/ lotionsoccer1's Library/ Notes/ The Surface Strike: A Guide for the Heart-Pounding World of Topwater Lures
The Surface Strike: A Guide for the Heart-Pounding World of Topwater Lures
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There are few moments in fishing as purely electrifying as a topwater strike. It’s a sensory experience that transcends the experience: the quiet anticipation, the visual of your wake forming behind your lure, the sudden, violent explosion of water, along with the adrenaline that follows. For many anglers, it’s the pinnacle of freshwater and saltwater fishing.
While catching fish is usually the goal, topwater bass fishing lures is about the show. It’s a dynamic, engaging, and often theatrical method that targets a fish's most primal instinct: the desire to ambush prey from below.
Why Fish Topwater?
Topwater lures are designed to be worked on the top of the water, mimicking sets from a struggling baitfish with a hapless frog or possibly a buzzing insect. They succeed in specific conditions:
Low-Light Periods: Dawn and dusk are prime time. The dim light gives fish the confidence to move into shallow water to secure.
Cloudy Days & Calm Water: Overcast skies can extend the topwater bite the whole day. Calm water is good, since it allows fish to see and track your lure quicker.
Around Cover: Whether it's lily pads, submerged grass, laydowns, or dock pilings, topwater lures might be worked in places where other lures would snag, provoking reaction strikes from lurking predators.
The Main Cast of Topwater Lures
The key to topwater success is matching the lure and it is action on the conditions along with the mood in the fish. Here are typically the most popular types:
1. The "Plopper" or Prop Bait
What it's: A lure using a propeller (or two) around the front, back, or both.
The Action: A steady retrieve causes the prop to churn the water, setting up a distinctive "bloop-blop-blop" sound as well as a significant wake. It’s a aggressive, noise-making lure that calls fish in from the distance.
Best For: Actively feeding bass, pike, and muskies. It’s an excellent "search bait" to hide water quickly.
2. The "Walk-the-Dog" Lure (Stickbait)
What it's: A long, slender, often cigar-shaped lure without any built-in action.
The Action: This is a finesse technique. Using a rhythmic "twitch-and-pause" with the rod tip and keep your line slack, you're making the lure dart side-to-side (or "walk") throughout the surface. It mimics a wounded, zig-zagging baitfish.
Best For: Clear water and wary, pressured fish. The subtle, tantalizing action can trigger strikes when louder lures fail.
3. The Popper
What it can be: A lure which has a concave or scooped-out face.
The Action: Sharp, short twitches with the rod result in the face to "pop" and "chug," pushing water forward and developing a burbling sound and splash. It mimics a feeding baitfish or possibly a large insect.
Best For: When you want a much more rhythmic, "pop-pause-pop" presentation. Excellent for targeting bass, bluefish, and trevally.
4. The Buzzbait
What it really is: A wire-framed lure having a propeller-like blade that spins for the retrieve.
The Action: Retrieved steadily, celebrate a constant, loud, whirring noise plus a bubbling wake—a pure reaction-strike machine. It’s one of the most exciting lures to use.
Best For: Murky water, at night, or when you need to draw fish away from heavy cover. A classic for big bass.
5. The Frog
What it's: A soft-plastic or hollow-body lure meant to imitate a frog, skittering over the thickest cover without snagging.
The Action: It’s worked which has a "walk-the-dog" action or possibly a series of short hops and pauses right in the tops of lily pads, matted grass, and slop.
Best For: The heaviest cover imaginable. The strike is frequently explosive, as a bass must burst from the vegetation to eat it.
Mastering the Art: Tips for Topwater Success
Patience can be a Virtue: The biggest mistake is setting the hook prematurily .. When you see the splash, wait! You need to have the weight from the fish in your line prior to deciding to cross its eyes with a powerful hookset.
Embrace the Pause: The moment after a pop, twitch, or chug can often be when the strike happens. That pause increases the fish time for you to locate and commit to the lure. Let it sit.
Match the Hatch (Loosely): Try to mimic what are the fish could be eating. A frog lure over mats of grass, a stickbait over open water, or a popper around schooling baitfish.
Don't Be Afraid of Color: In topwater, action and sound will often be more important than color. However, an over-all rule is bright or natural colors for clear water/low light, and darker, more visible colors for stained water or bright days.
Use the Right Gear: A medium-heavy rod which has a moderate-fast tip is perfect. It provides the backbone for the good hookset but has enough "give" in order to avoid tearing the lure from the fish on the violent strike. Always use a braided line for topwater; it's no stretch, ensuring solid hooksets and allowing you to "walk the dog" more effectively.
Topwater fishing might not be the most consistent strategy to fill a livewell. There will be times of frustrating misses and refusals. But the trade-off can be an experience unlike every other. It’s a visual, visceral, and heart-pounding kind of fishing and make memories long afterwards the ripples have faded. So, the very next time you're on the water in the beginning light, tie on the topwater lure. Be ready for the explosion, and prepare to be hooked.
While catching fish is usually the goal, topwater bass fishing lures is about the show. It’s a dynamic, engaging, and often theatrical method that targets a fish's most primal instinct: the desire to ambush prey from below.
Why Fish Topwater?
Topwater lures are designed to be worked on the top of the water, mimicking sets from a struggling baitfish with a hapless frog or possibly a buzzing insect. They succeed in specific conditions:
Low-Light Periods: Dawn and dusk are prime time. The dim light gives fish the confidence to move into shallow water to secure.
Cloudy Days & Calm Water: Overcast skies can extend the topwater bite the whole day. Calm water is good, since it allows fish to see and track your lure quicker.
Around Cover: Whether it's lily pads, submerged grass, laydowns, or dock pilings, topwater lures might be worked in places where other lures would snag, provoking reaction strikes from lurking predators.
The Main Cast of Topwater Lures
The key to topwater success is matching the lure and it is action on the conditions along with the mood in the fish. Here are typically the most popular types:
1. The "Plopper" or Prop Bait
What it's: A lure using a propeller (or two) around the front, back, or both.
The Action: A steady retrieve causes the prop to churn the water, setting up a distinctive "bloop-blop-blop" sound as well as a significant wake. It’s a aggressive, noise-making lure that calls fish in from the distance.
Best For: Actively feeding bass, pike, and muskies. It’s an excellent "search bait" to hide water quickly.
2. The "Walk-the-Dog" Lure (Stickbait)
What it's: A long, slender, often cigar-shaped lure without any built-in action.
The Action: This is a finesse technique. Using a rhythmic "twitch-and-pause" with the rod tip and keep your line slack, you're making the lure dart side-to-side (or "walk") throughout the surface. It mimics a wounded, zig-zagging baitfish.
Best For: Clear water and wary, pressured fish. The subtle, tantalizing action can trigger strikes when louder lures fail.
3. The Popper
What it can be: A lure which has a concave or scooped-out face.
The Action: Sharp, short twitches with the rod result in the face to "pop" and "chug," pushing water forward and developing a burbling sound and splash. It mimics a feeding baitfish or possibly a large insect.
Best For: When you want a much more rhythmic, "pop-pause-pop" presentation. Excellent for targeting bass, bluefish, and trevally.
4. The Buzzbait
What it really is: A wire-framed lure having a propeller-like blade that spins for the retrieve.
The Action: Retrieved steadily, celebrate a constant, loud, whirring noise plus a bubbling wake—a pure reaction-strike machine. It’s one of the most exciting lures to use.
Best For: Murky water, at night, or when you need to draw fish away from heavy cover. A classic for big bass.
5. The Frog
What it's: A soft-plastic or hollow-body lure meant to imitate a frog, skittering over the thickest cover without snagging.
The Action: It’s worked which has a "walk-the-dog" action or possibly a series of short hops and pauses right in the tops of lily pads, matted grass, and slop.
Best For: The heaviest cover imaginable. The strike is frequently explosive, as a bass must burst from the vegetation to eat it.
Mastering the Art: Tips for Topwater Success
Patience can be a Virtue: The biggest mistake is setting the hook prematurily .. When you see the splash, wait! You need to have the weight from the fish in your line prior to deciding to cross its eyes with a powerful hookset.
Embrace the Pause: The moment after a pop, twitch, or chug can often be when the strike happens. That pause increases the fish time for you to locate and commit to the lure. Let it sit.
Match the Hatch (Loosely): Try to mimic what are the fish could be eating. A frog lure over mats of grass, a stickbait over open water, or a popper around schooling baitfish.
Don't Be Afraid of Color: In topwater, action and sound will often be more important than color. However, an over-all rule is bright or natural colors for clear water/low light, and darker, more visible colors for stained water or bright days.
Use the Right Gear: A medium-heavy rod which has a moderate-fast tip is perfect. It provides the backbone for the good hookset but has enough "give" in order to avoid tearing the lure from the fish on the violent strike. Always use a braided line for topwater; it's no stretch, ensuring solid hooksets and allowing you to "walk the dog" more effectively.
Topwater fishing might not be the most consistent strategy to fill a livewell. There will be times of frustrating misses and refusals. But the trade-off can be an experience unlike every other. It’s a visual, visceral, and heart-pounding kind of fishing and make memories long afterwards the ripples have faded. So, the very next time you're on the water in the beginning light, tie on the topwater lure. Be ready for the explosion, and prepare to be hooked.
