When walking a topwater lure like a LC Gunfish or Paycheck Repo Man should you do a stop and go presentation? A slow, steady one? A fast one?

I know alot of you are going to say do what works best for me but I want to know what you do.

I generally, start with no pauses if the water is very warm, and long pauses if its very cold. Like you said let the fish tell you what to do on any given day, but it seems water temperature is a good way to get an idea where to start.

Until I get a bite I very my retrieve and let the bass tell me what they want that day.

Pauses with the calmer water.

Choppy water: Fast and furious with fewer pauses.

I use a stop and go presentation almost always. How often and how long I pause varies.

I get 9 out of 10 strikes on the pause, and the strikes I get while the lure is moving are usually misses or bad hook-ups.

Sometimes though, when the stop and go doesn't work, I will work it without pauses; hoping to annoy the bass. Works once in a while, and always the last resort before I change location or lure.

P.S: there are at least 2 more retrieves I use when nothing is working. Work it like a popper (long snaps of the rod tip); it splashes a lot of water, and the lure goes under the surface. Reel it straight in like you would work a crankbait, with or without pauses. The lure makes a very tight jig-jag, sometimes under surface, depending how fast you retrieve.

Edit:

P.P.S: Sometimes I make "false starts" after the pause, where I snap the lure a few inches instead of the zig-zag pattern. Coaxes out strikes at times.