Dick Pearson Talks Topwaters

Topwaters are so effective in triggering a predatory instinct, according to Pearson, because of where muskies do their thing. “I’ve been saying for years that anglers would catch more fish if they spent time trying to put together as many edges as possible. The surface is a critical edge. My friend In-Fisherman Field Editor Gord Pyzer calls it the ultimate edge. It’s a busy place where you find the greatest variations in so many factors key to muskie success: current, light penetration, oxygen, noise, weather. They’re all edges, in a way.

“Combine that key edge with edges in the more traditional sense—weededges, the edges of reefs or points, current edges created by wind or natural flow. Now you really have something. For predators, the surface often is that near-perfect environment that’s chaotic, and predators thrive on chaos.”

This key edge also is one where many of the disadvantages anglers contend with are reduced. The disturbance topwaters make on the surface film masks their exact nature. They’re a surface-swimming something, suggestive of many things yet specific to nothing. With no visible line in the water, and with the inherent distortion of surface-swimming objects when viewed from below, there’s little to indicate to even lure-wise and boat-shy fish that the presentation is a fraud. This perhaps explains the continued effectiveness of surface lures even on heavily pressured waters such as Minnesota’s Mille Lacs and Vermilion lakes.

Making the most of this chaotic environment where predators thrive, Pearson says, requires consideration of two critical factors: sound and speed.

The Sound of Success

Sound is the most important factor in topwaters for muskies, according to Pearson. “It’s probably the difference in determining which topwaters work and which don’t at any given time. At times a loud pop-pop-type bait with a front prop like a Slammer Thunderhead or Jim Dembiec’s Headbanger is the answer. Other times it’s subtle baits like a Topper Stopper. When I was involved in the Esox Research Company prior to its sale to Drifter Tackle, we worked nearly three years on a surface lure trying to get a certain sound. I understand Drifter has worked it out and the topwater with this sound is forthcoming soon.”

So, what sound, and when? “Well, no one ever knows for sure,” he says. “I’m positive water conditions are the determining factor, but the only way to find out is to experiment.”

In moderate weeds, in wind and waves, or in dark water, Pearson usually begins with a noisy bait that can call fish from a distance and helps them locate the bait. In calmer conditions or in colder water, he begins with a subtler-sounding squeaking bait like a Topper Stopper, or with what he calls splash baits like a walk-the-dog topwater. But sound preferences seem to change over time, perhaps as fish get conditioned to certain baits. We might remember that if the positive experience of feeding successfully on the surface is memorable to muskies, so is being caught on a certain bait, having a close call, or being bombarded with the same sound day after day.