# top water



## caddyjosh (Jun 19, 2008)

What is a good top water lure for smallmouth ?


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## Captain Ahab (Jun 19, 2008)

I love using poppers for topwater smallie action. 

This is my favorite:






Custom painted Pop-R

Sammys also work great as do buzz baits.

Get a smaller sized buzz bait in silver or white (white skirts) Flip it out into the current seems and try to get it to hold in place in the faster water. Just let it sit there (hold your rod tip up high) and buzz for a while then move it forward a foot or so and repeat. If there are smallies around they will smash it


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## Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Pop-r is the best bang for the buck In my opinion. Cheap, solid and work! 

A custom painted one.....Even better!


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## Mattman (Jun 19, 2008)

Rapala Skitter Walk is probably my favorite.


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## Captain Ahab (Jun 19, 2008)

If you buy the "off the rack" Pop-r change out the hooks. The factory hooks do not stay sharp very long and I get a much better hook up ratio with a set of good owner or Gammy hooks on this lure


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## Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Mattman said:


> Rapala Skitter Walk is probably my favorite.




Thats a great one too.... I had a day of days catching smallmouth up in Maine on that one.


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## slim357 (Jun 19, 2008)

topwater is one of my fav ways to fish, in the past ive used pop-rs, chug bugs, pop'n images(which are god awful), hedden torpedos, spooks, skitter pop/walk/prop. This year ive been using a buzzjet(yet to get a bite on it) lc sammys, ricos and reo ricos they are by far the best poppin bait ive ever used. Buzzbait are always a good choice when you want to cover a lot of water fast. I mostly use strike king buzzbaits as there the only kind I can get localy without having to place an order to bps


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## Waterwings (Jun 19, 2008)

No smallies where I fish, but have had hits from LM and Spots on this Heddon Tiny Torpedo (I added the feathered treble). Worked best during early morning and late evening.


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## slim357 (Jun 19, 2008)

Waterwings said:


> No smallies where I fish, but have had hits from LM and Spots on this Heddon Tiny Torpedo (I added the feathered treble). Worked best during early morning and late evening.


neat idea howd you get the original hook off?


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## Waterwings (Jun 19, 2008)

slim357 said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> > No smallies where I fish, but have had hits from LM and Spots on this Heddon Tiny Torpedo (I added the feathered treble). Worked best during early morning and late evening.
> ...



The original hook was a pain to get off. I didn't have any decent side cutters, so I used some needle-nose plier's wire cutting capability, which in the process I dinged-up the wire cutting capability of the pliers :roll: . Cut the eye of the original hook. Added a split ring to the feathered treble which I bought at Walmart.


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## caddyjosh (Jun 19, 2008)

Waterwings said:


> No smallies where I fish, but have had hits from LM and Spots on this Heddon Tiny Torpedo (I added the feathered treble). Worked best during early morning and late evening.










I have this one put it sinkis a little


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## caddyjosh (Jun 19, 2008)

Thanks guys I will try the popper and see what happens I have heard it is great action fishing with top water is there an ideal time or condition for these?


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## jkbirocz (Jun 20, 2008)

Different topwaters should be used at different times/conditions. A general rule is early mornings, evenings, and all night long for topwaters in the summer weather. Most do not throw them in the heat of the day, but certain topwaters, such as frogs, will produce fish even in the hottest heat of the day.

Poppers are generally used for calm water, spook lures for calm to slight chop, and buzzbaits for choppy water. But, of course, every kind of topwater will work in any conditions sometimes; so I generally start with the least aggressive action lure then work to most aggressive.

As for color, I generally try to match the forage if I am fishing the early morning and day, then darker colors begin to work better when the sun goes down. Captain Ahab has gotten me hooked on black poppers the past few nights. Translucent/ghost colors also work very well for me. In the fall season a spook is my #1 lure, as smallies are chasing balls of shad up the rivers. 

Good luck, and be sure to pick up a topwater frog if you plan to fish any type of slop.


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## specimen gear (Jun 26, 2008)

Here is a little custom painted one, I have made a while back. It's turned sideways and goes side-to-side across the surface..

Michael


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## Captain Ahab (Jun 26, 2008)

specimen gear said:


> Here is a little custom painted one, I have made a while back. It's turned sideways and goes side-to-side across the surface..
> 
> Michael




That is sweet looking!


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## LeftCoastAngler (Jul 4, 2008)

My favorite top water plugs are the MirroLure 16 & 17MR. One does the walk the dog pattern on top, whilst the other is a sub-surface darting plug. Jerk.... Reel... Pause... Jerk... Reel.... Pause... etc... etc... You get the picture...

Here's a 16MR with a swapped out rear treble w/ feathers action...


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## RONOFA (Aug 13, 2008)

As all have been said,Hula popper, Tiny torpedo,etc.. I am big fan of artificial frogs, always been good to me.


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