Bass hitting top water lures

[BassSteve]

I tried using a few different top water lures at a lake I catch bass in regularly, but they don't seem to go for it. There is no heavy cover at this lake on top, but there is plenty of grass in the water. Could this be due to a lack of food source, like a frog for instance? My assumption was that even if they don't eat something like frogs, if they saw an enticing lure like that they would still go for it anyway. Any thoughts or ideas? Just fyi the lake is pretty tinted, it's not very clear water. 

[Mobasser]

It might be a little too early for topwater baits in your area.

[Kenny Yi]

Try early mornings or late evenings.  A dark sky always produces better topwater luck for me. 

[soflabasser]

Fish at night

[scaleface]

Bass not hitting top waters ? Well, thats pretty common in waters everywhere .

[Bird]

Doesn't make sense to me, top water should be effective everywhere. 

Caught my best fish of the year so far on top, 50* water. 

Are you throwing buzzbaits, ploppers by chance? 

Lots of bass staple lands on top.

[WRB]

Guaranteed you will not catch bass on top water lures unless you try them. Keep trying using different receive cadence and speeds until you get a strike.

Tom  

[Boomstick]

You don't always need heavy cover to get bass to hit topwater. Even a hollow body frog which is well recognized as a fantastic lure to throw on heavy cover can be walked in open water to catch frogs.

 

If the water is a little too cold for a frog, try a buzzbait and if it's too cold for a buzzbait, try a popper. I've caught bass on buzzbaits in water in the 40s, although more so at the end of the season and not the start.

[BassSteve]

7 minutes ago, Bird said:

Doesn't make sense to me, top water should be effective everywhere. 

Caught my best fish of the year so far on top, 50* water. 

Are you throwing buzzbaits, ploppers by chance? 

Lots of bass staple lands on top.

I was just trying out a couple different top water frogs, hopping and jerking them a decent distance. They just did not go for it, but then I throw out a crankbait or spinnerbait and I do get hits. Like someone else mentioned, could it be the time of day or time of year? I feel like in south Florida, bass are or should be no problem to catch most of the year..

I guess I need to keep trying and try more variety is what I'm hearing 

[CrankFate]

The number one bite for me to miss is on slack line the second the crankbait hits the water.

[papajoe222]

Just curious whether you change speed, or cadence when fishing topwater.  A lot of anglers I see, only fish them fast and steady and, IMO, miss out on catching when the fish don't want it fast.

[Bankbeater]

Around here it will vary from year to year when the bass start hitting topwater baits.

[bulldog1935]

My first good bass as a teenager, 6-1/2 lbs, was in a bowl-shaped cove in a deep, clearwater reservoir.  

I was fishing a Jitterbug, and letting it rest for long counts in between short, slow retrieves (paddles, if you know a jitterbug).  

She must have followed the lure 40' before deciding to eat it in the middle of the deep cove, and she ate the lure when it was at rest.  

Oh yeah, it was also just about this time in May.  

[Captain Phil]

As a general rule, good top water lakes are clear.  I believe clear water fish feed more by sight.   Bass that live in darker water feed more by vibration and sound. The Harris Chain has every type of water imaginable.   If you fish in the open lake when the water is murky, you can throw a top water lure all day without a looker.  When the water clears up or if you move to a clear canal, the top water bite gets better. Clear water bass will move farther to your bait.  The bass strike zone in a murky lake could be inches. 

[Deleted account]

12 hours ago, scaleface said:

Bass not hitting top waters ? Well, thats pretty common in waters everywhere .

"Forgive them for they know Knot what they do"....

[Bankc]

The topwater bite is real fickle.  When it's on, it's usually the best thing in my bag.  When it's not, it doesn't seem to matter what you do, they're going to ignore it.  And it can vary, day to day, hour by hour.  So I always check to see if the topwater bite is active.  And if it's not, I won't spend much time on it.  

 

[bagofdonuts]

16 minutes ago, Bankc said:

The topwater bite is real fickle.  When it's on, it's usually the best thing in my bag.  When it's not, it doesn't seem to matter what you do, they're going to ignore it.  And it can vary, day to day, hour by hour.  So I always check to see if the topwater bite is active.  And if it's not, I won't spend much time on it.  

 

Agree. One of the things I like about buzzbaits is either everything wants to eat it or nothing, and you'll know pretty quickly. Throw a buzzbait over the top of that submerged grass and it'll get bit.

[BassSteve]

Good stuff guys good stuff 

[OCdockskipper]

15 hours ago, scaleface said:

Bass not hitting top waters ? Well, thats pretty common in waters everywhere .

I agree, I have found that topwater success varies greatly based on the part of the country you are in & more importantly, the particular lake you fish.

 

For example, many people have mentioned how clear water tends to lead to more bass hitting topwaters.  Well, my home lake has visibility that varies from 4 - 7 feet year round and there are maybe 5 days a year when you can catch more than a handful of bass on topwater.  In my opinion, the reason why is twofold.  First, there is a lot of human presence on the water (pontoon boats cruising around) without a lot of cover for the fish, so it tends to push them towards the bottom (the deepest spots are 12 feet).  Second, all of the forage on this lake is bottom oriented (crayfish, bluegill, small carp), so these fish have become accustomed to food being below them and danger being above them.

 

I believe these are the same reasons why a Ned rig is an absolute killer on this lake.

[Dumbbassanglr]

Are you walking the frog? If not try it. But you really would be better off throwing a walking style bait if the grass is below the surface, that way your hookup percentage will go up and the ones with the big knockers in them pull fish well.