When fishing topwater , walk the dog , do you need to keep the bow out of your line & keep your line tight ? What is your favorite bait this time of year , Water temp is about 68 degrees .  GodBless & Thank's A Million 

I'm no expert but in order to walk the dog you must have some slack in the line in order for it to walk correctly. Its a rhythm thing. You jerk with slack then turn reel to pull tight this makes it walk back and forth. Favorite in fall is a spook

walking the dog is a pretty simple technique. jerk the rod tip with slack in the line and it will walk one way jerk it again and it should walk the other. there is a rhythm to it but once you get it it's very simple. you will find yourself jerking and reeling at the same time but very short turns of the handle just to pick up slack

Jerk and slack, slack has to be immediate after the jerk.  Keep the rod tip down.

3 hours ago, riverbasser said:

I'm no expert but in order to walk the dog you must have some slack in the line in order for it to walk correctly. Its a rhythm thing. You jerk with slack then turn reel to pull tight this makes it walk back and forth. Favorite in fall is a spook

Ditto 

 

Mike 

You have to have a certain amount of slack in your line.  Different line types will have more or less slack depending on if it's braid or mono or whatever.  Jerk rod tip with slack just like everyone already mentioned, but don't reel a tight line, after you jerk the rod tip once or twice it creates too much slack so you have to reel in back to that certain amount of slack.  

Practice a bit and you will get it no doubt.

Good luck!

My favorite bait this time of year is a squarebill or a chatter bait.

Got to have some slack for a WTD bait to work properly.

Buzzbait or WTD bait would be my choice in fall. 

I'm talking about slack over the water i know you need slack below the rod , the wind or current puts a bow in your line from left to right i raise my rod to remove the bow but i leave slack below the rod so the bait can work the bow in my line leaves more slack when setting the hook . .

Dad

After the lure hits the water I reel all slack in without moving the lure. With the rod low the line may still be bowed but its laying flat on the water. During the first few pulls I may reel just a bit more to pick it up until I get just the right amount of slack on the water to make the lure walk nice and pretty.  

There wont be any more unnecessary bow in the line from the cast at this point, it'll be laying on the water in line with your rod tip.

I hope I explained it well enough

 

Mike 

Thank You that answered my question .

Buzzbait in early fall then it changes to a spinnerbait or chatterbait when they quit hitting topwater