This lure is about 4 inches long. Slim lures attract more bites. The chrome reflective finish makes it almost invisible to a fish.  The slim orange belly stripe reflecting off the chrome looks like a native golden shiner, a major bass forage in Florida.  Since the fish can't actually see the lure, it's more of a finesse bait. The dual props are like two tiny torpedo lures in tandem.  I don't know why, but Florida bass seem to want to kill this lure.  Many of the strikes are fierce attacks.  Finally, Charlie knew where to throw this lure and could consistently deliver the lure where he needed to. He fished this lure with heavy line and was not concerned with hang ups. 

 

When you are fishing money tournaments, you only need five bites to get paid.  You want those bites to be as large as possible. A bag anchored by two eight pounders will do the job. 

[reelfast]

9 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

It's worth noting why this particular lure may have been so effective for Charlie. Top water lures attract large fish. This lure is about 4 inches long. Slim lures attract more bites. The chrome reflective finish makes it almost invisible to a fish.  The slim orange belly stripe reflecting off the chrome looks like a native golden shiner, a major bass forage in Florida.  Since the fish can't actually see the lure, it's more of a finesse bait. The dual props are like two tiny torpedo lures in tandem.  I don't know why, but Florida bass seem to want to kill this lure.  Many of the strikes are fierce attacks.  Finally, Charlie knew where to throw this lure and could consistently deliver the lure where he needed to. He fished this lure with heavy line and was not concerned with hang ups. 

 

When you are fishing money tournaments, you only need five bites to get paid.  You want those bites to be as large as possible. A bag anchored by two eight pounders will do the job. 

I love hearing stories about local fishing legends like Charlie. Really is sad the guy isn’t around anymore. 

[Captain Phil]

He was one of the best.  Tournament fishing is not for everyone.  Most anglers don't know how their fishing compares to others unless they fish competitively.  The majority don't care, they just want to have fun and catch a few fish.  The sport owes a lot to tournaments.  If it weren't for them we would all still be fishing with linen line and Bass Orenos.  Everything from Bass Boats to laser sharpened hooks came from competitive fishing.  Whatever makes the sport better, I'm for it.

[Ogandrews]

Seems like for me Im having the opposite experience as you guys. I’m in Minnesota and I had my first frog fish on April 29th in the Mississippi, before the rest of the states season even opened up. I have been getting fish to eat topwater since the water was in the low 50’s, most years it seems I can get at least one bite per trip right when the season opens.

[Captain Phil]

11 hours ago, Ogandrews said:

I’m in Minnesota and I had my first frog fish on April 29th in the Mississippi, before the rest of the states season even opened up. 

I have always had a soft spot for anglers from Minnesota. They told me bass in Minnesota are considered trash fish by some anglers, most fish for trout or other species of fish.   This was twenty years ago, so things may have changed.  The angler below booked me one winter day.  We fished Haines Creek and the fish were biting.  I gave him my best lure and he was having a ball.  He told me his goal was to catch a big Florida bass. Not long afterward he landed this fish.  I don't remember his name, but it was great to see him catch that fish.

 

[Ogandrews]

13 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

I have always had a soft spot for anglers from Minnesota. They told me bass in Minnesota are considered trash fish by some anglers, most fish for trout or other species of fish.   This was twenty years ago, so things may have changed.  The angler below booked me one winter day.  We fished Haines Creek and the fish were biting.  I gave him my best lure and he was having a ball.  He told me his goal was to catch a big Florida bass. Not long afterward he landed this fish.  I don't remember his name, but it was great to see him catch that fish.

 

Most people around here pretty much laugh at you if your fishing for anything besides walleye. We have some of the if not the best trophy musky fishing in the world, amazing pike fishing in areas, incredible smallmouth, thousands of lakes with great numbers of largemouth, 100+ lbs lake sturgeon, biggest lake trout in the country in Lake Superior as well as great salmon, hundreds of trout streams, great flathead, some of the biggest channels in the US in the red, st croix, and Mississippi rivers, and people want to act like walleye are the only thing you can fish for.

[Captain Phil]

I fished in Lac Seul Canada for a number of years. My friends were all Walleye fisherman. They would sit in the back of the boat trolling with spinners and minnows.  Walleyes fight like wet towels, so they didn't interest me.  I would sit in the front of the boat casting plugs and spinnerbaits.  They kidded me and called me "The man of a thousands casts."  Every day at lunch time, we would have shore lunch and cook the walleyes they caught.  Walleyes are great eating.  I wasn't fishing for food.

 

One day I hung what I thought was a pike on a big Cisco Kid plug. It turned out to be a 10 pound Walleye. That ended their kidding.   I caught come some huge pike too.  I mounted one that weighed 25 pounds. I wouldn't kill a fish like that today.