According to my logs and selective memory, I’ve caught the bigger ones on:

Double Colorado spinnerbait 

Wider, fatter jigs/worms

and lately..

walking a top water vs popping a top water.

(7 over 5 lbs in last month. Haven’t even bothered to re-tie the popping frog as it has a lot of juice on it) 

Thoughts?...

 

Are you catching Largemouth in the Tampa Bypass Canals ? I spend a few weeks a year in Clearwater and never thought to check those canals , I thought they were Saltwater. My guess is wherever you are fishing it might be dingy or muddy water ?

I do spend a lot of time there. There’s a dam that separates Palm River (McKay Bay) and the bypass. It’s 100% fresh and strikingly clear some days for Florida. I’ve seen 8-9ft down sometimes. Very Un-Florida like. There’s about 4 lily pads and it drops 18-19ft 10 yards from the bank. HP restrictions keeps the pressure way down.

I was wondering if anyone else notices they catch bigger fish when they’re walking a top water vs just popping

1 hour ago, 813basstard said:

I was wondering if anyone else notices they catch bigger fish when they’re walking a top water vs just popping

I have never really thought of it before, but two of my biggest fish were caught with a Lucky Craft Sammy.  I can't recall catching any monsters with poppers, although they may produce more bites in my experience.

 

I fish Storm Chug Bugs a lot during high percentage topwater time periods.  They have an action that's a great mixture between walking and popping.

I prefer a Spook over any popper......

But are you fishing poppers and walkers an equal amount of time, in the same conditions, at same times of year, same times of day, same locations, and with equal confidence, concentration and persistence? 

 

I'm really skeptical of these sorts of comparisons because the angler's own decision-making and behavior are always uncontrolled variables.  Lure choice is not random. The majority of my own larger bass are caught on skirted moving baits: buzzbaits, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits. But that's mostly because I tend to fish these lures more often at times and in places that larger bass are more active.

I’m using the same plug with 2 different techniques. Old school PopR and Popping Frog is what I’m talking about specifically. I walk it and I’ll chug it. 

Ive caught bigger ones with the walking technique on the same lure. 

We have determined there are ‘big fish baits’. Are there ‘big fish retrieves’? 

My data says yes. 

My confidence says yes.

Im inquiring if any of you have noticed the same in different parts of the country with all types of conditions 

Can't say, I don't throw any walking baits except a super fluke. I catch quality Bass with Poppers/Propbaits. 

 

For me, what triggers the big bites isn't so much the walking, but the pause. 

 

I'm the type if something works, I don't change. And walking the bait hasn't paid off for me personally. 

My records are text format. I wish I had started with a spread sheet. So I couldn't really say without doing a lot of scanning, but I tend to agree based on my selective memory. I've caught a lot of small ones on poppers, and I've caught larger fish on walking baits, but not as many fish overall on walking.

 

The blades question is not as clear cut. I switch back and forth a lot and have caught a lot of nice ones on both styles this year. If you're catching them more on CC in clear water, that goes against tradition.

I have caught more Hawgs by twitching  a Bomber Long A  Minnow on top , than poppers and Walkers combined .

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I have caught more Hawgs by twitching  a Bomber Long A  Minnow on top , than poppers and Walkers combined .

What size? Jointed?

38 minutes ago, fin said:

What size? Jointed?

3 hooks not  jointed ,but I dont know if they  are the 3/8 or 1/2 . I'll have to check later