Top Water

[Ken_Allen]

What kind of Top Water bait should I get for very muddy dark water? Also what colors should I get for fishing bass?

[ohiobassmaster93]

i like the rapala skiterpop   but any bait that moves alota water  and i would go with a chartruse

[MichiganFisherman]

I recommend a black arbogast "jitterbug".

[Ken_Allen]

i like the rapala skiterpop but any bait that moves alota water and i would go with a chartruse

I was looking at that one also. Can you recommend a color for evening/night fishing in muddy water?

[MichiganFisherman]

Anything dark.  You want it to stick out against any light above the water.  

[Ken_Allen]

Anything dark. You want it to stick out against any light above the water.

Why doesn't Rapala make any dark colors? Jeeze. The only thing I can see that is somewhat dark is the "Frog" color on the Skitter Pop.

I'll check out the lure you suggested also.

[MichiganFisherman]

Anything dark. You want it to stick out against any light above the water.

Why doesn't Rapala make any dark colors? Jeeze. The only thing I can see that is somewhat dark is the "Frog" color on the Skitter Pop.

I'll check out the lure you suggested also.

I don't know why they don't make a darker skitter pop but, the jitterbug is a must have.  It's the best topwater bait IMO.  Definately pick one up.  You won't put it down.  

[MichiganFisherman]

Oh, I forgot... Welcome to BR!  You're gonna learn a lot here.  

Buzzbaits and frogs are great top water baits too.

[Ken_Allen]

Buzzbaits and frogs are great top water baits too.

I have frogs but I've never had any success with them. I'm gonna buy a skitter pop and jitterbug tomorrow see how that works out. The place I fish is mostly very dark water due to the lock stirring up the bottom when it opens.

[MichiganFisherman]

You should be happy with the jitterbug.  

It will definately get hit during dusk hours.

[Ken_Allen]

You should be happy with the jitterbug.

It will definately get hit during dusk hours.

Will they work in 10+ft deep water?

[MichiganFisherman]

You should be happy with the jitterbug.

It will definately get hit during dusk hours.

Will they work in 10+ft deep water?

That depends on if the fish are there or not.  

[Ken_Allen]

Well they jump like crazy at night, so I'm guessing they're hitting something topwater  :

[iceintheveins]

Buzzbaits with black or purple skirts, jitterbugs, and bigger prop baits. Go bigger, bolder, and darker in murky water. I have found that bass in murky or stained water are also more likely to hit topwaters during the daytime hours than bass in clear water.

[Primus]

Buzzbaits have done well for me, the one wildcard would be an excalibur wake crank which has done real well for me this year. The strikes on these 2 baits can be very violent

[jb_adams]

Here is a nice one I caught on dark muddy water with top water.  I tried several things and a WHITE Strike King Tri-wing buzzbait is the only thing that really worked........"THAT DAY".  I've tried the same bait several other trips and little to no success.  I tried chartreuse, black, etc.  The white color in a smaller propped buzzbait was what they wanted.  It left bubble trails and was relatively quiet for a buzzbait if you retrieve it just fast enough to keep it on top.  It would gurgle and it sounded like a little boat instead of the typical buzzbait sounds.  They would hammer that bait that day. I think I caught 14 that day on a small farm pond with that one buzzbait.

Topwater Bass

The point is, one thing works one day and not on other days.

There is no one color and all of the advice given is good.  I would say to try various things and use something similar to what the bass are use to eating so you match the forage but make a small change that makes it stand out and more attractive.  If black doesn't work, try white, chartreuse, fire tiger, dark green, etc.  I have a feeling the prop blade and the noise made is far more important than the actual color.  This is so much more true with darker water, flash & vibration is the key factor.

I recently learned that black and green flake is a magic color on this particular pond.  It works on every trip so I've been told.  The black gives the contrast and the green gives the natural flash.  On days where you can't get a bite, this color works well.  Junebug is the color in most manufacturers but they all have a different variation of that color.

This is what I have learned recently anyway.  Hope it helps you.  It has helped me

[Ken_Allen]

I hate Dicks. It looks like they stock, but they stock nothing. They had one green and white frog colored Argobast Jitterbug, and only shimmery colors. I got a Cavitron Red/Black Buzz Bait, and the Frog Colored Skitter Pop. They only had that one in the 5" so I'll probably catch smallies.

[wisturkeyhunter]

Prop baits are a must for top water in low vis. water. Devils horse is a good low priced choice.