Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL Fishing Talk Top water lures?

When is the best time to fish them? Poppers, broke back minnows, etc…? Is there a time of year, time of day, water conditions, etc?

I've always had better luck with topwater early morning or late afternoon. Spring, summer and early fall

That said, fishing for bass in a small backyard pond is a lot different than fishing for them in a creek, lake, or open water area

I get small hits on them, nothing big.

I’ve never caught a topwater bass and I’ve made it my mission lately. I’ve gotten several blow-ups on frogs in lily pads and I’ve missed every single one. Some I’ve just reacted too quickly and yanked it out of its mouth but most, I have no explanation for. Give it a second or two before setting the hook and nothing to show for it except a frog flying back at my face at Mach Jesus. Now it’s turned into an infatuation

Same here Gomer. I catch the fool out of them with crank baits and based on number of catches, have no reason to change. But, having a small lake in my back yard now and watching them kill all kinds of stuff on top of the water, while I’m sitting on my back porch, has got me obsessed with catching one on top water. I do the same as you and get too excited and react too quickly.

Those hook points laying right on the Frog body keep it super weedless, but work against you sometimes.
Roland bends his out with pliers just a tad when conditions allow. Think he's right.

I also see videos constantly of people catching them hand over fist on whopper plopped but I’ve never managed a single bite on them

We fish them in saltwater at first light, dusk, or overcast days. Catching a speck on topwater is one of God’s greatest gifts.

I love a clacking buzzbait early, late or on a cloudy day.

The top water bait I've had the best luck with is a frog (spro/ scum frog type and zoom horny toad) and have caught them on them from daylight to dark but that is the particular lake I fish mostly and may not work everywhere. At certain times of the year I'll throw a big walking bait like a 6th sense crush dogma and have also had really good success with it and for whatever reason the hotter and calmer it was the better it seemed to work. Here recently I've also started experimenting around with buzzbaits by putting a white zoom horny toad on them and have been getting bites. I took some old booyah buzz baits with the clacker that the skirts had rotted off of and put a drop of super glue on the bait keeper and just thread the frog up on it and it will not go anywhere.

A buzzbait early morning or cloudy. If you catch one on a buzzbait it's usually a good one. Try a spittin image topwater bait. They have good hooks. Just twitch and let it sit for a few seconds.

White buzz bait, blue sky’s and sun high. Small shade pockets. If you know, you know.

I have had good luck in the spring to early summer from daylight until about 8. Sometimes they like it worked fast, busy most of the time slower is better for me with the exception of a buzz bait. A black buzz bait at night can be fun.

Jitterbug at night.

match the lure to the conditions - dark/cloudy days use dark/black lures - bright/sunny days use white/chrome lures

one of the best topwater bites i’ve ever had was at a large pond that had a ton of frogs around it - i literally had one bass come up out of the water & eat my zoom horny toad out of the air before it hit the water 🐸🎣

a neglected pond where bass are looking for a big meal is an ideal topwater situation

i’ll also add - on a popper make sure your front hook is really good - i love Rebel Pop-R’s but the hooks are wimpy - it’s counter-intuitive but change out the FRONT treble hook to a stouter hook - most bites the bass attack the head of the lure … also be patient on setting the hook - let the bass take it on down & you feel a tug on your line before setting the hooks - and set them HARD!

good luck!

A buzzbait blowup at nite will stop your heart.

jitterbugs at last light and night. Pop-rs where there are minnows and fry. Crickhoppers twitched around the bank, under trees. If you tie a popping bug with rubber legs to the Pop-r it'll catch about everything in a pond and on into the day. In the dog days a Rapala twitched with as long a pause between as you can stand.

If you're getting them swiping at it or bumping it, let it sit after. They're trying to stun it, then come back to get it. This is where having a fluke or senko ready to toss on top of it is handy, but since top water is your goal just let it sit.

There are lots of type of top water flies. Flyfishing those ponds that have lots of small bass can be as effective as using live bait. When they're schooling under fry, a minnow imitation fly is about the only thing that catches them for me.

And, FYI, you have to eat the small bass if you want to have big ones.

Yellow Devil Horse with black stripes.

I catch a lot on top water. I use whopper ploppers instead of buzz baits because they have treble hooks. You will miss some on buzz baits as they have a single hook. I like Rapalas. Twitch then stop. Same with hula poppers. Have to let it sit as you will take it out of their mouth if moving too fast

I’ve had a small lake my whole life. We use buzz baits with a trailer hook in the AM and broken back rapala in the late evenings. Throw it close to the bank and twitch it every 2-3 seconds letting it settle. My dad use to paddle all the way across the lake and catch a bass that was busting a particular bank with a rapala. Can’t hardly miss with all those trebble hooks. We use a small one on an ultralight and catch bass and bream.