BAITS & TECHNIqUES
bY aNdY MaNaHl
TOpwaTER
TIMING
W
ell it’s almost that time again, right
after we have all our fun picking the
big ones off the nests, when fish are
going to start moving out again and feeding. Top water fishing is the most visual and
exciting type of fishing that all of
us anglers have ever done. There
is nothing like a huge blow up first
thing in the morning to get your
heart pumping.
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Post spawn top water fishing can be done various ways and we all have our favorite lures to catch them with. Today I wanted to talk about my favorite lures, types of rods, line and techniques with which I consistently catch fish in our Arizona and California reservoirs.
The Rico has been a long time staple in any tournament bass anglers box and has consistently proven itself day and in and day out no matter what the weather and water conditions prove to be on that
particular day. To start with the setup, I
like to use a 6 foot 6 inch medium heavy
action rod with a fast tip. My line of
choice is 25lb mono for the clear lakes
like Mead, Havasu, Shasta and Lake
Pleasant. For the dirty or stained waters
like the Delta, Roosevelt, Apache and
Canyon I choose a 30 lb braid. I always
have a high-speed reel like a Daiwa Zillion
7:1:1 so I can get the bait back to me and
out to another target as fast as I can.
The clear series has just been introduced
in the Rico Line up and they are designed
to match the hatch on all of our western
waters. There will be a 7 bait series that
will appeal to all of us, and the particular
forage species for that body of water.
Right now the bait that is being debuted
is the Manahl’s Rx #570. It’s a bone
top that melts into a translucent side
showing colored weights to represent