®
Fall 2023
page 64
that has current, smallmouth will sit behind current breaks to feed.
POPPERS:
If the current is
moving fast, I think
a popper style bait is the optimal
If it’s windy, it’s Plopper time
choice as the noise
and disturbance it
creates on top of the water calls in the bass. A Rebel Pop-R
is my go-to, either the P71 or Magnum size. Each has a
different profile in the water, I’ll switch it up until the bass
tells me what they want.
For the retrieves, I’ll start with a frequent stop-and-go
cadence, with my reel picking up the slack in my line, and
the downward stroke of my rod tip will make the popper
spit water. With this retrieve, I rarely let my bait sit still, as
I’m trying to invoke a reaction strike. If the bass are gun
shy, I’ll work my popper a few times, and then let it sit, and
many times on this pause is when a curious smallmouth
will strike.
WALKING BAITS: I’ll switch to a walk-the-dog style plug, like a Heddon Super Spook if the current isn’t as swift and the bass are holding more in the slack water behind the current break. This way I can slowly walk it across the surface of the water, and this just drives current holding bass crazy.
I pay attention to how the bass are striking my Spook and adjust the size and style if needed. If the forage the smallmouth are feeding on are smaller in size, or the bass have seen a lot of pressure, I’ll downsize the Super Spook Jr. It still has the fish attracting side-to-side, walk-the-dog action, just in a compact size.
If the water clarity is on the stained side, or if it is windy, and I need to create more noise to attract a smallmouth’s attention, I like to use the One Knocker Spook. The unique knocking sound in the bait is different then the sound other topwater plugs make on top of the water, and is louder, both of which will help get a smallmouth’s hungry eye looking toward your bait.
As smallmouth roam large rock, or boulder flats on a lake they can be hard to pin down, but by using a topwater plug, you can cover water quickly to locate that active school of bass. Pausing your walk-the-dog retrieve and letting your bait sit above a boulder, or just on the outside of a weedline may get a smallmouth to come up and hit the bait.
PROPS: Prop-style topwater baits provide anglers with a more subtle type of presentation, and a very aggressive presentation. A subtle prop bait like the Bagley Baits Bang O Lure Twin Spin is a stickbait with a spinner blade on each end of the bait. You can retrieve prop baits as fast, or as slow as the water conditions, and the bass activity level dictates. If the bass are tight- lipped, then you can let your prop bait sit idle longer on top of the water, letting that curious smallmouth come in
Rebel Pop-R’s
for a closer look. If a smallmouth is hitting a topwater bait short, a follow up cast with a prop bait, that is worked, and then paused will invoke a successful follow up strike.
AGGRESSIVE: Now for the aggressive approach, commonly used when you are fishing topwater along a windblown bank, point, or massive flat and you need the extreme action of the topwater bait to call in a roaming smallmouth bass. The River2Sea Whopper Plopper 130 or Berkley Choppo is a must have, as it has extra loud action, and a big profile gets a bass’s attention.
Varying your retrieves with this style of bait still applies, as sometimes a nice and steady constant retrieve will keep a hungry smallmouth interested all the way to the boat and get them to strike. While other times, you may need to speed up your retrieve and burn the bait it, and then kill it. That erratic action, of a stop-and-go, with that sudden pause is sometimes needed to aggravate a smallmouth into biting.
What is nice about fishing topwater plugs is you can work the bait as slow or as fast as you need to, since the bait won’t sink you can keep the bait in the strike zone for longer periods of time. If the weather is warm and the bass want the bait to be moving quickly, and a lot of surface commotion, you can work the topwater bait quick. If the water is on the chiller side, or the bass are tighter lipped, you can work your topwater bait slower, such as a very slow and methodical plug that you bring in by walking-the-dog in slower cadence to call bass up to the surface.
The same goes for rotating through and using the various topwater baits that I mentioned above. Just because the smallmouth started the day crushing a Spook, come the afternoon, you may need to rotate through baits and be fishing a prop bait.
When I’m fishing any of these topwater plugs, I’ll use the following gear:
ROD: I like to use a 7’ rod, as the shorter rod allows me to impart action in the bait. The Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman 7’ MH crankbait rod has a soft tip, while still having some backbone. I will switch to the Kahuna 7’4” Heavy as my Whopper Plopper rod, as the fiberglass section of this rod will keep the bass from pulling off.
REEL: A high-speed (7.2:1) gear ratio casting reel, as it allows me to bring my line in if the school of bass starts busting in another area, and I want to put my topwater bait in that spot.
LINE: 40 lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid in Stealth Gray, as it allows me to make long casts, and it helps me rip the bait out of vegetation. I will use a 15 lb monofilament leader when I’m fishing a prop bait, and sometimes a popper. •