toP Water bASS
funforall
By Randy Pringle
T
op water, you have to love it. There are so
many of these baits so where do you start?
For me, it falls back on the days of the prop
baits, poppers and buzz baits; this is where i started. But thirty- five years later, we have got plugs
you have to be told how to pronounce them, just to
say the name of the bait. We can break down top
water baits into categories, some are fished in a short
area and some have to be moved for their best results.
one of the key things for any bait that you are
going to throw is to be accurate. i can’t over emphasize
this. i can’t count how many times that an angler has
looked at me and said, “How come we are not catching
better quality fish?” My answer typically is they are
just not biting today or you can’t catch the big one all
the time. That is true but in some incidences the truth
is, i want to tell them, “You just can’t cast”. You have to
be at least ninety percent accurate when hitting your
targets to produce better than average fish. Hitting
the spot doesn’t mean like a land mine just exploded
when the bait hits the water. i call that concussion
fishing. Fish start floating to the surface, just on pure
impact. You have to be subtle. So now that you know
you have to practice, let’s move on.
let’s go to my lineup: it is not that big. i try to make
it simple stupid - wake baits. Wake baits are a very
subtle which have big fish catching results. i like two
sizes, for a big one i go with the seven inch oB Minnow
by optimum Baits. This bait has been around for a
long time. it buckles in the middle, making a clicking
noise as it wobbles from side to side. if i am fishing
open water, i like to use twenty to twenty five pound
Big Game mono. i need the durability and the stretch
when the fish strikes. i will fish braid if i am fishing
areas where big stripers and big large mouth roam
together, which happens quite frequently on the
California delta.
6
For a smaller wake bait, go with the ima roumba then add a hitch hiker and a worm on the back, giving it the look of a mouse. With both of these baits, a slow methodical retrieve with pauses every once in a while is the key. don’t make it a rhythm. These baits work well with no wind and a slight riffle on the water. Then i move when the wind comes up just a little more to a few stand bys. Number one, in pocket fishing and over weed beds, the 5/8 ounce ace in the Hole can be deadly. it definitely is a big fish catching bait. The key with this bait, don’t just reel it back. a lot of anglers make that mistake. Short twitches in a downward motion give that bait the sound of feeding fish. Pauses between reeling is extremely important, adjust your pauses day to day.
When that wind comes up a little stronger, like in the summertime, there is no better bait to cover water fast than a noisy Persuader double Buzz Buzz Bait. i like this bait in a half ounce size. Throwing this bait on braid or mono, depends on where you are throwing it, open water – go the mono, use braid when you are fishing heavy cover. Change your cadence on your retrieve as this will entice Mr. Bass as he will think the bait is injured.