First off, I absolutely love throwing a topwater nearly year around, but fall is my favorite time of year to do it.
Topwater fishing is what draws beginners and the best in the world to the sport of bass fishing. It hooks you to fishing; those explosions are what make your heart stop.
I haven’t really talked about technique or fishing in general, so I’m going to give you some of my secrets for topwater fishing in the fall, some baits you may of heard of, a few you may not of.
Strike Pro Hunchback
This bait has won me and some of my buddies a lot of money. It runs less than a few inches under the water, and the great thing about it is you can reel it at any speed. It pushes through the water and is the No. 1 bait for me when covering water.
I can tell you that the Strike Pro Hunchback will be seen all through the Elite Series for 2012 and will be great. The Elites know about it and I can promise you they will figure out how to utilize it. This bait is the reason I made the Bassmaster Classic.
My favorite colors are Bone/Chartreuse, Blue Eyed Billy, Ate O Ate.
Yellow Magic ¼ Ounce Popper
I have one Yellow Magic that was painted in Japanese Shad color and I have caught thousands of bass on it. For some reason this bait just flat catches them.
It hardly has any paint left on it and I can’t tell you how many sets of hooks I have gone through. It has won me a lot of in the fall and was actually one of the first baits I ever threw on Sam Rayburn.
If there is a topwater bite on, I pick this up second, either in Alewife and Japanese Shad.
Strike Pro Tai Stick
A relatively new bait for me to use, but goodness gracious what an awesome topwater so far. I’m still learning the best time to use it.
Fellow Strike Pro staffer Todd Castledine showed me this bait and immediately I knew it would work. If I had to describe it, it’s similar to a Lucky Craft Gunfish, super loud and about 4 inches long.
It walks very erratically and really gets you a lot of bites. I know Todd has won a lot of money with it on Sam Rayburn, I can’t wait to throw it there this fall.
Remember you have to stay ahead of the curve when fishing, and these few baits I think will give you a mixture of new and old. Todd will probably be kind of mad that I wrote this because he has not really told anyone about this bait. Try the Bone/Chartreuse and Pinkalicious colors.
So remember, fall means it’s topwater time!!! Strike Pro sure makes quite a few really innovative topwater baits that weren’t mentioned, but by all means these are my favorites!
Look them up if you get a chance. StrikeProLures.com
Good luck fishing and I hope this helps you for years to come!