I've got several that I swear are infested with poltergeists.  I had several ChugBugs that USED to pop and spit water like crazy....bass loved 'em.  Last year, NONE of them would work right.  They plowed water, wouldn't spit/walk/chug no matter what I did.  Out the door they went at a garage sale.  Likewise with a couple of Spooks.  I fished those a lot and like the 'Bugs, caught a lot of fish.  Last time I used them I had two that refused to walk a step.  Same rod/reel/technique, but they acted, well, WEIRD .  Anybody else ever see this?

Usually the lure got cracked, and water got inside.

Are you using the same line as well?

perhaps the line tie bent a little..

sounds like you were using flourocarbon....I bought a mattlures jitterfish that I could not get any action out of the first time I used it, it just pushed water to one side.  Didn't think about it at first but quickly realized the line was the culprit when I fished it again on different line (80lb braid for muskie)

I have an old Spit-n-Image that made it's way down to the bottom of my tackle box that I ended up using this past summer. I remember the lure used to catch a lot of fish, but for some reason would walk a lick when I tried it.

What I noticed tho, was that the bait was sitting on the water flat with the tail barely in the water and not in the water at like 45+ degrees like it used to. What I found was that the ballast wasn't making it's way to the back of the lure.

"Usually the lure got cracked, and water got inside. "

Nope, no cracks....dry as a bone.

"Are you using the same line as well?"

Yep, same copoly I've used for years.

"perhaps the line tie bent a little.."

Checked all of those too.  I guess it will remain a mystery :-?

The Bait Monkey sabotaged them so you would go buy some new ones.

Tom

The Bait Monkey sabotaged them so you would go buy some new ones.

Tom

Problem solved! Good work Tom!

I had a topwater that absolutely crushed the smallies and it was a small sized Rebel Jumpin' Minnow. As I walked it I could hear that BB inside make a clacking noise 50 feet away. After a few hundred bass, that infernal internal BB became dust coated from constantly banging the interior wall of the plastic and became a very ordinary lure.  Sadly. most Jumpin Minnows are the devil to walk, and they are poorly balanced. If you can find a good Jumpin Minnow, have yourself a blast, at least temporarily. So maybe your topwaters lost their ability to talk like mine did.