Poppers
In the hybrid section, I will talk about a few modifications that I make to popper style lures to make them more attractive. I generally favor the walk-the-dog style plugs when fishing topwater. Poppers have specific applications that make them more useful and effective. I prefer poppers in dirty water. When you do not have to worry about the fish getting too good a look at the lure or the strike zone is narrower they are an excellent choice. For fishing coldwater or slow moving sections of eddies behind rive lay downs they are great choices.
Night fishing is another area when poppers excel. This is especially true when fishing deep clear water where the fish have to be “called up” to draw a strike. In very early spring and late in the fall I use popper style lures more than any other time. I also like to modify the mouth of popper lures my cutting a groove on each side of the belly and then reel the lure across the surface creating a waggle and working similar to a wake bait. The Rapala Skitter Pop, Excalibur Pop R and similar cupped mouth baits are ideal for this presentation.
Walk the Dog
Rapala Skitterwalks, Zara Spooks and the Lucky Craft topwaters are my absolute favorites. These walk-the-dog lures are effective year round in many locations. I usually focus on using these baits when I am fishing aggressively and covering water. They can be fished at different cadences and that adds lots versatility to the presentations you can use with these lures. Fish these baits around submerged wood, rocks, vegetation and other structure. However, do not overlook fishing these baits down channel ledges and in open pockets of thick surface vegetation. Choose a walk-the-dog style bait when you do not want the fish to get a good look at the bait, when you are trying to cover a lot of water and any time it is obvious that the fish are feeding aggressively. Use your solunar data to identify peak activity periods and focus this presentation during this time. Any time that you have conditions in which low light or overcast skies with these peak periods then you have the formula for more effective topwater fishing of this style.
Frogs
Bass eat frogs, period. They eat a frog even if they aren’t hungry. I am a self professed topwater fanatic. Nowhere is that more evident than when I tie on a frog. I am like a little kid when I am frog fishing. I imagine it getting hammered every second that I am working it across the surface. Dragging a frog across a field of lily pads is the holy grail of bass fishing for me. I can catch big fish a lot of other ways, but I love catching bass on a frog. Holly body frogs are my favorite choice for this type of fishing. I love using the Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog made by Spro for faster more aggressive fishing. If I know there are big bass around and they are very selective then I switch to the custom frogs made by Capt Ken Daubert. I have had numerous bass follow other frogs to the kayak and refuse to take. After giving them a few minutes to settle back into their lair, I make a follow up presentation and have them demolish Ken’s frog. These frogs are not cheap, but they are the best frog that you can find for convincing a big bass to eat.