Action and excitement using topwater baits
It was a beautiful mid-August day last summer, with the afternoon sun beating down on us as we launched the boat. We were heading out on a small, relatively secluded inland lake, less than an hour from Thunder Bay; one of my favourite off the beaten path bass destinations. With minimal angling pressure, it’s without a doubt, the source of the biggest smallmouth I’ve ever caught. My wife and I, along with our two labs, loaded into the boat and set out, hoping for a day full of smallmouth action.
We’ve ventured to this lake at all times of the season; early spring, throughout the summer and into the fall, and have always found great smallmouth action. Not always giants, but the lake consistently produces smallmouth for us, with whatever offering we seem to throw. With my wife developing a recent interest in fly-fishing, we figured it was also the perfect place to dabble with the fly rod. We explored the lake, casting our way along the shoreline, picking up bass as we went. We got to a shallow, weedy piece of shoreline and decided to try for some topwater fly rod action. We broke out the fly rods, some popper type topwater flies, and once we started throwing these, it didn’t take long before they were getting sucked off the surface by hungry smallies. We never caught any monsters that day, but had our fill of one to two pound smallmouth, and for a new fly anglers those are some serious fish. Fish like these all day long + topwaters + the fly rod = all sorts of fun!
Whether you’re a fly fisherman or a traditional angler, throwing topwater baits can be an incredibly exciting and effective means of catching smallmouth, especially in the heat of the summer. Whether it’s mimicking a frog or mouse scooting along the surface, or a crippled baitfish flailing around the top, topwater baits seem to drive bass wild, and offer explosive strikes and some seriously exciting action. These baits seem to be the most effective bait in the summer, when water temperatures rise and fish are active and feeding, offering water churning strikes and some serious bass acrobatics. Baits
There are a multitude of topwater baits available, with a variety of different actions, and it’s always good to have a few in your arsenal; including (with some of my favourites) walk the dog baits (like the Rapala Skitter Walk or the original Zara Spook), prop baits (like the Heddon Tiny Torpedo), and popper style baits (like the Rapala Skitter Pop or Storm Chug Bug).
Another excellent topwater bait, that can be incredibly effective, is the original floating Rapala. Not your typical topwater, but twitching a floating Rapala back, with a sort of zigzagging walk the dog motion with your bait staying on the surface can work wonders on smallies. Often times, whether it’s this bait, or any other topwater, it’ll get hammered by an aggressive smallmouth before you even start your retrieve, so it’s always worth letting it sit on the surface for a few moments before bringing it in; often bass are on top of whatever poor creature they think just landed in their domain, and often will react quite aggressively.
Technique
With prop style baits like the Tiny Torpedo, use a steady, slow retrieval, with some twitching motions worked in, pausing throughout your retrieve.
With walk the dog baits like the Spook or the Skitter Walk, use short, rapid jerking motions, causing the bait to zigzag back and forth on your retrieve.
With popper style baits like the Skitter Pop, I like to use a steady retrieve, jerking the bait, and rapidly reeling up the slack, continuing this steadily as your retrieve the bait. With the front of the bait digging into the water, it churns up the surface, with the briefest of pauses as you reel, creating some serious disturbance bound to draw in hungry smallies.
Regardless of the type of bait you’re using, one thing to remember is not to set the hook when you see a fish break the surface; as hard as it is to hold back when a bass explodes on top of your bait, many fish are lost by overly exuberant anglers ripping the bait away from the fish before they have a hold on it. Wait until you feel weight on the line before setting the hook.
Location
When using topwaters to target smallies, many people gravitate towards weed beds and vegetation patches. Now these can certainly be effective places to try; plopping a topwater in a gap in some lily pads can often be deadly, but don’t limit yourself to working weed edges with topwaters. They can be extremely effective baits when fished over rocky shoals, points and shorelines, over sandy flats and around structure, and not necessarily just in shallow or weedy water.
Now there are some days that topwaters may not seem to produce, and you may have limited success, or see fish follow but not commit. It just may not be the day for topwaters, but more often than not they are a deadly offering for smallies, and provide you with some of the best action and excitement you can find, and are more than worthy of a place in your tackle box.