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Top Water Lures Keith Hatch
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My infatuation with top waters started where else? but in the beginning. The first time I ever fished I was four. I was using live worms, but one of my older brothers had been fishing for a few years and had this funny looking lure. It was a Heddon crazy crawler. While I was bobber fishing he was throwing that lure around. I saw the fish hit it with a huge crash on the surface. He lost the fish, but I was instantaneously envious of his tackle box. Maybe that's why I need to rent a garage for my fishing gear. LOL These lures are probably that ones that get anglers hooked on fishing lures. The sudden explosion that breaks the silence is enough to shock the heck out of you. You didn't expect that sudden interruption, even though you were looking for it. It's enough to get your heart pumping and warm you up in the cold mornings. And when the hit occurs, your first reaction is to set the hook, but that's what you need to curb. You need to feel the fish first, then set the hook. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't. If the fish missed the lure and you try to set the hook you could pull the lure from the fishes "strike zone", and lose that fish completely. But if you wait to feel the fish and he missed it, it will still be in the zone and the fish may come back to it. They often do. The lures: there are so many, I'm sure I'll miss some. So I'll post the ones that I use. First and my favorite is the poppers. Hula poppers, pop-r's, chug bugs, and countless other makes are out there. Cast one out, let the rings on the water dissipate, then tug sharply making a "BLOOP" sound then wait and repeat. You can also walk the dog with some models, ..OR, twitch and reel quickly to get the fleeing baitfish effect.,.. Next is the walkers,... Zara spooks, phantoms, and the new frenzy walker. These cigar shaped lures are to be short twitched quickly to get a "walk the dog" action. Which really is a side to side motion of the lure. Each twitch will kick the nose of the lure to the right then the left. These lures are deadly especially when the water is very calm, but they will work with a chop as well. Next is the prop baits, torpedoes, boy howdy's, bang o lures, ..these lures shine when there is a slight ripple on the surface. You can run it straight back to you, or, twitch and pause, (which i like) or twitch twitch pause. It's a matter of preference. Some guys will pull the rod up high then reel down for the pause, then rip the lure again, which will move the lure several feet then pause while reeling down.,.. next Buzzbaits, there are hundreds of makes . But I like the blue fox double buzz, and the uncle bucks in line. The in line is great for weedy areas, and the double for everywhere else. The double buzz, I tune the blades to just barely touch each other to make a clacking sound in the water, and I always add a trailer and trailer hook, ALWAYS. I toss a buzzbait out and before it hits the water I start retrieving, this keeps it on the surface. Then I reel as slow as possible while keeping the blades on the surface. This takes a while to get used to, but once you do you will be rewarded. I like buzzbaits in the rain, and in real windy conditions. Next are the crawlers,.. jitterbugs and crazy crawlers are just some. I like these lures for night fishing or in the rain when i want a slower presentation than the buzzbait. These lures are very easy to use, just cast it out and retrieve slowly,... next, Spoons,.. there are plenty of makes but I use the Johnsons weedless spoons. I use these lures for emergent weeds, especially lily pads. I add a trailer that is about the same size of the spoon. And tie a snap on my line which I attach the spoon to. Toss it out over the weeds and retrieve much like the buzzbait. You can stop the spoon on large lily pads, for a frog like appeal, or drop it into holes in the weeds, as you would a worm. These lures work well under the surface as well, they have a swimming action that is very appealing to large game fish. Spoons are a great top water lure that many anglers don't use due to the idea that they have been replaced by soft plastics, such as scumfrogs and such. Late summer is a good spoon bet when the fish are buried in the weeds for oxygen, these lures will draw them out. I usually have a worm ready for when a fish misses the spoon I immediately drop the spoon rod and throw the worm into the hole the fish made. The gear? I use mostly medium action rods and heavy line, but with a few exceptions. I use a lighter action rod for the lighter lures (smallies). And a med/heavy action rod for buzzbaits and spoons. When? top waters shine in low light conditions whenever they occur. They are great night fishing lures, a good bet in the rain, mist, drizzle, and any other very cloudy condition. In the summer smallies will generally hit top waters from sun-up to about nine o'clock clouds or not. Sometimes they will hit tops all day. But in summary I guess the beat rule of thumb would be: No sun=top waters. The only rock hard exception would be using spoons in the weeds, that works under any light conditions as long as the bass are buried up in the weeds.
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