Top Water Lures

[tritz18]

I really don't have any top water lures, and I'm looking to get some. There is so many different types, what do you guys suggest I get?

[the captain]

I like Heddons Zara spook. I t is good for smallies and largemouth among other thing have seen people catch walleye on them also. The only problem is they are kind of heavy to cast I forget exact weight though. You can also work it just about any way you want to. On the package it shows one of the better ways to work it. Also Jitterbugs are good I have had success on medium sized black or white ones. There is different ways to work these too but you'll just have to learn what the fish want.

[Mobydick]

I agree with Captain. The Zara Spooks are excelent for smallies. Jitterbugs are also great, try to find the jointed ones with clackers in them. I would also get some buzzbaits, I preffer the double bladed ones, but only if the blades spin opposite ways from each other so they hit each other. The rapala skitter pop is another one that I would look into.

[GeorgiaSpotSticker]

Rebel Pop-R's

[Marty]

Three categories:

1) For weedy water, weedless lures like hollow-bodied frogs and various soft plastics

2) Buzzbaits, for covering water in semi-weedy or open water

3) Lures with treble hooks for more open water. Poppers might be good for working in a small area where you can make small pops without moving the lure a lot. Jitterbugs and walking baits for covering more water. I tend to rely too much on the Jitterbug in this situation because I have so much confidence in it.

[Cajun1977]

sammys, poppers, and buzzers

[Brad_Coovert]

For starting out with topwaters, keep it simple to start with.

Get a popping bait, like a Pop-R, Splash-It, etc., as well as a buzzbait and a frog bait like a Scum Frog.  These three baits will get you started for topwater fishing.

The next bait I would suggest is a walking bait like a Zara Spook.  "Walking the dog" can be tough to learn at first, but once you get it down, it is a grea topwater method.

Brad

[Guest the_muddy_man]

And please do yourself a favor don't forget to get some JITTERBUGS!!!!!!! I kept at it and they are currently my best bet for topwater, especially in low light situations, that gurgling sound drives em batty!!!

[cdabelow]

Rebel Pop-R

[scott k]

Rebel Pop-R's for open water.

Moss Boss for weeds and lily pads.

Do any of you guys cut the factory hooks of of your Jitterbugs and replace them using split rings?  My girlfriend's dad uses these all the time and they are a fantastic lure but he seems to lose more fish than he should and I think some split rings may help that. Any ideas?

[Numpty]

I am learning about the Bait Monkey.

I am quite sure my wife has a cure for it though.

[Cory20]

Definitely a good idea to put split rings on the spooks and jitterbugs.  The fish can get a lot of leverage without them.  This is the same reason you see some spinnerbait manufactures moving to hooks that are on the same thickness wire instead of being stiff.  

Everyone else nailed where to start with this style of fishing.  If you think the top water bite is on experiment with different sizes and different actions.  One day you won't be able to keep the fish off a spook and the next they won't touch it but will gobble down little poppers.  There is a debate on whether color really matters with topwater lures.  IMO color is fine tuning and contrast is much more important, light belly or dark belly.  Figure out if they want a dark or light lure and then move onto finding that magic color.  Black is the go to at night and light colors during the day.

Most strikes come right when the lure hits the water or on the pauses in your retrieve.

My picks and colors in order of what to get first.

1) Popper, rebel pop - r, silver/black with a feathered tail treble hook.  You can pick up a lot of extra hits with a feathered tail treble because it looks like a fly on the pause and a fish tail on the retrieve.  You can tell on how the fish hit the lure, they'll just slurp down the fly or smack the bait fish.

2) Jointed black jitterbug - this has been night time surface bass fishing bread and butter since way before a lot of us were born.  

3) walk the dog with the zara spook and spook jr., I think the jr. is a really good size to start with and I'd go with baby bass or another shad color.

4) 2 Buzz baits, black skirt and white - I personally like buzzbaits a lot.  Great reaction bait and if you're quick on the retrieve right when they hit the water really weedless.

I know there have been some scum frog/snag proof frog suggestions and this is another in my opinion only.  If you don't have the gear to fish that stuff (6'6 - 7' HVY rod w/braid or heavy mono) then don't.  The hook up and landing % are way too low.

(The fish in my member photo was caught on a 2" rapala skitter pop w/red silver tail,

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Anther great top water presentation is using a #11 Jointed Rapala, I prefer the silver color

 Cast over where you know a weed bed is. Let is sit for a minute then start a retrive consisting of stop and go, a few feet of steady, dead stick it and start twiching it. If you do this in daylight and watch your bait you can get the feel of looking at the lure and it will look like a dying and struggeling baitfish. Then at night you can duplicate this action just by feel.

[lovecranking]

So what is the difference between zara spooks & super spooks? If you were to buy only one, which one would it be & why?

[Cory20]

The Super Spook is just . . . SUPER!!  The Super Spook is 5 and 1/4" with 3 super-gnar trebles and the Spook only has 2 and it 4".  BUT we all know that it's all about the girth guys (seriously, bass measure what they eat by its proportion to their mouths.  Why do you think you're catching 8" bass on 5" senko's?) and the Super Spook is way girthier.  It also weighs close to an ounce and you'd need some sturdy gear to throw it.  I have one, they have great action and you never know who might show up to lunch   .  

If this is going to be your first spook go with the regular spook or spook jr.  They're the more productive version.  Although you might catch a real big'un on the super spook, you will catch more on the smaller sizes.  So far I've only caught a few on the super spook and I was surprised to see that most had the moxie to go after such a large lure.  Bass are PIGS!

[ssaB_htuoM_egraL]

Have you ever tried the wounded Zara Spook.  I was givin one and haven't used it yet.

[dumb_dog11]

Nobodys mentioned the Topknocker from BPS, it is one great lure

my other top topwater producers:

Booyah Counterstrike Buzz

topwater frogs

[Cory20]

Never have used the wounded zara spook.  Propeller baits are usually used in rougher water than other topwaters and when fish are willing to come a long way for a meal.  

[Taliesin]

I use quite a few topwater lures:

Heddon Tiny Torpedoe. It's one of my most productive.

Super Spook. Usually used for hybrids, but I have caught some black bass on it including a few 7" smallmouth.

Rebel Jumbin' Minnow. Same as the Spooks.

Buzz baits

Frogs. I fish some very weedy ponds where you almost can't fish anything else. Bring them across the weeds and expect a hit when you bring it across a hole in the weeds. The frogs are a lure for a specific situation. If you don't have many weeds in your waters I probably wouldn't use them. But if you do have a lot of weeds, you can't live without them.

Walking the dog can be interesting to learn. I learned it on the Super Spooks and have gone on to "walk" a Tiny Torpedoe with good results.

[powerman970]

I have to agree.  The Tiny Torpedo is one of the best topwater baits ever produced.  Throw that puppy out there and let it sit,  Twitch it a time or two and if that doesn't draw a strike rip it once to get that prop moving.  If I only carried one topwater bait it would be a Heddon Tiny Torpedo (I like the black one with the skeletal pattern on it).

[BassHunter69]

I love heddons zara spook and the heddons baby torpedo those work great for smallie and large mouths for me. also popr's are great, for a buzz bait i love using the cavitron you can fish that cavitron slower and keep it in the strike zone longer as a buzzer, also dont forget spinner baits. hope this helps

[tritz18]

Thanks everyone, Im going out to buy some of these tommorow. ;D