Sports: Outdoors

The ultimate bass-fishing thrill

• Get out your poles and your tackle — the bite is always hot for bass fishing with topwater plugs.

Bob Kornegay

Fathers, grandfathers and story-embellishing fishermen in general are known for telling their younger angling cohorts tall tales about catching lunker largemouth bass and the always-bigger ones that “got away.” Such stories are often “embroidered” with wonderful detailed descriptions of that special silent time on the water late in the day before sundown or early in the morning just before full sunrise.

This, of course, is the ultimate fish-story time frame, for it is the time when hungry bass strike gurgling topwater lures almost with a vengeance, sometimes leaping clear of the water itself with heart-stopping aerobatics. There have been few youngsters who failed to listen in awe and with rapt attention when a veteran angler thrilled them with tales of fishing action worthy of the plot of a Hemingway novel.

Strange, then, that some expert anglers today believe that far too few fishermen presently take full advantage of this traditionally exciting method of catching bass. They are quick to emphasize that, just as in Grandpa’s heyday, topwater fishing for largemouths still offers a good chance at a big fish coupled with the excitement of an unexpected strike.

“There’s just something different about topwater bass fishing,” said long-time Lake Walter F. George bass guide Jackie Thompson. “This method provides an adrenaline rush and an air of suddenness not to be found in any other type of freshwater angling.

Despite the fact that all bass strikes are in their own way exciting and often surprising, those felt on subsurface crankbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits or slowly twitched plastic worms bounced along the bottom cannot hold a candle to the ones experienced on topwater plugs and other on-the-surface lures.

“There’s nothing else like it in all of fishing,” added Lake Seminole legend and master angler Jack Wingate. “You toss that old plug out there, give it a twitch and almost go to sleep watching the ripples fade away.

Then, usually while your mind’s on something else, that old mossback sucks that thing in and blows up a big old noisy spray of water. I swear, it’s enough to make a fella want to jump up and down and holler.”

Bass, as a rule, shun the shallows when the water warms up and sunlight penetrates below a foot or two of the surface. They spend the better part of a day in deeper, cooler, shadier waters. However, they return to shallow water as the sun goes down and water temperature begins to fall. They are also very shallow-active early in the morning before the sun has time to heat the water to uncomfortable levels.

“That definitely has its advantages where the fisherman is concerned,” the late, great legend Tom Mann once said. “During hot weather, that’s the best time to be on the water. It’s cooler, the wind doesn’t blow you around and it’s quiet. What a time to be fishing!”

Either time — early morning or late afternoon into the evening hours — provides an excellent opportunity to seek largemouths with topwater offerings.

When warm-water feeding periods approach, bass habitually move into or near weedbeds, stumps, brushpiles, docks and other shallow cover. Since largemouths locate food primarily by hearing and sight, calm-water periods during the right times of day are the best times to tempt them with topwater lures.

One of the best ways to try this topwater twist on bass fishing is to head for a submerged weedbed when darkness falls. If there is a little moonlight — or you know your lake especially well — try docks near shore shallows and stumps as well. Night fishing with surface-agitating topwater baits is often more thrilling than the daytime variety.

Bass hit a topwater plug with abandon, many times exploding out of the water and trying to shake the lure loose in mid-air. This kind of strike rattles both one’s hooks and nerves, not to mention his composure from time to time. Sometimes a prowling bass in a really aggressive mood will even strike a lure before it lands.

Precision casting can often be important in topwater fishing. Even fish that are aggressive enough to hit topwater baits will normally hold tight to cover and the closer to their haunts an angler can drop a lure the better.

A variety of plug types, sizes and colors are also needed. Some favorite hues include yellow, black, red-and-white and brown. Chrome-and-blue is a good all-around combination for most Southern waters.

Most experts believe the right way to fish topwater is to cast the plug and wait for the splash and ripples to dissipate. Next, twitch the rod just enough to “sputter” the lure an inch or two. When the ripples have again settled, give the plug another twitch and be ready for a strike at any time.

Sharp hooks are necessary and a stout casting rod helps keep the monofilament link between fish and fisherman intact.

Pro angler Jimmy Houston enjoys topwater fishing at night with buzzbaits.

He recommends a large bait retrieved just fast enough to keep it on the surface. There is no need to “rip” the bait at high speed unless the fish have shown a preference for this type of approach. He also points out that one of the most important variables in topwater fishing, nighttime or otherwise, is the hook-set.

“It’s natural to want to set the hook just as soon as the fish attacks the bait and you see the water erupt at the end of your line,” he said. “If you do that, though, most of the time you’ll lose the fish or never hook it at all. Avoid hitting the fish right when it hits the lure. Wait until you feel him on the other end, then set the hook.”

Try some topwater angling this bass-fishing season. A largemouth attacking a topwater bait can unnerve even the calmest angler, and then bring him right back for more.

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