We've had great success with topwaters this year. Everything from frogs, buzzbaits, spook style, and popper style. I know that Bobby Uhrig stated he's had his best year with his Cavitrons buzzbaits this year. I don't know if we are using more topwaters this year or of we are just more successful with them. I don't know if we will have this kind of success with topwater next year. This years weather might have been the perfect storm for topwater success.

Why are some years better for certain types of baits and presentations?

Great question! 

 

I used to fish for trout in big stocked reservoirs a lot. The fish were almost entirely stocked new each year, as most died off over winter, so there was no way the fish were becoming educated to a particular presentation. Every year there would be an approach that was head and shoulders better than any other, and most years it would be different. A few years the same thing worked, but then it would stop working. Never made any sense of it, I presume it was environmental somehow, but I guess that's part of the fun of working the fish out.

Every 457 years mercury aligns with jupiter, while Neptune aligns with Venus. Thus causing the top-water bite to be great.

I think its just because every year is different and that means every year different baits will shine in each season, I don't really think there is much to it...

So why do bass hit our baits?

Anger, reaction, hunger and to move them out of their area.

What makes a bass move? It is water temperature, sky conditions, barometric pressure, current, spawn, and where their forage is found.

In cold water bass will not move far as they are storing their energy. As the water becomes warmer they get into their spawn mode. Then as the water gets over 80* they become very active and will swim hard and fast to hit your bait. Then the water cools and the bass start to feed heavily for the winter.

Your baits have to parallel the bass' behavior based on time of year and water temperature plus places for them to hide to ambush prey or go deep for more cooler and more oxygenated water.

Skinny crankbaits are good in cold water.. Fat cranks are good in warm water. This is due to their vibrations and how the bass precieves the bait as an easy meal.

So the simple answer to your query is that a bass will prefer an easy meal in cold water but will fight for a meal in warmer water and specific baits are designed for these water conditions.

Your job is to find out which baits work best under specific water temperatures in your area. Easier said then done.

Every year, once I've discovered a prefered bait or presentation, I wonder the same thing. Is it because of different size baitfish, different species, different type of prevalant forage (craws vs. minnows), lack of sufficient forage (this might up the odds for top-water presentations), what type of plankton the forage is keying on, or am I more confident or do I enjoy using a particular bait or presentation and therefore think the fish prefer it over a different one.  I figured it out years ago...............What, did you really think I was going to share years of research with a bunch of strangers on the internet?     Okay, here's what I figured out: I don't care why, I only care about finding out what the hot bait/presentation is this year.  Once I figure that out I forget about 'why' and enjoy the fact that I know what's hot this year.

Always have wondered myself. One year cranks rule, the next they drool. Same with lots of different lures. Spinnerbaits have been less effective this year for me than in years past, especially than in the last 3. They still have caught plenty of bass, but who knows. Are fish becoming more conditioned to them in this lake? Perhaps. But the fish in this little lake are heavily pressured, see every time of bass lure, yet I can still catch them on basically every bass lure.

This year has been great for topwater, I wonder if it will be the same next year.