Topwaters Tops for Action and Excitement

Crawlers—Not many of this lure style on the market, though old timers like the Arbogast Jitterbug and Heddon Crazy Crawler are perhaps the best all-time surface lures for bassin’ at night. Use a slow, steady swim to plop-plop-plop a v-wake across the surface, perhaps pausing occasionally to wait for a blast from the blackness. The gigantic Musky Jitterbug, particularly in black (a top color for all surface baits at night), creates a huge silhouette against the sky to tempt the biggest bass in the lake.

Push Me Pull Yous—Norman’s Front Runner and Fish World’s BackBurner are newfangled additions to the topwater scene, which function more as add-ons than primary lures. Tie one a few inches in front or in back of your favorite topwater for a chasing-following-schooling appearance.

Near-Weightless Worms—While covered in our plastics section, unweighted Texas-rigged worms, Texposed-rigged Slug-Gos, and their many jerkworm imitators, and even hard baits like the Heddon Zara Gossa are virtually surface lures, though they sink slowly at rest. Crawl worms and jerkworms over lily pads; twitch and pause ‘em in more open water, scooting them in unpredictable directions, followed by a slow drop toward oblivion.

Flies—Can’t forget all manner of floating poppers, frog imitations, floater-divers and such made from hair and fiber—the heart of the bass angler’s fly-fishing arsenal.

Buzzers—Not the metallic wire-arm versions covered in our spinnerbait section, but plastic-bodied or wooden-bodied baits designed to be moved at fast, consistent speeds as a buzzbait is fished. The Mister Twister Top Prop features a revolving head design normally found on larger muskie baits. On the Arbogast Sputterbuzz, the propeller’s on the nose.

Frogs and Rats—The weedless characteristics of the Harrison Hoge Super Frog and the Snag Proof Moss Master Tournament Frog helped spawn a new generation of even more snag-resistant, hollow-bodied or solid-bodied soft plastic baits generically known as rats. Mann’s Swimmin’ Frog and Super Rattlin’ Rat, Bass Pro Shops’ Tender Frog and Tender Rat, Moss Master’s Boss Mouse, Strike King’s Pop ‘N’ Grass Frog, and Mister Twister’s Jerk Rat Lure crawl over and through heavy emergent weedgrowth at a slower pace than surface spoons. Fish them with flippin’ sticks and heavy line.

Surface Spoons—While not exactly topwaters because they sink slowly at rest, these plastic wide-bodied spoons dance across the surface with any forward speed and are remarkably weedless even in nasty cover like wild rice, which fouls every other form of lure known to man. The Heddon Moss Boss is most famous, followed perhaps by the Norman Weed Walker (with a revolving wheel for added sputter). Work ‘em with your rod tip pointed upward, alternately popping the rod tip up then lowering it while retrieving line, setting up a cadence similar to walking the dog. Instead, walk the frog. On a strike, a high rod tip forces you to drop the rod tip and take up slack before setting, helping to avoid premature hooksets as big bass come blasting through lily pads.

Introductory Bassin’—Floating topwaters are great lures to start kids bass fishing, since they require minimum skill, seldom snag in open water, are visual and easy to understand. They even catch bass when the lure’s at rest if young minds wander and retrieves cease. No topwaters? Substitute a floating shallow minnow imitator like a Rapala or Rebel Minnow, twitch it on the surface, and let it rest—a great tactic, though it may require a bit lighter line (8- to 10-pound mono) in order to cast a lightweight balsa or plastic lure effectively. Mix twitches and pauses with s-l-o-w surface-rippling retrieves to determine which works best.