I Love Topwater

[Al Agnew]

It had been three years since I'd done my multi-day float on my secret creek, but I went yesterday and today.  The creek was low (as usual, and as I like it...keeps off the riffraff  ).  And super clear as usual--it has pools that are more than 10 feet deep, and there weren't any pools where I couldn't see the bottom.  I discovered long ago that, while I'm sure one can catch fish in these conditions on lots of different stuff, topwater almost always works.  So of course I tied on a walk the dog topwater on one rod.  And my homemade twin spin on another rod.  I had three more rods, and I planned on trying different stuff just to see if anything else worked.  The creek has always been a good "laboratory" for trying things, because you know the fish are there and they aren't very sophisticated.  If you can't catch them there on a given lure, it probably ain't a very good lure.

However, the floods since 2017 have really done a number on the creek.  There used to be a quite a few narrow, deep runs with overhanging trees to shade them, and that's where a lot of the bigger fish always hung out.  Those runs are gone.  The creek has widened, shallowed, and the bankside vegetation is pretty sparse so it's open to the sun.  It was as warm as I'd ever experienced on it.  Back in the "old days", I could depend upon catching well over a hundred smallmouth per day, often as many a 200 some days.  And out of all those fish, at least a few would be 18-20 inchers.

This time, I caught 89 yesterday and 94 today, with a total of 4 around 18 inches.  The average size was pretty good...not a lot of dinks, lots of 13-15 inchers.  Not up to the old standards, but still pretty sweet.

I tried Whopper Ploppers.  I tried a double bladed Plopper knockoff.  I tried ordinary willow leaf spinnerbaits.  I tried ordinary buzzbaits.  I tried a twin spin with a swim bait on it.  I tried Superflukes.  And maybe caught one or two fish on each, except I never got a sniff on the buzzbait or the double Plopper.  So by the middle of yesterday I'd given up on them all and was just throwing the topwater and occasionally the twin spin in faster water.  

What made the trip was the way the fish were hitting the topwater.  Many, perhaps most of them, were really hitting it like they were angry at it, often coming mostly out of the water to pound it.  I was often surprised when one would explode on it and I would be sure it was a big fish, only to soon discover it was a 13 incher.  Really heart-stopping strikes.  And the other really cool thing was that the majority of the fish were lying right up against the bank in shallow water.  You couldn't land your cast too close to them or the splashdown would spook them in that clear water.  But land it five to ten feet off the bank, and they would charge it instantly.  It got to where I wouldn't even watch my lure hit the water, I'd watch the bank adjacent to it for a wake.  If I saw the wake I'd just be ready to set the hooks.  Often I'd see just a bit of "nervous water" against the bank when the lure would splash, and I'd expect a strike within a couple twitches.  Wow...it was simply about as much fun as you can have and still be legal!  As is usual for walkers, a lot of times they'd not get hooked on the first strike, and would come back and hit it again and again as long as I could keep myself from setting the hooks and jerking it away from them.  I caught one of the 18 inchers that way on the twin spin, too...it hit with a massive swirl before the lure had moved 6 inches, but I didn't feel it and just kept reeling and watched it charge out after lure from 10 feet before slamming it again.  But those topwater strikes were just unbelievable!

[DADAKOTA]

Sounds like way too much fun Al.  

[Seth]

@Al Agnew do you experience a lot of blow ups on topwater from smallmouth that don't hook up? I love seeing them explode on a topwater, but it seems like I miss the majority of them. They will knock the bait plum out of the water like a shark attacking a seal, but never get stuck. It's like they are bum rushing it with their mouth closed instead of actually trying to eat it. I don't really have that issue with spots and largemouths.

**edit** I just finished reading the rest of your post and saw where you said they would miss it several times before getting hooked up so I guess that answers my question. 

[Gavin]

Nice...It's been awhile since I had a great topwater day like that. Good for you!

[ColdWaterFshr]

I'm always amazed at the topwater strikes I get that happen the very instant the bait hits the water.  Those are the ones that are usually an inch or two from the bank or from a weed-bed, or a log.  Its like the fish saw the bait coming through the air and opened its mouth to catch it like someone throwing popcorn to your mouth.

[snagged in outlet 3]

18 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

I could depend upon catching well over a hundred smallmouth per day, often as many a 200 some days.  And out of all those fish, at least a few would be 18-20 inchers.

This time, I caught 89 yesterday and 94 today, with a total of 4 around 18 inches.  The average size was pretty good...not a lot of dinks, lots of 13-15 inchers.  Not up to the old standards, but still pretty sweet.

I tried Whopper Ploppers.  I tried a double bladed Plopper knockoff.  I tried ordinary willow leaf spinnerbaits.  I tried ordinary buzzbaits.  I tried a twin spin with a swim bait on it.  I tried Superflukes.  And maybe caught one or two fish on each, except I never got a sniff on the buzzbait or the double Plopper.  So by the middle of yesterday I'd given up on them all and was just throwing the topwater and occasionally the twin spin in faster water.  

18 hours ago was 9:40 AM or so.  And you state:  "and 94 today,"  So you caught 94 smallies, drove home and typed this up by say....   10 AM??

But it pales in comparison to the 200 a day you used to catch.... 

[Al Agnew]

48 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

18 hours ago was 9:40 AM or so.  And you state:  "and 94 today,"  So you caught 94 smallies, drove home and typed this up by say....   10 AM??

But it pales in comparison to the 200 a day you used to catch.... 

I typed it last night after getting home.  Yesterday I got started by 6:30 AM and finished around 4 PM, so basically 9.5 hours of fishing.  The day before I was on the water at 9 AM and fished until about 7 PM.

[Al Agnew]

8 hours ago, Seth said:

@Al Agnew do you experience a lot of blow ups on topwater from smallmouth that don't hook up? I love seeing them explode on a topwater, but it seems like I miss the majority of them. They will knock the bait plum out of the water like a shark attacking a seal, but never get stuck. It's like they are bum rushing it with their mouth closed instead of actually trying to eat it. I don't really have that issue with spots and largemouths.

**edit** I just finished reading the rest of your post and saw where you said they would miss it several times before getting hooked up so I guess that answers my question. 

Some days are worse than others...this trip the fish were hitting it fairly well; I was hooking maybe 75% of the ones that hit it, including those that hit it more than once.  I've also experimented a lot with hooks and hook placement.  Most walkers have two hooks, but I've been using those that I could find that have three trebles.  Which brings its own set of problems.  Having three trebles makes lipping fish downright dangerous; I've begun to take a net with me on float trips.  And it also means that the rear treble is almost always on the outside of the mouth and often gets snagged somewhere on the fish's body, which I don't like.  And in addition, with the placement of three hooks, the front treble is pretty close to the eye of the lure and your line gets tangled on it with some regularity.  And finally, on every lure I've bought with three trebles, the middle and rear hooks are too close together and get tangled with each other.  So I have taken to replacing the rear hook with a much smaller one, and bending down the barbs on it.  I'm even going to experiment with leaving the rear treble off completely.  It seems to actually make some lures walk more easily, and since 95% of the fish I hooked are always hooked on the front or middle treble or both, I don't think the rear hook is even necessary.  Not to mention that when the fish DOES take in the rear hook, it's often down in their throat.

I'm going to make some with just two hooks, one fairly close to the eye and one fairly far back but not all the way at the rear end.

[fshndoug]

good plan Al.