How did I miss the topwater bite?

[The Budget Angler]

I woke up at 5:00 this morning to get to the pond early and hopefully find some fish looking up.  Funny enough, It wasn't until well after sunrise that the bass started blowing up.  I'm not sure why, but the 'gills in this pond like to form loose schools of 10-20 that just kinda swirl around on the surface, picking at midges and stuff.  I can tell fish are not forcing them up at this point because they're not fleeing and there's no splashing.  Anyways, the bite turns on.  I'm watching bluegill get smacked 3 feet in the air by what I can only imagine are quality bass.  I tie on a popper, no dice.  Zara spook, nope.  Whopper plopper, sorry, no.  A frog, close, but no cigar.  A devil's horse, too bad.  A jitterbug, still nothing.  Mind you, these are in various different colors, everything from a natural bluegill color to the gaudiest color I could find.  I tried ripping crankbaits past them, I tried rattletraps, I tried swimbaits, with and without underspin.  Finally, I threw on a ned rig and caught a bass and a crappie in back-to-back casts.  What are you doing in this situation?  I was using 10 lb mono, so I don't think it was the line (yes, I know it was the wrong line for most or all of those lures).  The water is really brown, though it was clearer than usual today.  The closest I came to hooking one was when a bass blew up on something less than a foot from my frog.  I wasn't sure if he had just missed my frog, but he didn't come back for it.  I know the popper was the right choice (I was targeting specific fish), any guesses as to why it didn't work?

 

Tight lines!

[Catt]

21 minutes ago, TheLastBestFish said:

What are you doing in this situation?

 

What you did!

Keep chunking-n-reeling 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, TheLastBestFish said:

What are you doing in this situation?

 

I utterly failed in 2023 to hook bass in this situation. However, in 2024, I've had some success doing this:

 

1. Burning a lure just under the surface through the area. A fast retrieve forces their hand because they don't have time to assess it.

 

2. Lightly dropping a surface lure within two feet of the hit and within three seconds of the hit. You have to be fast and accurate and you can't drop a big, ploppy lure on their heads or they'll bolt. 

[A-Jay]

Nose hook a weightless fluke.

A-Jay

 

 

[thediscochef]

43 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I utterly failed in 2023 to hook bass in this situation. However, in 2024, I've had some success doing this:

 

1. Burning a lure just under the surface through the area. A fast retrieve forces their hand because they don't have time to assess it.

 

2. Lightly dropping a surface lure within two feet of the hit and within three seconds of the hit. You have to be fast and accurate and you can't drop a big, ploppy lure on their heads or they'll bolt. 

This is how I caught a lake smallie yesterday, swim jig right over the top of a blowup 

[Koz]

This is the perfect time to take up fly fishing for bass.

[The Budget Angler]

24 minutes ago, Koz said:

This is the perfect time to take up fly fishing for bass.

I love fly fishing but there is absolutely no room for a back cast at this pond.  I seriously have trouble casting with 6' casting rods.  Not even roll casting would work.  There's not an easy way to get a boat in there, either.

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Lightly dropping a surface lure

What are some "small, non-ploppy" lures, then?  Poppers?  I was dropping poppers and whopper plopper 70s (smallest size) right next to blows, lightly twitching, and pausing with nothing.  How do you control how hard a lure hits the water?

[Pat Brown]

Try burning and dead sticking frogs and try plastics weightless buzzed over them.  I like the Magnum speed craw.

[Swamp Girl]

10 hours ago, TheLastBestFish said:

I love fly fishing but there is absolutely no room for a back cast at this pond.  I seriously have trouble casting with 6' casting rods.  Not even roll casting would work.  There's not an easy way to get a boat in there, either.

What are some "small, non-ploppy" lures, then?  Poppers?  I was dropping poppers and whopper plopper 70s (smallest size) right next to blows, lightly twitching, and pausing with nothing.  How do you control how hard a lure hits the water?

 

I threw this, a Shimano Pop Flash in pink:

 

And I caught this:

 

 

Again, I had to land it lightly within two feet of the splash and within three seconds. Otherwise, they weren't there or they'd spook.

 

 

[The Budget Angler]

18 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

And I caught this:

Okay, I'm interested...

 

I will most definitely try to find that lure and see if I can get some topwater fish next time around

[Swamp Girl]

14 minutes ago, TheLastBestFish said:

I will most definitely try to find that lure and see if I can get some topwater fish next time around

 

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of accuracy and response time in casting. I sometimes just sat in my canoe and waited for a bass to bust because I didn't want my lure in the water and unavailable for casting when a bass showed itself.

 

Also, I do not walk-the-dog with poppers. The young YouTubers generally do and I've tried it and caught nada. I'm an old school sit and twitcher. They hit it on the sit. 

[The Budget Angler]

28 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of accuracy and response time in casting. I sometimes just sat in my canoe and waited for a bass to bust because I didn't want my lure in the water and unavailable for casting

Duly noted.  If I ever get to see that kind of a topwater bite again, I'll be ready....

[Swamp Girl]

Fingers crossed for you!

[casts_by_fly]

11 hours ago, TheLastBestFish said:

  How do you control how hard a lure hits the water?

 

With a baitcaster, sidearm and roll casts to start.  Try to have the lure moving horizontally (or even up) when its just over your target and then thumb the spool.  That will kill momentum and the lure will just fall into the water.  If you throw a higher overhead cast you can't control the downward speed that way.

 

A spinning rod is similar, but you have to feather the line with your casting hand index finger and pinch it to the spool instead of thumbing the spool.

 

Also, a 4" mini fluke rigged weightless is your answer here (on a spinning rod).  It casts softly, is fully weedless, and they will suck it up on the fall.

[Bankc]

All I can say, is keep trying.

 

Sometimes the bass want something fast.  Sometimes the want something slow.  Sometimes they want something in the middle, or alternating fast and slow erratically.  Sometimes your lure is too big.  Sometimes it's too small.  Sometimes they just don't want a topwater.  Sometimes they're busy focused on something else and you have to match what they're chasing almost exactly.  Sometimes in that same situation, you want something totally different from what they chasing to grab their attention.  And sometimes, they just don't bite no matter what you do.

 

Generally, when it comes to topwaters, I'll take the cue the wind is giving me.  If the water is glass smooth, I'll typically slow down.  I might through a spook or popper and just twitch or pop it once every ten seconds.  And if the water is pretty choppy, I might go with a buzz bait and just burn it in quick as soon as it hits the water.  But that's just a starting point. 

 

More than once, I've discovered that even though every indication says they should be feeding on topwaters, I've struck out.  But then found success by switching to a t-rig worm or something that was the total opposite of what I expected to work.  So just keep trying different things until you figure out what they like at that moment. 

[Pat Brown]

One thing I have definitely found with topwater is you really want to be moving and making casts to different pieces of cover every time and perhaps if you think there's an area that could be productive come back to it later with a slightly different topwater presentation and see what happens and usually that's better than hammering it.

 

Topwater fish - especially big ones - seem to bite either close to instantly or very very early on in the retrieve.  Something like 95% of the time.  So you can save a lot of time every day on the water AND increase your odds of a bite when you're fishing topwater with that little tidbit of information.

 

Also try to have a follow-up bait ready if you can. Because they really do work.

[TheSwearingAngler]

I was throwing a Spinnerbait along the outside edge of pads this morning when a bass blew up 20 feet out from the edge during my back cast… I stopped myself, adjusted the trajectory and threw past the blowup 10-15 feet, burned it to the blowup spot and then slowed it way down… SMASH. It was luck having the situation present itself and a touch of experience knowing how to take advantage fast.

[scaleface]

13 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Try burning and dead sticking frogs and try plastics weightless buzzed over them.  I like the Magnum speed craw.

Thats a good idea. Buzzing a lightly weighted or weightess grub works. Something like a 4 or 5 inch grub. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

 

Topwater fish - especially big ones - seem to bite either close to instantly or very very early on in the retrieve.  Something like 95% of the time. 

 

So true. In my lifetime, I'm guessing 95% of my smallies and largies caught on the surface (thousands of them in total) were hooked within five feet of where my lure landed. 

[uglyasheck]

I would use a Weightless Wacky Worm . When they bust the top throw

ahead or on top of school and get ready. We use this method all the time but you have to be patient. I use finesse worms instead of stick bait but it would probably work too.

[Pogues2300]

I’ve had days where I’m seeing blow ups all around me and I basically empty my tackle boxes without a bite… and sometimes it’s pretty magical lol. Pretty sure we’ve all had some of both.

[pdxfisher]

I have been in your situation more than once. When they won't bite a topwater I usually try a jerkbait fished fast. Sometimes I think the fleeing, erratic bait is what triggers the strike. There are times when it seems like a jerkbait is the only way I can trigger a strike. Sometimes a swimbait works in those situations but the jerkbait for me is the one that is almost guaranteed to at least generate some (vicious) bites.

On 6/28/2024 at 7:43 AM, Pat Brown said:

One thing I have definitely found with topwater is you really want to be moving and making casts to different pieces of cover every time and perhaps if you think there's an area that could be productive come back to it later with a slightly different topwater presentation and see what happens and usually that's better than hammering it.

 

Topwater fish - especially big ones - seem to bite either close to instantly or very very early on in the retrieve.  Something like 95% of the time.  So you can save a lot of time every day on the water AND increase your odds of a bite when you're fishing topwater with that little tidbit of information.

 

Also try to have a follow-up bait ready if you can. Because they really do work.

 

Maybe because I am stealthy in the kayak it is different but I have had a lot of 3+lb smallmouth blast my topwater with less than a yard of line out. Maybe largemouth are different in that behavior. I never threw topwater much for largemouth (other than a frog over matted weeds).

[Pat Brown]

I'd be willing to bet that your smallmouth and my largemouth are practically different species of fish 🙂🙂🙂

[Sethshaun]

21 hours ago, uglyasheck said:

I would use a Weightless Wacky Worm . When they bust the top through ahead or on top of school and get ready. We use this method all the time but you have to be patient. I use finesse worms instead of stick bait but it would probably work too.

Agreed. I think they’re looking for something stunned and helpless. Or they hit their target the first time and are gone when you cast

[SilasHughes]

On 6/27/2024 at 1:47 PM, TheLastBestFish said:

I woke up at 5:00 this morning to get to the pond early and hopefully find some fish looking up.  Funny enough, It wasn't until well after sunrise that the bass started blowing up.  I'm not sure why, but the 'gills in this pond like to form loose schools of 10-20 that just kinda swirl around on the surface, picking at midges and stuff.  I can tell fish are not forcing them up at this point because they're not fleeing and there's no splashing.  Anyways, the bite turns on.  I'm watching bluegill get smacked 3 feet in the air by what I can only imagine are quality bass.  I tie on a popper, no dice.  Zara spook, nope.  Whopper plopper, sorry, no.  A frog, close, but no cigar.  A devil's horse, too bad.  A jitterbug, still nothing.  Mind you, these are in various different colors, everything from a natural bluegill color to the gaudiest color I could find.  I tried ripping crankbaits past them, I tried rattletraps, I tried swimbaits, with and without underspin.  Finally, I threw on a ned rig and caught a bass and a crappie in back-to-back casts.  What are you doing in this situation?  I was using 10 lb mono, so I don't think it was the line (yes, I know it was the wrong line for most or all of those lures).  The water is really brown, though it was clearer than usual today.  The closest I came to hooking one was when a bass blew up on something less than a foot from my frog.  I wasn't sure if he had just missed my frog, but he didn't come back for it.  I know the popper was the right choice (I was targeting specific fish), any guesses as to why it didn't work?

 

Tight lines!

what do you mean by that is the wrong line for those lures? i am just getting into fishing and am still learning