There's Always Time To Fish

 

Topwater  Time!

Top water fishing is going off right now in mountain lakes. In the fall Bass follow the shad into creeks and set up on predictable ambush sites and wait for the bait to swim by. They will also corral bait in the middle of creek arms and narrow coves where they can feed from underneath by trapping the bait on the surface. This is the time when a top water really shines.  Depending on the water color and wind you can use several different top water baits. I rely on popping baits and walking baits 90-percent of the time. Occasionally a buzz bait or prop bait will work as well.

 

H2O Express TWS series

Walking baits are my choice when the wind is blowing, and I need to cast a long way. This past week end I had both very clear water and wind to contend with. I tried several different things but always came back to the topwater.

I found fish at the depth where the clear water turned dark, or where I could see the bottom disappear. I had to make very long casts and work the baits with a deliberate, snappy type of walk. You could almost call your shot if you found a secondary point or little pocket with a stump along the dark water line.

Walking baits also tend to catch larger fish than poppers or prop baits. YoZuri, H20 Express, Strike King and XPS all make a sway-back style and all are very good. These baits tend to walk pretty easy, but can have control problems if you over work them.

Heddon Zara Spook; the Gold Standard

The Heddon Zara Spook remains the gold standard in walking baits. Spooks are straight, cigar shaped and rarely have tail dressing. Zara Spooks sash-shay, sliding across the water as the move, with little popping. They may be the easiest to walk and in skilled hands can move in so many different ways.Walking baits are hard to beat this time of year. You can simply do so much with them. They cast a mile and can be as aggressive or as subtle as you want them to be. The sway-back style spits and pops when you fish it, while the oft-imitated Zara Spooks slides and gurgles. Some rattle and some are silent, but if they walk they catch fish.

I use both the Zara Puppy and Spook Jr sizes, mainly due to my penchant for a more finesse oriented approach. The Puppy works best when fish are reluctant to chase, while the Jr shines when fish are very aggressive. Both cast well, and draw fish up from deep water. My only complaint about walking baits is that they quit walking when something gets on the hooks. Any little bit of vegetation, leaves or other debris really kills the action.

 

With popping baits I prefer with the Rebel Pop-R. They are easy to work, easy to modify and consistently catch fish. Several other companies make really good poppers, such as H2O Express, Strike King, Yellow Magic, LiveTarget and XPS.

Modified Pop-Rs; shaved lips and new paint

 Basically poppers come in two styles, popping and spitting. The popping variety is just what it sounds like. It pops. Some make a deep ker-plunk, some make a higher pitched, bubble-wrap type pop, but they all pop. They really don’t walk or slide at all, they dig in and make some serious noise. Spitting poppers slide across the water more than digging in and spray water out in front of them. Some spray an inch or two some spray up to a foot. Some spray in a thin stream straight forward, and some spray in a fan-like pattern. These type tend to walk better and can be fished much faster. I find that spitting baits work better when fish are chasing or schooling.

Poppers really excel when you need to make targeted casts to pieces of cover such as docks, stick ups, laydowns, moored boats, etc. Poppers tend to get into places other top waters can’t, and they can be kept in place a lot easier.

You can use popping baits in open water and they are quite effective for schooling bass. I find I can’t seem to cast them quite as far as a walking type bait. I learned to use popping baits in the Oklahoma wind so I know they are effective in windy conditions.

My last trip to Lake Glenville I used a Pop-R around docks to catch the best limit of fish I have ever caught in that lake. I had to make really precise casts to the edges of floating docks, but when I did I caught some really nice fish. Glenville is really on fire right now and is a hidden gem among the mountain lakes. My fish were all Largemouth, but Smallmouth are thick in Glenville.

Other top waters to try in the fall include buzz baits and prop baits.

Typical buzzbait

Buzz bait fishing for me is hit or miss, but I think it’s a confidence thing. I rarely use one, so I don’t really have a lot of confidence that they will work. That doesn’t mean that they won’t. I have Friends that wear the paint off their buzz baits in the fall. They tend to fish their buzz baits around docks and laydowns. I mean right through the thick stuff and catch a lot doing this. I prefer my buzz baits on the lighter side and this hurts in fall wind. Strike King, War Eagle and Terminator all make good buzz baits.

 

custom prop baits

As for prop baits they too have a place if you really need to finesse fish. That little tiny prop on the back can really tempt shy fish to bite. Some people use large prop baits when it’s windy and rough and do well, but that’s never worked for me so I tend to stick with them in finesse situations. I fish my

Heddon Torpedo

props over submerged vegetation and along horizontal cover like weed edges, laydowns and docks. The Heddon Torpedo probably is the most well-known, but quality baits from Lucky Craft, H2O Express, Brian’s Bees, and Smithwick are available. 



Lucky Craft Gunfish

A couple of baits to include would be the hybrid style walking bait like a Lucky Craft Gunfish or an H2O Express Pistol Minnow. These have the body of walking bait with a small concave face like a popper. You can really fish these baits fast and still cause some commotion that draws fish a long ways.

 Some people will argue that wake baits and swim baits should be included here but I don’t think so. Top waters don’t really dive under the water, and both wake and swim baits do. Both catch fish in the fall, but let’s stick to true top waters.

We've covered the baits so come back next week as we talk about tackle and the areas to fish.

If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides

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