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| Heddon Tiny Torpedo |
Fishing with topwater lures can offer explosive action and big fun, no doubt about it. Bass will attack that twitching bit of plastic, hitting the lure like steam train before pulling it down into the depths, and the fight's on.
The emphasis here is on can; a lot of the time, if you're me, poppers, torpedoes, spooks and the like produce no action at all. Still, the other day at Lake Whitney I had good success with a Torpedo and decided to read up on the subject. I found this article helpful, here's an excerpt:
Wham! When the strike came, I stifled my jerk reflex and waited for the fish to pull the bait down. Then, when I felt tension, I set back, and in short order a surprised three-pounder was flopping in my net.
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| Heddon Spook |
...Most every brushpile harbored bass, and my Tiny Torpedo and that stay-put, irritating retrieve were the keys to catching them. Those fish never hit when the lure first gurgled into range. Instead, it was the twitching that changed their mood from neutral to aggressive. By tantalizing them long enough, the lure triggered their instinct to kill the "helpless prey" even though they weren't hungry.So this is the object with topwater lures, to present bass with a vulnerable, unaware "creature" that is an easy target, then allowing nature to take its course.
You can read the rest of it here and learn something about the why, where, when and how of topwater lures. For me the why's simple, sheer excitement at the ferocious, leaping, impact of the Bass.
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| Lake Aquilla, The Challenge Is On! |
Nothing like it and while I'm no expert, the success I have had makes me want more. A lot more.
Fish On,
LSP
10 comments:
Most lures and jigs entice fish to strike them because of their innate desire to fight, unlike sink bait and worms. Having said that, there are times when fish like to bite and there are times when they don't. There are lots of theories, there has been endless science, and I'm sure that they have to be getting close to the bottom line by now.
With Pop Gear, there are flashers that draw the fish's attention to a night crawler being towed behind them. FLASHERS, oh, there's a worm. Trolling with Pop Gear means that you're better off using lead filled line to keep the depth constant - and fighting the fish isn't as fun as ultralight gear.
Just my thoughts, threw my cracker into the soup.
Fishing with flashers is the way to go. Much more active experience, than the passive method of plunking some bottom bait into the water from the shore, sitting down next to the pole and watching for the pole to jerk. For hours. And hours.
Nah, none of that for me.
Flashers require trolling, and that means getting a boat and motor. You know how much I like boats and motors, pastor. Lots of hands on involvement:
*loading the boat, filling the gas tank, towing the boat to the ramp
*backing down the ramp, dunking the boat, tying the boat to the dock
*pulling the boat trailer back to the parking lot
*getting in the boat, motoring to where you want to fish
*rigging the flashers, etc. (I prefer Ford Fenders)
*worming them up, dunking them, start trolling
Then the fish just about jump into the boat, they just can't leave those flashers and the bait behind them alone.
Or, you can sit on the bank and wait for the pole to jerk.
Your choice.
Trolling with flashers. Interesting, LL.
Thanks for that breakdown, Fredd.
Some of the best fishing I've had in a boat was some years ago in a small Jon on a lake in Canada. We used minnows and caught big Bass and Perch. But didn't use flashers. Mind you, that was someone else's boat...
Most of my bank fishing involves baiting a rod and letting it sit while I cast off with another rod in the hope of more active fun. I get bored just looking at the stationary rod. Sometimes one rod produces and the other doesn't, sometimes both do.
But what about canoe fishing? Maybe that's the way to go?
If you have a canoe, you can troll with some interesting top lures like flatfish. The flatfish is a very active lure and because it floats naturally, it's a bit less likely to get snagged. I've had luck with the old tried and true Mepps spinners as well. They have been around since the 20's and have led to many fish ending up in the frying pan. Most of the water there in those Hill Country lakes is turbid and you need something to attract the fish. The spinner on the beats the water and it flashes...It doesn't sound as scientific as a lot of those newer plugs, but a hundred years of catching fish...can't be ignored.
Canoes are a lot easier than power boats if you're fishing in smaller lakes. Easy to load and unload, less expensive to operate and you can still put a small electric trolling motor on them if you don't want to paddle.
I've used the old Mepps spinners and had some luck -- some swear that a skirtless(?) Mepps is THE lure for stripers. But a decent canoe might make sense for me: you can still power it up, it's versatile and comparatively cheap. A kayak might be fun too.
Of course if someone wants to donate a power boat to the church I wouldn't say no...
I think that you need a canoe - or a flashy donated bass boat.
Sitting on the bank with stink bait in the water, waiting for that delicious carp to bite, is referred to in Texas as "negro fishing"...or so I've been told.
I'm not a big fan of sitting around staring vacantly at a rod, I have to say. Still, I've caught carp from the bank with corn kernels on a treble hook, and while it wasn't Bass, still fun. In England, curiously, they've made carp fishing into a big deal.
A bass boat would be fun, but a canoe would be neat too. Sorry, Fredd, I know you're against the boats.
Nah, no offense taken, Parson. I'm all for DONATED bass boats in YOUR garage. Real expensive ones, with huge Mercs on the back that go about 75 mph. Now THAT's fishin.' And you invite me to go along, I just step into the boat, fish, then step out of the boat never to cast my eyes upon it again. That's MY kind of fishing with my kind of boat....YOUR boat.
On the other hand, if I have to PAY for a bass boat, you can count me out. Or maintain it, or store it, or (fill in the myriad other pains in the butt of boat ownership here).
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