what do i do when a big fish miss's a top water lure??????????????

p.s i throw this little walk the dog lure  next to a tree lying in the water and the fish came all the way out of the water missing it. it was atleast a 7 pound fish > . but its not the first time i have missed little hits either.

As long as he did not feel the hooks. First I would stop the the retreive and let set and maybe twitch it a few times to see if he will hit at it again. Throw at it again and see what happens. If nothing happens, go with a plastic worm in the same location. See what happens. Could be fish on!!!

this is a very frustrating thing that seems to happening to me alot recently.  I pretty much follow the advice given above, but man it hurts to see a nice fish boil up on a lure and not take it.

many times I'll leave the lure out there and grab another rod with a sub surface lure such as a super fluke or a baby 1- for an immediate follow up throw.

LBH that is pretty cool.

Bassattack I let it stop like rattletrap said.

Try not to get impatient.

As a follow up I will often throw a 4" senko and keeping it up top, stopping and letting it flutter a little bit.

There is few things as exciting as watching top water get slammed!

Good luck.

I FIND IN THESE SITUATUIONS THE BEST THING TO DO IS LOOK AROUND MAKE SURE NO ONE IS LOOKING AND CRY A LOT!!!!!!!!! :'( :'( :'(

Well if you know where it lives then throw a drop bait. If its in open water a fluke would be a better option. I try to always have a back up plain either a tube, fluke, jig, or an senko. Make sure you let the bait fall all the way to the bottom if the strike is by cover. More times then not the fish will reposition it self back in the cover. Sometimes if they miss the bait and the hooks you can make another cast and just let it sit for awhile then move it slow. The drop bait idea is a higher % that they will hit again.

If all else fails use Dynamite!!!  ;D ;D ;D

I, too have had some problems getting fish to stay with top-water lures.  I tend to have the best luck with a little spook I walk the dog with, usually by just letting the lure sit still after a miss, perhaps giving it a little twitch like rattletrap said.  My biggest problem with topwaters comes with the frog I use over lillies, but I generally think of that as a design issue with frogs.  I don know, though, that with topwaters you genrally want the fish to get a good hold of the lure before you set the hook.  I don't wait as long as I would with a tube, but I will let the fish "run" for a second before giving him a nice new lip piercing.  There is nothing that gets my blood pumping more than seeing a bass explode through pads, especially when you're not fully expecting it.

I USUALLY TRY TO FOLLOW UP WITH A WORM AND IF THAT DOSEN'T WORK I DO WHAT THE_MUDDY_MAN SUGGESTS.

Throw the ultimate follow up bait, a wacky rigged senko.  I would bet that 70% of the time, I get the fish that missed if I can get the senko out there fast enough.

Throw the ultimate follow up bait, a wacky rigged senko. I would bet that 70% of the time, I get the fish that missed if I can get the senko out there fast enough.

I agree.A senko is hard to resist.To the fish,it looks like what they just hit is injured,dying and sinking slowly down toward its death.Easy meal.

I'm with Chris and LBH on this one. I'd toss a weightless fluke style soft bait in that vicinity and get ready for action. I think one the same size as the topwater bait he missed would definately be deadly. It's winter where I live and the lakes are now frozen. You need to go catch this fish and describe it in detail so I can live and fish vicariously through you. I don't want to put any pressure on you....but please dont' let us down.

the thing with stoping it is. i will stop the lure for 30 seconds twich it and i swaer i can see the fish sitting there. say what a moroon thiking i am hitting that agian.  and just swims off or it get board  :-/

I have to give another vote for a senko follow up. If not a senko, then I'd throw a hard jerkbait with a slow but irractic retreive.