There is nothing more exciting than seeing a bass explode out of the water and take down your lure. Topwater lures have a place in every angler’s tackle box and for the majority of anglers out there this is their favorite way of going after bass. Not only is fishing a topwater filled with excitement, but a topwater lure does a great job at imitating some form of a food source bass wants to eat.

From lakes to rivers and coast to coast the four topwater baits I mention below will work, as will the techniques used to fish them!

Walk The Dog Stickbaits – Simple, but effective topwater bait that has a very effective and proven fish catching action…walking the dog. This retrieve is mesmerizing to a bass and will bring them to the surface when other topwaters fail to. I found this out first hand last summer when my schooling bass would no longer hit my Chug Bug, so I tied up a Yo-Zuri Sashimi Pencil topwater. 

A bait like this just sways back and forth across the water’s surface and in situations where there is current you can stop the retrieve and let it float right into the sweet spot where the bass are sitting waiting for an easy meal.

What makes the Yo-Zuri Sashimi Pencil so unique is its patented color change technology, so depending on how the bait moves and the light shines on the bait it’s color will look different and natural to a bass.

Poppers – Chug, Chug, Chug….SPLASH! That is the noise of a topwater popper in action and this is one of my favorite ways to target bass all summer long when they are putting the feed bag on. A Chug Bug or Pop-R are my two favorite popper baits to use. These baits can be fished in numerous ways, which make them extremely versatile because as the bass’s mood changes, you can speed up or slow down your retrieve.

My two top retrieves for a popper include a constant, fast reel and jerk approach. This works well when the bass are extremely active and you want to cover a large amount of water quickly. The other retrieve I rely on is, after I give the popper a jerk, I let the bait sit still for several seconds. Bass, especially smallmouth hate it when the bait is just sitting there after making a noise. 

All of these baits have a rear dressed treble hook, so while sitting still the dressing on that treble just pulsates in the water calling to a bass to hit it. If you topwater bait doesn’t have a rear dressed treble hook, I suggest you get some size #4 Eagle Claw dressed treble hooks to help spice up your topwater plug.

The majority of time, I use a black or blue back with chrome body popper to help give off some extra flash. Other colors that are popular popper choices include shad imitators, but some off the wall colors excel in muddy water situations.

Frogs – The topwater frog has gone through quite the metamorphosis through the years and the end result today is frogs that are truly high performance lures! This topwater bait is a prime and obvious choice when targeting bass in heavy matted vegetation, floating vegetation and lily pad fields. But as numerous pro anglers have revealed the topwater frog works well over open water. Making long casts to the vegetation and retrieving it all the way back past the edge of the vegetation and all the way over the open water is a great way to coax bass out of the vegetation.

The new Snag Proof Ish’s Phat Frog has taken frog technology to a new level with its ITT “Inner Tube Technology” which will make sure that your frog doesn’t take on any water and not sink. The Ish’s Phat Frog also has a flatter profile so it will track more smoothly through the vegetation.

Varying your retrieve of the frog will bring the bass in and it will tell you how the bass want the frog worked. Sometimes a smooth and steady retrieve works best, while other times you have bring the frog to open water pockets or the edge of the vegetation and just let it sit there. When it comes to color selection for frogs, I will commonly use a white, black and now the Sexy Ish. The color you choose depends on the water clarity, how dense the vegetation is and if it is sun or cloudy out.

                Hot Tip: Using 50 to 65 lb. braided line is imperative to having a successful day frogin’.

Buzzbait – A buzzbait is a great topwater choice when fishing around submerged and emergent vegetation. By speeding up and slowing down your retrieve you can change the action of your buzzbait. My favorite way to use a buzzbait is as a search lure to determine where the bass are positioned on the cover you are fishing. Making parallel casts to the cover will keep your bait in the strike zone longer and increase the number of strikes you will get.   Once I locate the bass with a buzzbait I can slow down and target the bass with a more precise presentation.

Deciding on the weight of a buzzbait depends on the activity level of the bass, how far a cast you need to make and what the bass are feeding on. If the bass are keying in on smaller baitfish or insects, I will use a ¼ oz. bait, compared to using a ½ oz. one if I need to make long casts and have a large profile lure for the bass to key in on. The majority of the time I will use a 3/8 oz. buzzbait in white, black or Sexy Shad.

I like a buzzbait that has a clacker on it because it puts out the maximum amount of noise possible and really calls in big bass from far away, which is why I choose an RC Tackle buzzbait that has a clacker. This buzzbait also features a unique head design to keep the bait running true and this head design aids in the bait getting on top of the water quickly.

                Hot Tip: A buzzbait is a great lure to use when targeting big bass during the spawn

Now that I have your blood boiling and your pulse racing grab your favorite topwater baits and go take part of some exciting topwater bass action!

For more information on Glenn Walker and his tournaments, articles and promotions check out www.fishglenn.com.