Topwater Tips
 

I've never caught on Topwater, laugh it up. But, it's definitely not a confidence bait for me. I've thrown it early and late in calm water.

When do you throw it? If it's cloudy or drizzling, does it open up the whole day to chunk TW? Is it more about time of day, or type of day?

I've thrown she dawg, too dawg junior and spooks, all in pretty natural coloring except the she dawg is a chartreuse/silver.

Obviously the best time is when fish are hitting the top, and when fish are around... Hopefully you TW masters can help me out with some more in depth tips.


Sent

My first time fishing top water for trout was this summer so take my advice with a grain of salt, but this is what I learned. Most baits catch fishermen not fish, so just get one with a bright color on the belly. My best luck has come on bone color spooks and super spooks. Also had my best luck in the first 45 minutes after daylight when the water was fairly clear. Don't be too eager to set the hook, let them run for a second or two.

The past 3 years I've almost been pure top water. Withe the exception of school trout. I throw topwater any time of day. Favorite baits are skitter walks and she dogs. Mostly pink, chrome/chtrse, or speckled trout. Sometimes they want it fast, other times slow and I've caught plenty with it just paused. Let the fish take the bait and when you feel him you basically just lift your rod.

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Tie one on and don't take it off. Don't change baits. Put on a bone spook and stick with it. Certain times of year that's all I will throw all day. Once you catch a fish u will gain confidence. Fan cast. Throw every direction as far as you can.

Make short cast and learn to walk the dog w/ the bait. once you learn how then make longer cast. once you can walk the bait practice at faster and slower speeds .
the guy that taught me could walk a spook around pilings and stumps.

Fish will either be in one of three moods. Aggressive, neutral, or negative. When fish are aggressive everyone's a hero and the trout will usually eat just about any lure and presentation. Of course they will only be in an aggressive mood for a short duration of the day. For the other 95% of the day lure choice along with presentation can be key. Pertaining to top water lures, presentation to me is the biggest determining factor. Large, small, noisy, and quiet are all factors that can be fine tuned once you establish lure presentation. The mistake i commonly see made is a rhythmic steady walk the dog retrieve. In nature very few things act this way especially an injured bait fish. Topwater lures can be thrown successfully all day depending on the structure you are fishing. As far as wind I think it is easier to fool a trout in rougher dirtier water when they are not feeding than clear calm.

You could try putting market shrimp on the treble hooks.:D Big confidence booster.

Lmao walk the shrimp


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Get a skitter walk or top dawg and throw it under birds! Seriously! It'll pick up ur confidence in it. And when u see a specks reaction to it you'll be hooked


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Under birds if you are fishing for gulls!

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Throw tops under brids all the time... Have only caught one gull ever... They do go for it some times... But under birds throwing topwater helps weed out the baby trout sometimes

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I concur


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

They must like my presentation. They always go for it.

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Top water is a special kind of fun for me. It's my favorite way to fish. Nothing like watching your bait disappear to a sound like a toilet flushing on a calm morning in the marsh. I have had similar success with all of the surface walker baits. Don't be afraid to try baits like Scum Frogs and Buzz Baits for reds too. This bull inhaled my BaDonkaDonk well before sunrise. I got a 20 minute Cajun sleigh ride out of it. I prefer calm water top water fishing, but I don't think the fish care at all.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...psa8547c8a.jpg

I like to fish black/chart early then switch to bone/chrome. I also like white skitterwalks. Look for baitfish in schools and throw it in the general area. Fan cast a reef. Tell yourself you will only throw tops for a whole day, do it more than once. Vary your speed and rhythm

I always use a rhythmic action covering water. After a few blow ups and I'm confident the fish are there i will slow it down or change it up.


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i have more confidece in topwater than any other way to fish now. From fishing with ChrisD and thats all the throws 98 percent of the time. 20mph winds fish dont seem to care one bit!

It takes a lot of practice to get a tight wobble out of a spook, most people work them way to slow. Kade gave me some lessons couple years ago and have been catching on them every since.

always tie a loop knot to the lure for much better action.I take off the o-ring off if there is one ,and tie loop to lure.

I've come from the bass world so I love throwing top water, but I have to say that specs are a different kind of animal. I always have a hard time trying to decipher what color they want. I've tried many natural colors as well and cant seem to get my confidence up with them. My favorite lure so for has been a solid white skitterwalk for specs. I prefer to throw topwater when there is some ripple on the surface and its an overcast day. I think a darker colored top water would be better on an overcast day, but I haven't found the right combination in color in the skitter walk. Corky has a sweet black/orange color combo that I wish skitterwalk had. I didn't buy the corky since it has barely any rattle to it, but I do like how they are soft and fish may come back for a second hit. I'm still debating going spend $8 on that darn corky.

Chrome or silver when the sun gets higher will help out.

Changing up size, sound and profile helps at times. Going from a Super Spook, Jr to a She Dog doesn't seem like much, but it can make a world of difference.

Generally, I find the bigger, noisier ones are best in a chop. And smaller, more subtle baits are better in calm.

Lots of people like to use braid - it does make it easier to work - but it sucks should you get a snarl in mid cast and your eight dollar bait is sent into orbit. It especially sucks it it's a confidence bait and that was the last one.

I like the stretch and forgiveness of mono when a big one is approaching endgame. And I just don't like to "baby" trout any more than necessary.

Fishing them under birds is no big deal, only caught one in all my years and a few minutes and a towel over its head and beak satisfied all parties. And it does tend to weed out the micro trout somewhat.

Agree with varying retrieve, but when a fish is just popping it, keep working the bait. I've found that if a reticent fish gets a good look at the bait (like when you stop) it will pull off.

Not a proclaimed expert, just simply speaking from what I have observed of baitfish "especially wounded" a constant retrieve is the anti thesis. Throwing a lure out banging it around long enough may produce a strike but you also could be doing more harm than good. You even noticed yourself that by varying the retrieve after "locating" fish is a better method. Studies have shown that smaller trout (1-3)lb have a higher metabolic rate than larger trout making them aggressive for longer durations of the day. If fish are in an active feeding mood, like I said previously, just about anything will work. Catching inactive fish consistently will require a culmination of an anglers intuition along with a little help from mother nature. I have gotten flat out embarrassed by novice anglers dead sticking a topwater, out of ignorance, while I was doing what I thought the fish wanted instead of paying attention to the signs. Pride is a hard habit to quit.

But but..... U don't catch fish without chrinkle... Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Ask coot


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Like I said before you just learned how to throw a bait caster last year. You think you are special cuz you caught a few fish in the bay the last few days. Just remember you would still be perch jerking ditches if not for me. Like I said when ever you ready for a big lake or v bay challenge I will be ready by next Friday. Leave your shrimp tipped jigs at home son and bring your wallet.


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This is coming from a dude who runs a trailer hook with a shrimp behind his topwaters so take with a grain of salt.


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I hear you but I ain't looking for much. A swirl a follow a blow up. Something to get me to slow down a bit. Now if I know they are there then my presentation is different.


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Agree with this methodology. When covering ground, it's important to me to be efficient. Efficiency is making long casts and getting in a rhythm not only in bringing the bait back to the boat, but getting it out there again. I don't do this near well enough - both time-wise and in my mental state - when I'm fiddling around with cadence.

Once I get a "look", then I've got the confidence to commence figuring them suckers out.

79 fish 3 trips..... All I'm saying. No it's not.... Wait yea it is I gotta go clean more fish ... Haha


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

You hear that boys? It's the sound of jealousy!!!
Natalie ain't letting you make no bets! And as a matter of fact you still owe me for monthly friend fees and round trip to bring your baby a zzz home yesterday!


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Yeah fishing the bay is tough on October. How do you do it ? Maybe if I had a job I didn't have to be at your silly numbers would pale in comparison and you know it. More power to you though. Stay on em.


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Now your coming around. Seems as though it's tough for some! Patience... Gotta have it!


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Would you guys take your D@#K measuring contest somewhere else. The OP doesn't give a rats @ss about which one of you can catch more fish. Start your owe tread.

There I "shared my opinion."

Sad thing is, they already did...

Pink Skitterwalk 11 for trout and Pink Skitterwalk 8 for reds what I throw 95% of the time. I love other TW's too but I have found the Pink SW11 and 8 to be the most consistant for me.

TB

When working suspended lures, does color play more of a role? And are you walking it just like a TW?


Sent

Think of color in terms of light, dark, and natural. Let the conditions dictate which one is suitable. There are many color reference charts on the net you can google to achieve the best contrasting colors for water clarity and also weather conditions. Save to a folder on your phone for quick references. The beauty of a suspending lure is its versatility. You can work it fast and keep it high in the water column or work slower. If fish are feeding aggressively keep it high in the water column, otherwise you will have to find the right retrieval for that day.

Got any links for these color reference charts?


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http://www.texastacklefactory.com/im...aphforweb1.jpg

For plastics, but the same principle holds IMO

Thats the chart I use for reference.

Bump - just went back through this and forgot how good the responses were.

Thanks for this


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Pink/Chrome Skitter walk, from spring to fall, i never had much luck in water thats deeper than 6' but 2-5' of water with active fish keep calm and cast on... once you figure it out you won't want to throw anything else!:smokin:

pole
 

if you going to throw topwater you will need a good pole, sure you can do it with any pole, but if you don't have a "topwater pole" your forearms will burn and you will have to work harder to make your lure "walk" , do yourself a favor use a light weight split grip, medium duty, with a fast action tip, again i am no professional fisherman so maybe the "professionals" will correct me if i am wrong, but you don't want to be walking the dog with your catfish pole

I've thrown top water under the birds for many years, and mostly catch birds. Don't get me wrong, it's great when the birds don't grab it... But that seldomly happens.... I've also found that fishing the birds is extremely less productive on BL opposed to the south east side of the state.

Nate... Tell him how it be


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

98% throw topwater under birds... Only caught one bird last year... Throwin plastics usually gets u the smaller fish ive seen. Tops gets u the fish u dont have to measure.

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What kind of rod is best for top water ?

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Norton Big sand eel or BusT!


Most of my money is spent on fishing, fishing tackle, & boats... The rest is wasted.

I always catch nice ones on regular baits. Damn birds go after top water all the time, guess I'm just an idiot lol I caught two trout in 6 hours and you caught 12 in three on the same day... So I'm going to roll with ya on this one. I'll turn the go pro on next time the birds are working and they go after my bait, could have caught 20 birds last summer.

They go after it everynow n then... But we always throw tops man...

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