When the topwater bite is on, I know a lot of anglers will throw a topwater because it is so much fun to see the strike. But my question is, when the topwater bite is on, is a topwater your best choice, or do people throw it because it is more fun? If the topwater bite is on, is there a better alternative?

Top water is probably the least productive technique even when "the bite is on" fish miss the bait too much. I fish top waters because it's fun.

What is the best alternative then? 

Yep, I fish for fun too! Be nice to be paid for it, ...you can throw a soft plastic after a missed strike and sometimes get bit...

I also think its fair to say that a lot of people throw topwater out of necessity. Like myself. I live next to a pond with so many weeds and vegetation and algae, I cant really throw much else. However I must admit that even if the water was more subsurface bait friendly, I would probably favor topwater. theres nothing better in the realm of fishing (in my opinion) than when a bass hits your frog from under the mats. 

Top water baits have their place in your arsenal just like your other baits for specific technics.

Although it is fun to see the bass hit a tip water, top water baits are productive and can catch large bass.

You need to do some small modifications to your top water baits to make them better. Here are two examples:

1. Change out front hooks on your poppers with number 4 red treble hooks.

2. Always use a trailer hook on a buzz bait.

There are modifications the pros do to their frogs but that is for another post at another time.

Now rig up a popper and go out and have some fun early in the morning and late in the evening.

When you're missing on to water go to a swim bait. Remember to match the hatch with size and color.

Sometimes top waters can produce better than other baits, like mentioned earlier a lot of people fish topwater because they come through thick cover so easily...

Big topwaters (frogs included) are big bass baits - you gotta have faith in them - if you do you'll catch some big fish at times and places you wouldn't think possible.

Top water excells in low light conidtions... and it often times outshines other techniques, becuase the fish can track and find the bait better, with the water displacement a topwater lures creates.... Also it can create some pretty funny reaction strikes, just from your lure hitting the water. 

I'll agree with the above posts. Topwater is a lot of fun, but the fish miss the lure more often than not. If I were competing for money, I probably wouldn't choose a topwater lure, but I only fish for recreation, so that's not a concern for me. 

Actually when I reach for topwaters, they are the best type of lure to throw in terms of numbers of bass. In lowlight conditions they outproduce everything else usually. On thick mats of vegetation, a frog will outproduce just about anything most of the time. When it's cloudy, a topwater is the first thing I reach for. If it doesn't work, I'll switch to a spinnerbait and that usually nails them when a topwater won't in cloudy weather.

Topwaters aren't my favorite thing to fish so if I'm fishing one it's because I think it's my best option to catch a fish. We have big bug hatches almost all summer long in our lakes so the bass are either on the surface eating bugs or eating the smaller fish eating bugs in the mornings and evenings so topwaters are often the best choice. 

Topwaters aren't my favorite thing to fish so if I'm fishing one it's because I think it's my best option to catch a fish. We have big bug hatches almost all summer long in our lakes so the bass are either on the surface eating bugs or eating the smaller fish eating bugs in the mornings and evenings so topwaters are often the best choice.

You don't like fishing topwater? Isn't that un-American?

lol

You don't like fishing topwater? Isn't that un-American?

lol

Meh, not that I don't enjoy it, I just prefer methods that catch better quality than I seem to catch on topwaters. 

 

If I'm on a lake with smallmouth and they're eating topwater I may not throw anything else though. Big smallies seem to be much more willing than big largemouths to eat topwaters and their acrobatics makes it that much more exciting. 

Top water is probably the least productive technique even when "the bite is on" fish miss the bait too much. I fish top waters because it's fun.

+1

When I get on the water I watch the top water action. When I see it's hot with bass crashing flies, I grab all my top water lures. I don't plan on a ton of fish on the boat, I just get ready for some fun.

Anytime the water is close to 60 or above it's foolish to discount a topwater - I'm not talking about the dawn and dusk popper bite. But the few and far between monster bites that more often than not come at midday. Frogs and spooks will get the job done.

I'd rather catch 1 topwater fish to 2 fish caught any other way.

 

I've missed a lot on frog fishing though, so I haven't figured that out yet. 

I don't miss many on Pop-R or XRap type Poppers. I use mono so it stretches and use a Medium flex rod so that when the fish takes it there's minimal resistance. 

I try to wait 2 seconds before setting the hook, which is a hard thing to do sometimes, but the more patient I am, the better.

 

There's nothing like the topwater strike either.

Sometimes, when the pond is quiet and there's no wind, a loud topwater strike will scares the #@!* out of you if you're not ready for it.

I couldn't disagree more- When im fishing for money the buzz bait is my deal -I cover a lot of water quickly and the bass are usually quality size. I DO NOT MISS A LOT OF FISH ON BUZZ BAITS -The one thing a successful angler must do is adapt to the conditions of that particular day-lake-water temp-and any and all of the surrounding conditions. For the guys that say they never catch them on buzz baits-I would love to take you and show you-Ive said it on here 100 times -There are days I don't put it down.