Topwaters Tops for Action and Excitement

Topwaters offer the ultimate in freshwater bass action and excitement. Fish thrash the surface in a feeding frenzy, charging, slurping, attacking with gusto. The experience is uniquely visual. Wakes, boils, swirls appear. Then your lure disappears down a black hole; or a bass skyrockets upward with the lure in its jaws; or sometimes leaps out of the water, crashing the lure on the downward plunge. And no other fishing produces such an assortment of blood-curdling gurgles, splashes, and explosions.

Topwaters also are historic big-fish producers. With all their surface disturbance, action, and noise, perhaps they fish bigger than they actually are, appearing larger than life to trigger a predatory response from the biggest bass. Unlike subsurface fishing with worms or jigs, an attitude of high alert must be maintained for hours, watching for telltale wakes while anticipating the bomb dropping at any moment.

Topwaters come in a variety of styles, each with its own inherent speed, motion and commotion. Yet when stopped, all floating lures are doubly effective at rest, allowing following or watching bass time to study the suddenly motionless meal. Sometimes, the best motion is no motion at all—waiting in a war of nerves till somebody buckles, either biting or retrieving. Interspersing movement with a lack thereof is one of the keys to topwater success.

Also, topwaters offer an exercise in patience and self control. I've heard said, the best strategy is to avoid setting the hook until you feel the fish pull on the line, ensuring that the bass has the lure in its mouth. Easy to say for anyone not watching the wake, the bulging surface, the huge hole enveloping the dropping lure. Or hearing the awful sound of feeding fury. Attempting to time the hookset to the impending strike is second nature. And sometimes a bass catches you off guard and you react by jerking without thinking, jerking the bait away from the fish a split second before the twain shall meet. In reality, good luck, Buck, in putting the following array into harm’s way.

Prop Baits—Some prop baits have propellers at either end (noisiest), others only at the tail (subtler). Twitched prop baits sputter like a wounded baitfish flipping on the surface. Most anglers give ‘em a short twitch or jerk, followed by an extended pause. Or reel them a few feet, pause, then twitch and pause. Most strikes occur when the lure sits still, however.

Use fairly stiff line (10- or 12-pound-plus mono) to avoid limp line drooping and tangling in props. Props should spin freely when you hold a lure and blow on the props. Rebend them slightly until they spin freely, and your lures will sputter with the best of ‘em.

Thin-bodied prop baits like the Smithwick Devil’s Horse, Cordell Boy Howdy, Heddon Dying Flutter, and Bagley Bang-O-Lure Spinnertail offer a slightly different profile and sound than wide-bodied baits like the Luhr-Jensen Nip-i-Diddee or Cordell Crazy Shad. Sometimes, thin is in. At other times, wide should be tried. Bigger props cause more commotion, as expected. Small tail-props like Heddon Tiny Torpedos are perfect smallie baits; also available in Teeny (smaller) and Baby (bigger) versions. Other toppers from the prop shop include the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Top, Norman’s Gilmore Jumper, Mann’s Two-Fer, and the Ozark Mountain Woodchopper. Many are made of wood, while most other topwater categories today are plastic.