When to fish topwater

[MrPhotographer06]

around here its always said to fish topwater til about 9:00 AM..then start with shallow cranks.. then deep with plastic worms or something.. but what about afternoon? How long to stay on the plastic worms ? planning on hitting a little pond later today.. heres the sun/moon data for today

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:40 a.m.
Sunrise 6:09 a.m.
Sun transit 1:22 p.m.
Sunset 8:36 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:05 p.m.

MOON
Moonrise 9:00 p.m. on preceding day
Moon transit 1:47 a.m.
Moonset 6:37 a.m.
Moonrise 9:45 p.m.
Moonset 7:35 a.m. on following day

[Captmikestarrett]

I fish it as much as possible.. But I have always pushed the envelope on topwater..

Capt Mike

[Lancer6]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

I fish it as much as possible.. But I have always pushed the envelope on topwater..

Capt Mike

Well, put a stamp on it!
Seriously, Mein Kapitan, you aren't alone in that quirk. I usually keep a SuperSpook Jr, rigged all the live-long day when "at sea" on a lake. One never knows when that magic moment will arrive.
Even on the brightest day one could spot a shaded spot where a willow or some other bit of flora overhangs the water, or there might be a low ledge with just enough shadowy space beneath to provide ambush cover for a bass (or snook, or...). Some of my happiest memories involve such isolated happenstances.
Too, there are those occasions when the sun is brightly shining but the wind is up and the "Surf" is a-crash against the rip-rap. On more than one such a day I've managed to entice a bass to attack a topwater, most often a Spook, that was presented in such a manner as to mimic an impaired prey fish struggling to avoid being beached.
Fair to say, that topwater plug may remain parching on the deck all day, once dawn and early mists have left but one never knows...one never knows.

Lancer6

[Jigger]

Generally speaking, in the Summer after the water warms way up, I'll start at first light throwing a topwater and covering as much water as possible trying to find agressive feeding fish that are on the prowl. After the early morning bite slows down which is sooner on bright hot days and later on cloudy days, I'll pick up my jig n' pig or plastic and spend the rest of the day fishing down.

To answer your question about topwater in the evening on farm ponds, it can be a killer method once the sun gets low. My favorites for late evening farm pond fishing are Pop R's and buzz baits. If you've got a lot of dragon flys on the farm pond, which a lot of them do, you can have a ball fishing a fly rod with a popper that has big rubber legs that undulate just setting still.

[Marty]

A few years ago we were at a pond on a sunny July afternoon. It was pretty weed-choked and our choice was using soft plastics as a search baits or topwaters. We got lots of action on topwaters and since then I've had loads of fish on topwaters during sunny conditions. So I use them anytime except when the water is cold in the spring and fall.

[BigBassin144]

Last year, father's day, close to 100*. A small reservoir about 20 mile west of toledo, in the middle of the day. We were throwing buzzbaits and catching quite a few. If we woulda caught more with a different lure: who knows. My faorite times to use topwaters are early morning, evening-night, and during "The dog days of summer" Not many people use topwaters during the last one, but up here in the places we fish, the fish don't have much deep water to take cover from the heat in. So... they turn to cover, in our case, weeds.


BB

[MrPhotographer06]

we hit up latimers today for some keepers.. got 1 good 13 incher.. one 12"

then left about 9:30..then hit this private pond back in the woods. i caught two off buzz baits and one on june bug

[3dkicker]

Depends on if the fish are active and feeding upwards. If so then you better be throwing topwater or something just under the surface. If they aren't then you're wasting your time. How do you know? Test the waters and see. Remember things can and will change during the day so don't be afraid to test the waters throughout the morning, later in the day or afternoon.

[MrPhotographer06]

yeah we've only had luck there with pop-r there before.. well.. we both hit ours on a buzzbait.. after i kinda talked him into trying it out.. "nahhh i'll throw my pop-r "lol

[3dkicker]

Out of all the fish we caught last week on the river none were on a popper. I had one fish roll on the Pop'r and miss. The rest hit buzzbaits, toads, and only one grabbed a "Kermie".

[BigBassin144]

Any one Tried the Lobina Lures Rico or Rio Rico poppers? They worth the $20 (give or take), or just stick with sometihng cheaper?

BB

[MrPhotographer06]

havent hit one on a frog yet... i guess its not that hard.. i did hit one on a fast reeling plastic worm across the pads.. i saw some movement and went past him and sho' 'nuff he hit it

[Nitro911]

Like LancerRod, I will keep a topwater tied on all day long. Usually a Spook of some variation and a buzzbait this time of year. I was catching fish on the buzzer at 1:00 in the afternoon a couple of weeks ago fishing over grass.

I know a guy who will throw a Spook in 80 feet of water all day long during the summer. He says the fish are suspended at 20-25 feet and will come up after it. Me, I don't have the patience to wait long enough in that deep of water, but he does really well with it.

[Lancer6]

Originally Posted by Nitro911

...I know a guy who will throw a Spook in 80 feet of water all day long during the summer. He says the fish are suspended at 20-25 feet and will come up after it. Me, I don't have the patience to wait long enough in that deep of water, but he does really well with it.

Nitey,

During the 70s-Early 80s I fished with a fine fellow who could charm a bass into striking a Black/Silver Flash PICO Pop on a blistering Summer afternoon, often calling them up from great depths. He was especially deadly at Amistad, fishing the Pop over sunken trees whose very tops were sometimes 35 feet beneath the surface.
He even made that Pop produce in the less-than-Amistad-clear waters of lakes such as Livingston, Calaveras, Falcon, etc.
Dunno whatever happened to Ol' Bob after he left San Antonio, but I like to think that, as I'm sitting here with the AC on Max, he's still out there chunking that Pop.

L6

[Jim80]

i usually have either a buzz bait or a skitter pop tied on and feel comfortable throwing them at anytime of the day

[MrPhotographer06]

hmm.. i used to run 3 rods when fishing a corked rod, snapswivel rod and a worm rod.. i elimnated the 'ol cork rod.. cant believe i called my self a bass fisherman with a cork rod in the boat lol.i still snapswivel my stuff its harder on buzz and spinners to get them situated on the thing.. i thought about soomething the other day if i take line and tie it on to one side of the U loop at the top and wrap it around the other side and then tie it off tight it makes a O loop to keep the snapswivel from sliding

[Jim80]

you are better off just tying directly to the spinner or buzz bait and leave the snap swivels
for your crank baits and what not

[MrPhotographer06]

well i my third spinning reel the anti-reverse is messed up so it screws up.. the second reason to tossing it into the barn.. i we have an ultra light rod but its my dads and it has like 6lb test on it for crappie fishing

[scbassman]

hey mr photo did you ever go to lake ashwood like you were planning? i went and didnt get a bite but i think that place is getting to much pressure on it . i went to a private pond in hartsville the other day and were catching some monster breams and also smaller crappies on the beetle spin and caught a 4 lb catfish as well.

[MrPhotographer06]

yeah missed 7 worm hooksets

[frogfisher]

I fish from the shore and catch most of my topwater bass around the hours of 2:00 - 4:00 so it doesnt really matter when you fish it, its more of where you fish it