I know this is pretty small compared to most of you folks' average fish, but it's a huge deal to me. I caught it at about 3:45am yesterday. I saw fishing blowing up the surface, tied on a little 1/8th oz. chartreuse buzzbait, and landed this one on the second cast. It hit like a ton of bricks, and thanks to what I've learned here, I waited till I felt the weight and set the hook. One of my goals for this year is now complete.

Awesome!  Congrats on your first topwater bass!  I love catching them on topwater frogs and you can catch nice bass with them.  Invest in a couple with a white belly and you won't be dissapointed.  LiveTarget frogs are awesome.. I love the white leopard color, and spro never dissapoints.  But recently we've been using the Strike Kings KVD Sexy frogs in the brown back/white belly color and they're good.  Topwater poppers work well too.  I've only caught little one pounders on topwater so not all topwater experiences are going to be the big elaborate blowups with moster fish.  I'll take whatever I can catch and don't complain as long as I'm catching them regardless of their size.  lol

Congrats!! To me there is nothing like catching them on topwater.

Congrats man! Come early stay late for topwater. That sentence has been feeding my fever of bass fishing for the past 3 months.

Congrats and remember that topwater isn't just an early and late deal. I caught my biggest smallmouth of the day last Friday on a Super Spook Jr. at about 11am when it was flat calm, sunny, and about 90 degrees outside.

Congrats! Topwater is a blast!!

Nothing beats the topwater bite! 

Topwater bites at night are the best!  You hear a splash and feel weight on the line.