Question for top-water guru

Breambuster · Post by **Breambuster** » September 4th, 2007, 1:10 pm

I was using using walking the dog topwater and had many blow-ups but the hook-up ratio was horrible. I must have over 20 hits, several of which the fish knock the plug over a foot off the water, but only managed to have 4 hookups, and 2 spit the hook halfway to the boat.

What did I do wrong or is this my strike to hookup ratio normal? Is there anything I can do to up my hook-up ratio? I believe I am using the Spooks plugs.

Post by **jsuber** » September 4th, 2007, 2:05 pm

Try 6 to 8 twitches and stop, count to 5 the repeat. Try speeding up your retireve and don't stop, or slow your retrieve and don't stop so they can get the rythym to strike. Some things to try that may work..

Post by **Sir reel** » September 4th, 2007, 2:12 pm

Good question. Sometimes those short strikes are just what the fish are into and it doesn't have anything to do with what your doing. What sort of followup to the "blowups" do you generally engage in?

Reel it in right away... ? Let it set....? throw a back up suspended lure....? ask somebody to hit you in the chest to get your heart started again... etc.

You might rig up a topwater with a trailer and see if they will go for the trailer

Breambuster · Post by **Breambuster** » September 4th, 2007, 2:43 pm

Sir reel wrote: ask somebody to hit you in the chest to get your heart started again... etc.

This one. There were some big swerl that fer sure. If I didnt set the hook by reflex, I usually let it sit still or twitch it one or twice - none of them come back to hit it again though.

Sir reel wrote:You might rig up a topwater with a trailer and see if they will go for the trailer

Please tell more about the trailer? How do you rig it?

Post by **Jumptrout51** » September 4th, 2007, 3:21 pm

For a trailer I use a DOA on 14-16" of flourocarbon tied to the rear hook of my TW.
Also keep a rod rigged with a soft jerkbait and throw behind your TW and work it into your bait.
Otherwise,hit/miss ratio is about right for most days.

bbb · Post by **bbb** » September 4th, 2007, 3:22 pm

I always have a backup rod rigged with a light jighead (1/16, 1/8), 8# line and a live shrimp. After a missed blowup, drop the topwater rod and pick up the live shrimp and toss it back letting it land in the swirl next to the topwater bait. Probably 6 out of 10 times he'll hit this rig if he didn't feel the hook from the topwater bait.

Have somebody else ready to reel in the other rod if the fish takes the bait.

Post by **Sir reel** » September 4th, 2007, 3:23 pm

I usually let it sit still or twitch it one or twice - none of them come back to hit it again though.

My personal first choice given your situation would be to have a spoon or suspended jerk bait rigged and ready to go and while leaving the topwater sit where it landed, I'd throw the spoon or ?? to the area and work it back before starting the topwater back up again.

Please tell more about the trailer? How do you rig it?

The quick answer is ... what works is whats best. The first time I ever saw it done was early 1950's. One evening, I was fishing a farm pond with my Grandfather. He had been fishing topwater and had several blowups from Bass who would knock the plug up in the air and then not come back to it. He tied a piece of mono (probably 14" or so) onto the rear treble of a hula popper to which he attached a red and white lazy ike. It worked for him that evening. He later tried it with a black jitter bug and also tried some jigs and streamers as trailers. If you tie something on the rear of a "walk'n dog" type lure it may not work as before so I would probably go with a "prop" or popper type topwater. I've seen folks take off the rear treble and attach the trailer. O rings can be used ... or not. I've also seen the treble replaced with a single J hook pointed up and the trailer attached at the same point. Here is a diagram of how you could attach the trailer ahead of the topwater.

I couldn't find any pic's of the trailer attached to the plug its self.

When you think about it...your close to producing the same action when you use a cajun thunder.... topwater disturbance with something going on underneath. We've had discussions on this forum about putting hooks on the cork of a CT because fish are hitting the float... Hope this addresses your request because I don't have much more to offer except to experiment with it.

Post by **bman** » September 4th, 2007, 4:16 pm

My guess would be that you had reds chasing your topwater- they are notorious for slashing at a bait without taking it. Reds mouths are on the bottom- they are built to eat stuff under the surface.
That is not to say you cant catch reds on top!!!!!

I agree with the other guys about following up with a spoon, jerk bait or shrimp. I usually keep one of those ringed in reach.

I fish top water 90%of the time of the flats.
My retrieve is almost always the same- constant Pop the handle pop spin the reel handle I keep it moving at a fairly quick pace. If one misses it I will stop it for a couple of seconds and then start up again.

Like every rule- some days they want it a little quicker some days they want it a little slower

NEVER SET THE HOOK TILL YOU FEEL THE FISH!!

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » September 4th, 2007, 4:36 pm

I fish topwater beyond a point of fault because I believe it'll work all the time. Fool that I am. When I fish with others they usually comment about how hard I work them. I use a fast rod and Chug Bug 90% of the time because it'll pop really loud and hard. The strategy is to mimic other fish working the surface and generate a reaction strike. When a fish misses I speed up immediately with 3-4 hard pops and slow briefly to a twitch, but only wait a second or two. Then I find that my best luck is on the next cast 10-20 feet to either side of where the fish missed -not right where the fish missed. I do follow with jigs sometimes & they're the right call for Reds but I'd rather throw the Topwater again -unless they still can't seem to get to it.
Experiment with it. Try to work it 5-6 pops a lot harder than you imagine you should.
Piss em off.

Post by **bman** » September 4th, 2007, 5:05 pm

Littoral wrote:When a fish misses I speed up immediately with 3-4 hard pops and slow briefly to a twitch, but only wait a second or two.

Yes to that - and I

the chugbug

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » September 4th, 2007, 6:31 pm

And...Power Pro to impart action is a must.
my 2 cents

Post by **birddog** » September 4th, 2007, 7:13 pm

Here's a link to a good discussion on topwater baits and other hard baits.

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=535361

Pay particularly close attention to anything posted by Gowge.

In fact, do a search on the FS site for the author Gowge. This gentleman has since passed away, but he left a wealth of knowledge on the FS forum.

Braided line may work with chug type lures but I have found I need the stretch of monofilament when using walk-the-dog type topwaters.

Post by **Redbelly** » September 4th, 2007, 7:35 pm

Good link BD

And BD....they didn't make gulp in the 70's...geese..

mojokoko · Post by **mojokoko** » September 4th, 2007, 8:21 pm

Wow thanks Birddog. That is some really good information. I learned a lot by reading it.

leonreno · Post by **leonreno** » September 4th, 2007, 9:26 pm

One of the hardest things for me when fishing topwater is not to instinctivly set the hook when I see the strike. You should wait till you feel the weight of the fish on the rod before you set the hook. And, I found with trebles you do not need to set the hook hard, of course on most of my topwaters I switch out or resharpen the hooks that come with it. Really sharp hooks really help, many times the hook will be in the side of the fish instead of in its mouth. Good luck.