Topwater time!
Category: article
May 13th, 2019 by fishing fanatics
Modified May 13th, 2019 at 3:47 PM
Primetime for topwater fishing is upon much of the bass fishing world. Who doesn’t love watching the brutality of nature at its finest as a bass tears a new one into your favorite topwater plug?
Three pros share their favorites to toss on top. See if you agree.
“I have three favorites for topwater for sure,” said Howell. “The Livingston Walking Boss, the Livingston Walking Boss Part Two, and the Livingston Walk-n-Pop 67.
“They are three totally different styles of baits that are all easy to work and effective, plus they have an electronic baitfish shad sound that makes them like dynamite for catching bass.”
“My favorites are a popper, a walking bait, and a prop bait,” said Gustafson.
Popper
“For the popper, I use the Jackall SK Pop Grande. I like a popper for fishing slow over specific pieces of cover, a clump of grass, a boulder, log, etc. I like that’s it’s motionless when a fish bites, increasing the chance that they’ll get the bait. Poppers work!”
Walking baits
“They are good for covering water and fishing for suspended fish. They are bigger baits that have the ability to call fish in from long range. The downside is that fish miss them sometimes.
I like a white or bone colored bait.”
Prop baits
“I like to use these around spawning fish because I think the noise they have drives fish nuts.”
“With all topwaters, I like to use 40 lb Power Pro braid for my main line, then a 15-20” leader of 20 lb mono,” states Gustafson. “The stiffer mono never gets caught up in the hooks and is an invisible link to the bait.
“I like to throw the topwater baits on a 7’2” medium heavy Shimano Expride rod and a Shimano Curado DC reel.”
“I love fishing topwaters,” said Chapman. “I have a few favorites. The hollow body frog- you can fish it anywhere.
“ A Whopper Plopper is another great one. It’s so easy to fish and catches big ones.
“You have to try the Westin Lures Freddy the Frog. It’s a big bait that’s fun to throw and catches big ones just like big swimbaits.”
“I like to throw a walking bait, a popper, and a buzzbait for topwater fishing,” says Poche.
“The Berkley J-Walker- a big fish bait I use during the shad spawn or just on feeding fish early in the morning. I will also throw it all day long if it’s an overcast day.
“I throw a Berkley Bullet Pop for those big post-spawn females that are still hanging around fairly shallow that want a little slower presentation. Also, I catch a lot of male bass guarding fry.
“A great bait for getting a lot of good reaction bites early in the morning is a Humdinger buzzbait. I also fish it all day if it’s overcast outside.”