i have a few that swim seductively sub-surface.  i wish i could say i have been crushing it on them, but sadly that is not the case.

 

easy answer is probably: whenever topwater seems like a good idea?  i'm going to send a few into/under cover this weekend.  i shouldnt snag unless i miss the target.  

Maine bass prefer wakebaits here and there. Most mornings or evenings, they prefer louder surface lures like poppers, Ploppers, and walkers, but here and there, they gobble wakeys.

Last summer for me. Fish that i would normally throw a buzzbait at but covering more water. Lots of subsurface grass 1’ down so crawling a wakebait over the top was great. 

Fish wake baits, glide baits, and multi-jointed hard baits with the same rules you would any other type of bait.  Follow water temp.  When water is colder, a slower glide/wake bait with a more gentle side to side action.  When it starts to warm, a faster choppier wake bait.  When its full on warm, move to the multi-jointed baits that have lots of chop/darting action.  When the temps start to cool in the fall, reverse the process.

As soon as it warms enough for them to start moving shallow for the spawn, I’m throwing a wakebait. And I’ll keep one tied  on until it gets too cold, which for me is relatively late in the South, ie late November to early December.

 

 My wakebait season is usually late March to late November. 

Storm Subwart in midsummer on a smallmouth river.

 

I let it sit there, pop it, twitch it, then retrieve it.  If they don't smash it on the surface, they often smash it on the retrieve.

I would think a wakebait would be a better choice when the water surface is calmer compared to walking/popping top water baits. Is that correct?

Anytime the water is over 55 degrees, when the surface isn't covered with Eel Grass, and I think they're feeding up.

The thread by the OP was asking favorite lure to use not what catches the most bass.

I have been fishing my custom hair jig with pork trailers since 1971 or 54 years and counting because it’s my favorite lure to use.

Wooden Sammy is fun to work it’s so lively and it catches big bass.

The Micheal popper is a tiny Japanese lure with a great action fun to work and catch’s big bass.

All the above are vintage lures that our local bass rarely see and that is another reason I like to use them.

Tom

Wake baits are one of those things that I subconsciously phased out of my line up. If I want something to run just under the surface, I’ll bulge a spinnerbait. If I want surface, it’s a popper or walker. Maybe I’ll throw the wakes back in the topwater box and give them another shot this season. 

11 minutes ago, WRB said:

The thread by the OP was asking favorite lure to use not what catches the most bass.

I have been fishing my custom hair jig with pork trailers since 1971 or 54 years and counting because it’s my favorite lure to use.

Wooden Sammy is fun to work it’s so lively and it catches big bass.

The Micheal popper is a tiny Japanese lure with a great action fun to work and catch’s big bass.

All the above are vintage lures that our local bass rarely see and that is another reason I like to use them.

Tom

39 minutes ago, WRB said:

The thread by the OP was asking favorite lure to use not what catches the most bass.

I have been fishing my custom hair jig with pork trailers since 1971 or 54 years and counting because it’s my favorite lure to use.

Wooden Sammy is fun to work it’s so lively and it catches big bass.

The Micheal popper is a tiny Japanese lure with a great action fun to work and catch’s big bass.

All the above are vintage lures that our local bass rarely see and that is another reason I like to use them.

Tom

@WRB

You might be on another thread.

You are right don’t know how that happened?

Tom

The Hot, Hot Summertime early, very early in the morning: Mann's Baby Minus 1, BPS The Egg and Cabela's Grave Digger. The Grave Digger is smaller and unfortunately no longer made. Do in no more than 5 ft. of water.

Good Fishing

Bomber long A? Anytime! 

You don’t hear about jointed shallow running rats as much today but they are excellent wake baits.

Use a rat when they are out and about….sundown.

Tom

I use it quite a bit, actually. And quite a bit like a search bait. As pointed out, there's certain timelines when they work better than others but I use it in a search bait type of way to quickly cover water...much the same as I fish my bladed jigs in the deeper waters. I especially use it when grass is pushing up higher in the water column. Lots of grass here. I fish it anywhere I'd use a bladed jig. They are my 1-2 punch for covering water.

 

Then of course I use it like a typical topwater in several ways when that season arrives.. Pop it, walk it, burn it, crawl it. Especially deadly along shorelines, grassline, weedlines. The typical topwater areas.

 

These topwater crankbaits offer me far more versatility than I initially expected.

 

My current favorite is the OSP Buzzn' Heavy Hitter. The most versatile of the bunch I own. I love the Buzzjet Jr. And my Spro rat. 

 

But the OSP does more for me. Especially the ability to cover water faster.

2 hours ago, WRB said:

You don’t hear about jointed shallow running rats as much today but they are excellent wake baits.

Use a rat when they are out and about….sundown.

Tom

The Bucca rat looks killer

I like throw one very early in the morning, when it’s the darkest and the light is starting to glow in the horizon. I imagine a bass(me trying to think like a bass here). Anyway, his is in the dark, the surface just getting a hint of light on it. Along comes my sub-surface lure, black in color, contrasting the lightly lit surface. They simply can’t resist breakfast and slam it. 
That’s the way I imagine it anyway…… 

 

It's a big category as wakebaits can be tiny like a Manns or gigantic.  Or fished super fast or slow as molasses. Loud/Quiet.

 

For me the following situations:

-prespawn/spawn fished fast. SPEEDWAKE is my bait of choice. 

- Clear water fished slow for SMB when extremely hot (Ima Roumba)

- Dusk in summer (Spro Rat)

- Covering water, particularly large flats (Speedwake, Manns, TH Kustoms etc.)

 

In my mind they better imitate fleeing baitfish, when the water is calm, compared to a loud walking bait or other topwater. 

 

Bomber Long A. I throw it in the spring. I have the old ones. the new one are not suppose to be the same. I dont know.

Summertime over grass that is 1-2' from the surface. Second is early morning/late evening when a topwater should be working but they will not commit. Manns Baby 1- is the best wake bait I have found in 20 years.

 

Allen