TOPWATER TACTICS
there is an exceptional topwater bite going. Once I realize this, I put ‘em down and start tossing my Porter houses at ‘em in search of the biggest bites this river has to offer from its biggest bass. The following are my top 6 Porterhouse topwater baits, when I use them and why.
WAKEBAITS
Wakebaits are the swimbait of topwater baits. I read and learned from Professor Doug Hannah many years ago, big bass love long, slender, slow moving baits. Put ‘em on top, you have a big bass bait that catches giant fish all the time. You’re not going to catch a ton of fish on these big, jointed, wooden baits, yet the fish you do catch, will be in the 5-13 pound class here. Each of the past two years, I have caught a bass over 13 pounds using an old MS Slammer. This bait is most effective here from early March thru September. Breezy to windy days or cloud cover is best.
In March and April I will target staging, pre-spawn areas in dead end sloughs. Tulle islands that are surrounded by wide grass flats, that have an edge that drops into 8 feet or more of water is best. The largest of bass in these areas will stage off these islands, prior to moving up shallow to spawn.
In May thru June, I’m targeting big post spawn fish up in the flats. I look for the ends of the big tulle groves, where a cove or large channel is present, it must be an area bigger than my boat with open water. Find a big lay down tree in there, I’m gonna fish that spot every day, full well knowing one day, that double digit fish will be hunkered around that log and come rushing out to grab that Slammer.
CHUGGERS
Chuggers are a popper on steroids. My first experience with a MegaStrike chugger was down on the Amazon fishing for Peacock Bass in December of 2002. I had a bunch of these baits left over from my trip to Brazil. I was hell bent of trying to duplicate the use of that bait here for largemouth on this River. To my surprise in May/June of 2003, I found a window when the bass here would hit that thing with the vengeance and ferocity of a Peacock. By far, my favorite topwater bait, unfortunately, the window for bass here to crush it, is minimal.
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This is post-spawn topwater bait. This is the only topwater bait I toss with 20-pound Fluorocarbon line. The reason being is, the line sinks. When it sinks and I rip it, the bait is pulled downward, generating the antagonizing chug sound that attracts the big bass here. It’s a nonstop chug and wind. If you use braid, the hooks will get tangled often on the floating line, more importantly, it makes a completely different
sound and commotion, and tends to walk like
a spook. I want that bait chugging straight at
me, digging into the water all the time. This
bait is most effective in two areas. In all the flooded lakes here, I fish it around the tulle groves, where the big girls have pulled to the outer edges after spawning. I toss the bait 10-20 feet deep into the sparse tulles and work it 20-30 feet out away from the tulle’s edge. The other option is out in the middle of dead end sloughs a foot or two off two weed line drop offs. There is no topwater strike from a 5-8 pound river bass that is more explosive, than the ones you’ll get on the Chuggers. Dead calm to slight breezy days are desired for the Chugger.
POPPERS
Bloop, Bloop! Those who have
hung around Westernbass.Com over
the years, have heard me discuss
this tactic many times. The Lobina
Ricos, Iovino Splash-Its, Yamamoto
Sugoi Pops and a River2Sea’s D88
BubblePop are all great Bloop, Bloop tools.
The Bloop, bloop is the sound you want to create when retrieving these poppers. You must use a pause and go motion for this to work effectively on bigger fish. A constant popper retrieve, like what we use on the lakes for spots and smallies, will only afford you smaller fish. The subtlest bloops, will result in the biggest of fish. It is hugely important to let this bait come to a complete rest after a bloop. The longer it sits in the strike zone, the more likely a big bass will slurp it. The bloop sound imitates a bluegill, feeding on fry at the surface. That fry can be bass, bream or shad. The most effective time to use this bait is from late May thru August. It is best suited for dead calm, glass like conditions.
I prefer to use two colors, a Chartreuse Shad or a Perch pattern. One of my favorite tricks is to change out the back treble hook with one that is tied with orange, white and green feathers. While paused,