I was out fishing the home lake the other evening and it got dark with me still on the water. I was at the far end of the lake from home,and had caught some fish,including a nice 3.11.

Bass began blasting something all around me on top.I don't fish topwater much,and when I do it's usually a frog.

All I had was a frog,and they would not hit it. I have had some success reeling a big senko across the top,but not this night.Water was 4-6 feet deep,and fairly clear.What would y'all use in that situation?

My go to for top water is a black Zara Spook.  I just seem to do really well with it in just about every situation.  I also will use a popper from time to time which I usually do okay with.  I'll stop both lures and twitch on occasion if nothing is hitting it while moving, this can sometimes incite a hit.

Cavitron, Whopper Popper, PopMax, Jitterbug, Gunfish or Sammy.

 

X2 on the buzzbait.

I like to make some noise when I see them busting up like that.

WP and the spro rats are my go-to's.

  The rats out performed almost everything last Fall

Any spook type bait seem to work in that situation for me.

Popper Mike ! My biggest topwater bass have came on a popper . In the middle of the day. 

In clear water, very low light, I usually fish a craw with big flapping claws on surface.  

 

T-rigged on a fairly beefy EWG, or with a jighead but you have to reel faster.

 

My favorites are the Yum Mighty bug if you can find it, or the Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw.  In the last week I've caught several bass this way just after sundown.

 

Sometimes they've wanted it reeled fast, other times it helps to pause and they hit it as it flutters down.

 

 

 

 

Whopper Plopper (go ahead, get on the band wagon)

Zara Spook (I keep a fair amount of these handy in all colors)

Poppers (you can get a hula popper in frog imitation if that's your thing, tons of popper variations)

Yamamoto Tate Pencil (this is a spook style bait that's worked well for me recently)

6 hours ago, NHBull said:

WP and the spro rats are my go-to's.

  The rats out performed almost everything last Fall

 

Did you fish the rat at night? Thanks

6 hours ago, snake95 said:

In clear water, very low light, I usually fish a craw with big flapping claws on surface.  

 

T-rigged on a fairly beefy EWG, or with a jighead but you have to reel faster.

 

My favorites are the Yum Mighty bug if you can find it, or the Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw.  In the last week I've caught several bass this way just after sundown.

 

Sometimes they've wanted it reeled fast, other times it helps to pause and they hit it as it flutters down.

 

 

 

 

I should have thought of the bugs.Had a plenty in the boat that night.

And thanks everyone.Time to feed the bait  monkey !

I used to do fairly well with a devils horse but haven't had one for a few years now.

Zara Spook......Rebel POP R

Stanley ribbit, baby one minus, popper, small jerk bait ran with rod tip pointed at sky, or buzz bait

I seen something somewhere about a man who only fished the devil's horse. And had a bunch of trophy bass to show for it... I know for sure he was in the south.. but I think it was in Florida ! 

 

The popper I referenced above.. you don't need a megabass popmax  to be effective . My PB was 24" long and just over 8lbs. And it was on a rapala skitter pop in the oversized brown frog pattern. It's a good value for sure. At the most 10 bucks. I found some online and at a flea market for around 5-6 bucks. 

4 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Did you fish the rat at night? Thanks

My best results have been at dawn and dusk, but I have had great lunch on blue bird days too

For me the bait would depend on how much chop is on the water. If it's calm, I'm going to start with a something subtle like a popper. Mild chop and it'll be a walking bait. Heavy chop and I'll look for something that makes a lot more racket, like a buzz bait, Jackall Pompadaur, or Whopper Plopper. These last three I will also throw in all conditions if I've train but haven't had success with the other, more subtle baits. 

By the way... I will fish topwater any time of day and always have one tied on. Yes, dusk and dawn are typically the most productive, but that doesn't mean those are the only times surface lures are effective. 

 

My first question, Mike....Are you 'positive' they weren't crappies?

I've been fooled more than once by slab crappies busting the surface,

that resembled a school bass blitz. You find out when a 2-lb crappie nails your bass plug 

 

Roger

+1 on the popper style bait. If you can learn to walk the dog with one, they can be really effective. And it doesn't have to be an expensive popper either. I've been playing around with the Academy Sports house brand poppers in the small & big sizes and they both work well. They come with decent vmc hooks too. They're like $5.

They only see the underbelly so make the sillouette very string and visible. I love fishing top water at night on a calm lake under a full moon, because the full moon casts a very visible sillouette.

 

My goto top waters are these three in all top water situations

 

1. Sammy or Spook - for night use black

2. Night Fishing - Black Buzz Bait - War Head

3. Rico popper

2 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

My first question, Mike....Are you 'positive' they weren't crappies?

I've been fooled more than once by slab crappies busting the surface,

that resembled a school bass blitz. You find out when a 2-lb crappie nails your bass plug 

 

Roger

These were bass Roger.They weren't school size either,but had some substance to them.W e don't have many specks in this lake.

My thinking is that they were picking off bream or shiner.

Tonight I had a couple blow ups on the booyah PC, but they missed.

 

17 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

These were bass Roger.They weren't school size either,but had some substance to them.W e don't have many specks in this lake.

My thinking is that they were picking off bream or shiner.

Tonight I had a couple blow ups on the booyah PC, but they missed.

 

 

It's frustrating when they get selective like that.

On Little Lake Winterset we had bass busting on the surface about every 10 to 15 min (I was at anchor).

The prey appeared to be shad and I threw everything at them (Hopkins, fluke, roostertail, tiny Johnson spoon ~).

I finally caught 'one' lousy bass, and of all things it hit a plastic worm (go figure)

 

Roger

4 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

It's frustrating when they get selective like that.

On Little Lake Winterset we had bass busting on the surface about every 10 to 15 min (I was at anchor).

The prey appeared to be shad and I threw everything at them (Hopkins, fluke, roostertail, tiny Johnson spoon ~).

I finally caught 'one' lousy bass, and of all things it hit a plastic worm (go figure)

 

Roger

Been there & it's frustrating. Number of baitfish schools with packs of bass busting on em. You can throw everything but the kitchen sink at times & nothing seems to work. ?

1 hour ago, wdp said:

Been there & it's frustrating. Number of baitfish schools with packs of bass busting on em. You can throw everything but the kitchen sink at times & nothing seems to work. ?

 

Exactly!

Making matters worse, I've also been fooled by slab crappies generating a whitewater commotion like feeding bass.

On a high note, the occasional crappie we've plucked from a whitewater jump tend to run 1.5 to 2.5 lbs  (crazy)

 

Roger

 

I use loud top water baits on a slow retrieve after dark such as a buzzbait or jitterbug and have a lot of success as they are easier for the bass to locate.

Spook type baits work well for me at night.  Jitterbugs, too.