Topwater Baits For Huge Bass
By Steve
VonBrandt
There are a lot of baits that take big largemouth bass,
but to me, nothing is more fun than seeing a huge bass hit a
topwater bait. The excitement that is produced when a big bass
explodes on a buzzbait or a Frog, is unmatched by any other
technique. A lot of anglers don't believe that really big bass are
taken on buzzbaits, Spooks, Frogs, and Jerkbaits. Some of the
largest bass we have caught have been on Topwater baits, be it in
the Rivers or Lakes, just about everywhere in the country. Some of
the best baits and techniques described below will help you catch
big bass on topwaters, and increase the excitement factor ten fold!
NOISY TOPWATERS
Most of our fishing for largemouth bass is done in the
Northeast, Delaware, Maryland, and New York in particular, but I
have caught huge bass all over the country on noisy topwater baits.
Noisy topwaters can produce some enormous explosions from big bass.
It irritates them into striking, by provoking an aggressive and
immediate killing response more than other lures. The key to
catching big bass all over the country on topwaters is to match your
tackle, bait, and presentations to different conditions. The reason
I believe we catch so many big bass on topwater baits is because
most people throw spinnerbaits, worms, and crankbaits. The bass
learn to avoid these baits when they get larger. The topwater baits
we throw haven't been used for years in some cases, and the bass
aren't used to seeing them. Even in places where people throw
topwaters such as poppers, they are more inclined to throw whatever
topwaters they use only at certain times of the day, usually in the
morning or in the late afternoon, or evening. We throw different
noisy topwaters all day in different locations for some tremendous
strikes.
Almost all the bass I have caught that are over 5 pounds, are
loners, holding on a particular piece of structure in the lake. I
won't say that you never see some large bass schooling up, but it is
a rare occurrence. Smallmouth bass are different though, they do
school up in certain areas, and there can be many large fish all
together at one time. I have had this happen all over, from New York
to Missouri, but big largemouth's are generally alone. I use most
topwater baits when the water temperature is 60 degrees or above,
but I have caught bass on topwaters when the water temperature was
in the high 50's. Whenever I see a stump, rock, or maybe a bush,
further away from other structure, I throw a topwater right to it.
The best way to provoke a reaction strike from a big largemouth is
to cast the bait right to the cover, not beyond it. If you cast past
the target, the bass will be alert before the bait gets there. You
may have seen them boil or swirl when you do this instead of
smashing it. They are tentative when you work the bait up to the
cover, and then they just swirl at it, or miss. To provoke a big
bass into exploding on the bait you must cast right to the cover!
Some of the best baits for this are The Zara Spook, a buzzbait, a
prop bait, a minnow bait, a popper, and a Crazy Crawler. The Zara
Spook is a proven bait all over for this. It is really effective on
main lake structures like humps and points, and has always taken big
smallmouth bass. I use a Rattling Zara Spook, and it really
increases the effectiveness of the bait. The walk-the-dog style of
the bait, along with the rattles, produces some giant bass. Big
Smallmouth bass will come from a great distance to smash this bait.
The prop bait is a noisy surface bait that has to be used just right
or it will spook the bass. I always use it when a front is
approaching, and on stained to muddy bodies of water. It is the
ultimate reaction bait, and definitely needs to be cast right to the
cover, whatever it may be.
The popper is one of my favorite baits to use in places
that have a lot of grass or milfoil that is holding bass. I recently
started using a popper by Viva lures, that was recommended to me by
Carolina Fish and Fur. It has produced some great largemouth bass in
the last few years. It is called a Bug Eye Popper. It doesn't really
make as much noise as some of my other poppers, like the Pop-R, but
it spits out all kinds of water. It is a fairly expensive bait, but
I believe it has accounted for several big largemouth bass that I
wouldn't have gotten on another bait.
The Crazy Crawler is a bait that is similar to the Jitterbug.
I use this and the buzzbait a lot at night. I also use a real big size
Jitterbug that they use for Northerns or Muskies, they have never
seen it here in the Northeast, and really smash it at night.
The buzzbait also produces some really big bass for us here in Delaware
when used at night. We have caught some bass in the 7 and 8 pound
range on many occasions with a Black Flash buzzbait by Blue Fox,
and a Terminator Ball Buster. This year I'm going to try a new buzzbait
made by B & D lures.
The floating Minnow is another good bait in post spawn, when big
bass are around some shallow cover, but they aren't particularly
aggressive yet. I use baits with rattles for this also. I've caught
a lot of big bass on it in prespawn also, on really warm days early
in the year, it produces well. I just cast it to the structure, let
it sit, twitch it one time, and they usually just suck it in!
The other bait that a lot of anglers forget about is the Bass Rat
by Southern Lures. and the Tournament frog by Snag Proof. I insert
rattles in these baits also, and they produce tremendous strikes
through the pads and other vegetation in bodies of water from small
ponds here in Delaware to bigger bodies of water like Lake Champlain
in New York. I use a 7 foot, S-Glass St.Croix rod for them, with
Spiderline Super Mono, in 17 pound test, or I use 28 pound test
Fusion. I fish the lighter baits with a spinning rod such as a
G.Loomis, in 6 1/2 foot lengths, with 12 pound test Excel line. I
use all the rods in a medium heavy to heavy action for these baits.
LOCATIONS"
Although most of our really big bass have come from
shallow water, they were always in a place that was near deep water,
where one or more grasses came together, and near the main creek
channel. They always had some kind of deep water escape route
nearby. I feel that in larger bodies of water the big bass spend
much of their time in deeper water, and just move in out of the
shallows as the opportunities arise, when hunting for food. As I
mentioned previously, most anglers use these baits at sunrise or
sunset, but I use them all times of the day. Big bass are always on
the shady side of cover once the sun rises. They can be enticed into
striking a buzzbait or other topwater, at all times of the day when
presented properly. Bigger bass feed more frequently due to their
body size, and when they do feed, they want a bigger meal if at all
possible. They have to expend a great deal of energy to catch their
prey, and want to make sure the size is sufficient to meet their
needs. I grew up fishing small ponds and lakes here in the
Northeast. This is a great place to learn how to catch big bass and
practice the techniques you need to catch them in larger bodies of
water. These small ponds and lakes have plenty of big fish left in
them, you just have to present the right baits at the right time.