Wait, There's other Topwater Baits other than a Frog??
- Neil Ferris
- Oct 24, 2019
- 4 min read
I LOVE topwater fishing. I can be found throwing a frog at any chance possible. The rush you get when that bait gets smashed is second to none. It gets the adrenaline pumping and is an absolute awesome way to catch them. But, what about all those other topwater lures? A lot of times, my whole topwater box gets forgotten because of how much I love to fish the frog. But, in the last year or two I have started to appreciate all the other topwater lures I own more and more when the perfect situation arises. The great thing about topwater is they have baits that are specifically designed for certain situations and certain types of cover. There are countless models and styles of topwater out there, but today we are going to focus on a couple of my favorites.
The first topwater I want to quickly mention is the frog. Next week we will have a whole blog dedicated to the frog and the many tips I have acquired over the years. But, we need to mention them in this post because of how popular they are. Frogs are the go to topwater lure, for me at least, when I am fishing heavy cover or any floating vegetation. I love using the frog in these situations because of how I can fish the cover. The frog floats perfectly on the vegetation and doesn't get hung up or snagged which helps you get to where those fish are. I often will be driving by a body of water and say, man I want to throw a frog there. I don't want to dive too much farther into the frog so that we don't give away our awesome blog post from next week. But, the frog is still my all time favorite topwater and I don't think it will ever be topped.
The next set of lures we are going to look into is hard plastic top water baits like poppers, spooks, and more. This style of bait has slowly started to become a must have when I hit the water. The reason these baits baits are so effective is the popping noise and action it gives on top of the water. They are great for triggering that big reaction strike out of big fish. Another reason these baits are great is because, especially the walking style baits, do a fantastic job of mimicking injured bait fish like minnows and shad. Within the last year I have started using walking style baits like a Heddon Spook and Googan Hound more and more. I have caught several big fish this year especially on walking style baits. A big tip that has helped me with these baits is I don't walk it all the way back. I walk it for a few seconds and then pause it. A lot of times those bass will hit it on the pause or on the first twitch or two off the pause. This has really helped me catch more fish with this bait and it has become an essential bait for me to use. Where these baits have an advantage over a frog is the treble hooks they have. It really helps with the hook up ratio. When those fish bite into those trebles it's pretty much guarantees a fish. Now, where these baits don't excel is when there is lots of cover, their biggest advantage also becomes their biggest weakness. These baits will get hung up on any piece of vegetation and it messes up the presentation. So, the main thing when using these baits is that you have to have open water that is clear of vegetation. A lot of times, I will have both a frog and a walking bait available on my deck at the same time as I go up a bank. When there is heavy cover and heavy vegetation I will use the frog and when I reach a clearing I will pick up a walking style bait and throw it there. This combo becomes very deadly when you stick with it and throw it when the fish are ready for the topwater.
The last style of topwater we are going to talk about is the buzzbait. The buzzbait was one of my favorite baits when I was younger but slowly moved away from as I got older. I don't even know why I moved away from the buzzbait, but I think I just slowly moved away from it as I started to learn how to flip and pitch. That took priority for me over any other type of bait or fishing style. But, late in the year this year I started to pick it back up again and it starting to creep back into my favorite topwaters again. The main thing with Buzzbaits that I love is that I can throw it up in the thin grass and it won't get caught in it. It also does a great job triggering the big reaction strikes out of big bass. I also love the buzzbait because of the sound it makes. Another similar bait is a whopper plopper, I don't use whopper ploppers very often, but I know they are another great style bait that triggers giant bass.
I would love to hear what all of your guys favorite top water lure is and why. Below I have linked all of my favorite style of the baits we talked about and where you can get them. Don't forget to check back next week for our blog post where we take a in depth look at hollow body frogs and how to fish them. Thanks for tuning in guys and we'll see you next week! Fish on!
Frogs:
Jackall Kaera Frog: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Jackall_Kaera_Frog/descpage-JKKAFG.html
Booyah Pad Crasher: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Booyah_Pad_Crasher_Frogs/descpage-BYPC.html
Googan Baits Filthy Frog:
Walking Baits/Popper:
Heddon Super Spook Jr
Heddon Super Spook
Googan Baits Blooper
Googan Baits Hound
Buzzbaits:
Strike King Buzz King
Googan Baits Hummer
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