A good tip I have for topwater anglers is sometimes the bass will strike your lure just sitting still/motionless on the surface after walking/popping it for many seconds….Just be patient…..no need to just walk your bait back to the shore or your boat continuously without stopping …. There’s been times when I casted out my topwater bait and get interrupted by a phone call or a text or a buddy next to me along the shore asks me a question, and my lure is now just sitting still on the surface….I’ve caught some nice bass up to 10 seconds after my lure is sitting motionless on the surface. This works for poppers, frogs, or walking baits….I can recall having a tail feather on my topwater baits many times when the bass strike the lure when it is motionless, so I’m pretty certain that subtle action of the feather (or a skirt on a frog) in the water will make a bass strike your lure…. On the other end of the spectrum , I remember one time I was fishing a large local pond with my shower blows 125, and after bombing the lure out around 150 feet from shore next to a large area of surface grass, as soon as the lure hit the surface, a fish attacked it violently….I hadn’t even closed my bail yet…it turned out to be a 3 lber.
I’ve been crushing them on top water the last week or two. No matter how many times you get one, it’s so freaking exciting everytime! Running 7’3 heavy fast with 65lb braid, and these fish have zero chance shaking off. The whopper plopper has just been gold. Just want to add that you can remove the back treble and run an inline circle hook instead. I do this for two reasons, first it helps keep you from snagging on entry like you mentioned. I also do it to avoid getting the back treble hooked in the body. I almost always bury the front treble in the upper lip and that’s hard enough to get out, so I’d rather not have to deal with a buried treble in their mouth and another in the body
Ben now where talking , my fishing lives and dies by the topwater bite. Your spot on with the chugger calm or glass is key. Not to big on feather hooks and sometimes no rattles either. Walking baits great fast moving but sometimes on calm / glass water against structure you can do short fast twitch of your rod and give a a dying quiver effect without moving it. Love the W plopper 75 to 110 size , you mentioned to cast and retrieve ( mindless fishing ) you can actual use some other techniques that work well also .You are spot on with the WP hook getting fouled out casting close to banks. Buzzbaits cool but lots of short strikes. Been playing with the River 2 Sea Opening Bell with optional belly hook attached. Frogs I like with the paddle legs or bladed legs. Not to much cover for frog fishing where i frequent. Good stuff look forward to more videos on top water . I personally belive ever fisherman or woman past the BD stage needs to be good at these techniques to be a good productive angler. Where’s your boy Griff ?
Ben I’ve just got to say thank you! I’m just getting back into fishing after stopping in the early 90’s. Let me tell you, todays fishing techniques and styles of fishing are very overwhelming. Your breakdowns are essential for me and I’m learning so much!! Thank you!!!
Great info! Down on the Southern Az ponds the crawler baits work, but I never get bit on them on the bigger central lakes. Excellent explanation on why that is.
Great usable information, that even some of us older anglers have forgot that we knew once upon a time. Good refresher course. Really Looking forward to more of the same, only in-depth videos. Good job Ben
Awesome top water video! You’re right.. there are definitely a lot of top water choices out there. The karashi and picro 68 have been crushing it this year for myself in rivers, ponds, and lakes. That Karashi walks so effortlessly on the water.
Hey Ben, this was a great video and one of the best topwater videos I've seen for high level overview on the "why, when, where" etc. for the different types of topwater lures, great job and thanks!
You're missing out not adding erie 115 tw. Been straight crushing them on it. When no other topwaters will work or they just want something really finesse you can't beat it. New school take on a Rapala floating Minnow that can do things the Rapala couldn't dream of. Money. And because of the subtlety, natural action, and silent nature its something that the fish won't quickly become conditioned too.
@@jddarby007 there's alot you can do with it once you start playing with it. Easiest is cast 2-3 handle turns, not fast just steady, pause a few seconds till it surfaces and repeat. I'll vary how long I let it sit before giving it a few cranks as well as wait to start the retrieve after the cast, 1-3 seconds sometimes I let it sit for up to a minute and all of a sudden it gets crushed. The first couple cranks it really kicks out hard to one side or the other like a natural hunting action before it starts running straight, so once you get used to it you can almost walk it under the water by doing a single aggressive handle turn, 1sec pause aggressive turn. You can also twitch like a regular jerkbait, I like a few second steady retrieve with a couple jerks before I pause, reel reel reel reel twitch twitch pause let it rise to surface and repeat. The last one I really like is if you do a sharp fast sweep on slack line you can get it to make a little ploop when it dives, but I don't do a very long sweep, after it ploops and dives I only want it to get the first erratic rolls before it starts running straight. I know that was alot but there's really alot you can do with such a seemingly simple bait, don't be afraid to play around with it. Hope this helps.
A wake bait is usually killing it for me out here in cali from now till November. Especially a rat. And there’s only one rat you need to be throwing. PB baby. But frog fishing is by far the best way to catch bass. Never leave home without one.
You did miss one of the most successful old school baits and that is the floating rapala. Cast it out, let the ring from where the bait hit get to a couple feet, give it a slight jerk, let the New ring get to a couple feet. Bring it back in and make another cast. Still one of the most deadly techniques when fishing calm water I do use all the other techniques though.
What rod do you recommend for topwater walking baits and other treble hook topwaters with some crankbait use? I can only keep so many rods on my kayak and I'd like to double the rod's use if I can. My budget is $200 and I was looking at the Daiwa Tatula Elite universal 7'2 MH/regular.
So, am I dumb (don't answer that) or is Bento box impossible to subscribe to? I'm new to hookup tackle, is that something that you really have to keep an eye on for availability, or does it open during select times a month, or am I just doing something wrong? Love the channel, enjoying all your content, discovered Nishine because of you guys and looking forward to testing that stuff out.
Man you didn’t cover the Mylar minnow or other soft top water when they are in clear reservoirs calm water they need ultra finesse presentations like floating minnow type baits.. Mylar minnow is exceptionally good at this as it will float weightless nose or kind of wacky hooked
My favorite way too catch bass! Duh, it's everyones favorite way. I throw wakes and crawlers at night. Two problems with my crawlers. NZ has bad hook up ratios. Mega Bass I wing crawlers break super easy! On my 3rd with less than 40 hours total on 3. I have one I have to send back now. Do they get smashed, Best Crawler for bites.
The Aluminum wings break off after you bend them back after they get smashed. I disagree with your big water scenario, at night especially. The I wing is super versitle. It gets way better hook ups than the NZ. NZ is awesome and get smashed too, and is alot more rugged and has steel wings vs aluminum.
I’m trying to master the small urban lakes. Can you do a vid on the best baits and approaches to these ridiculous bodies of waters called lakes? I’m assuming the crawler styles will be good there.
General question, I have an otomat, what size whopper ploppers do you think I could toss with it? Also what ratio reel would you be using for the top water? Is an 8:1 too fast?
All are great and the grand siglett is great for super pressured bass here down south. It's also a black crappie killer in spring when they're up on the bank spawning. Yes crappie hit topwater like crazy during their spawn
Quick question, I have trip on the 30th to target salmon up in New York. I plan on getting the 8’10mh Cookai. Do you recommend it or have anything else?
So far this year…… Megabass Karashi has out fished every other top water bait I own.. and I have em all. Whopper Plopper killed it when they first came out, now it’s kind of irrelevant.
@@thehookuptackle_usa , people don’t know what they missing out on. I had to swap out the hooks for single, more stout hooks. Did my how trailers too and it slays almost every species.
ur gonna have to look for musky jerk baits usually they have that the or-poi has a wire thru harness but is a sinking pencil bait but. def underrated for fresh water use don't know many guys doing that and I bet musky would smash it.
Crawler works if you see rats around the bank we have one lake this will work with..if bass hits rat bait they will hit this..i throwed the rats everyone an only lake i caught bass was the lake has rats running around the bank at..when you see guys catching them with rat they only fishing that one lake im referring to.i showed people granddad tackle box he had small crawlers in it from mid last century.he had chatterbait an spinnerbaits made that way
Lobina: Spanish for bass Pronounced, Loh-bee-nah No shade being thrown. You show us how to pronounce Japanese lures so just helping out on the proper pronunciation of the Spanish word Lobina.
Try tightening up your walking movement. Instead of an actual rod jerk like what I use for a walking topwater, with a frog I just squeeze my pinky so the rod moves very little. Frogs are small bodied, so the rod movement needs to me much smaller.
Ben's popper noise imitation is spot on
I’ve been practicing 🤣🍻
Incredible pop’n gloubps’ 😂🎉
A good tip I have for topwater anglers is sometimes the bass will strike your lure just sitting still/motionless on the surface after walking/popping it for many seconds….Just be patient…..no need to just walk your bait back to the shore or your boat continuously without stopping …. There’s been times when I casted out my topwater bait and get interrupted by a phone call or a text or a buddy next to me along the shore asks me a question, and my lure is now just sitting still on the surface….I’ve caught some nice bass up to 10 seconds after my lure is sitting motionless on the surface. This works for poppers, frogs, or walking baits….I can recall having a tail feather on my topwater baits many times when the bass strike the lure when it is motionless, so I’m pretty certain that subtle action of the feather (or a skirt on a frog) in the water will make a bass strike your lure….
On the other end of the spectrum , I remember one time I was fishing a large local pond with my shower blows 125, and after bombing the lure out around 150 feet from shore next to a large area of surface grass, as soon as the lure hit the surface, a fish attacked it violently….I hadn’t even closed my bail yet…it turned out to be a 3 lber.
I’ve been crushing them on top water the last week or two. No matter how many times you get one, it’s so freaking exciting everytime! Running 7’3 heavy fast with 65lb braid, and these fish have zero chance shaking off. The whopper plopper has just been gold.
Just want to add that you can remove the back treble and run an inline circle hook instead. I do this for two reasons, first it helps keep you from snagging on entry like you mentioned. I also do it to avoid getting the back treble hooked in the body. I almost always bury the front treble in the upper lip and that’s hard enough to get out, so I’d rather not have to deal with a buried treble in their mouth and another in the body
Ben now where talking , my fishing lives and dies by the topwater bite. Your spot on with the chugger calm or glass is key. Not to big on feather hooks and sometimes no rattles either. Walking baits great fast moving but sometimes on calm / glass water against structure you can do short fast twitch of your rod and give a a dying quiver effect without moving it. Love the W plopper 75 to 110 size , you mentioned to cast and retrieve ( mindless fishing ) you can actual use some other techniques that work well also .You are spot on with the WP hook getting fouled out casting close to banks. Buzzbaits cool but lots of short strikes. Been playing with the River 2 Sea Opening Bell with optional belly hook attached. Frogs I like with the paddle legs or bladed legs. Not to much cover for frog fishing where i frequent. Good stuff look forward to more videos on top water . I personally belive ever fisherman or woman past the BD stage needs to be good at these techniques to be a good productive angler. Where’s your boy Griff ?
Ben I’ve just got to say thank you! I’m just getting back into fishing after stopping in the early 90’s. Let me tell you, todays fishing techniques and styles of fishing are very overwhelming. Your breakdowns are essential for me and I’m learning so much!! Thank you!!!
That’s awesome man. Welcome back! Thank you for watching 🍻
Best popper, the shimano world pop. 2 action bait. That flash boost is just too good.
Great info! Down on the Southern Az ponds the crawler baits work, but I never get bit on them on the bigger central lakes. Excellent explanation on why that is.
Great usable information, that even some of us older anglers have forgot that we knew once upon a time. Good refresher course. Really Looking forward to more of the same, only in-depth videos. Good job Ben
Thank you for watching! Glad it was useful! 🍻
Awesome top water video! You’re right.. there are definitely a lot of top water choices out there. The karashi and picro 68 have been crushing it this year for myself in rivers, ponds, and lakes. That Karashi walks so effortlessly on the water.
That's such a sick bait! Glad it's been working for you!
The popper sound effect was on point 🫡😹
😜👊🍻
Legit thank you Ben and team!
Hey Ben, this was a great video and one of the best topwater videos I've seen for high level overview on the "why, when, where" etc. for the different types of topwater lures, great job and thanks!
Thank you for watching! 🍻
No luck using a Rebel Pop R but a whopper plopper has been money. Loon colored 110 size BAM ✌🏻🎣
I'm going to figure out more about the crawler and get back with y'all once I have all the feedback I get from fishing it on the water for awhile
The crawlers he showed are a little on the (big) side I found that the Jackels Pompadour and Higdeons are the perfect size to not intimidate the bass!
Excellent presentation for less skilled top water anglers like me. Still pursuing my first blow up.
11:02 the fish near me:
🎣
🙄 "Fuck that. Let that fucker go by."
As always, great stuff. Definitely talked me into trying a crawler style bait on a small lake I fish a lot. Thanks for all the info.
Have fun! A crawler bite is unlike any other 🍻
That Megabass Jamaica boa looks pretty cool!
Ben's eyes look like he's been toking up all night in every video 😁
37:35 this guy knows whats up!
My hard bait topwater list: Pop Max and Pop Max.
😆 gotta admit it's pretty damn consistent
@@SuaSponte75 versatility and simple. 😂
@@SuaSponte75 uuyyuuuup pop pppppppppp pop pop
You're missing out not adding erie 115 tw. Been straight crushing them on it. When no other topwaters will work or they just want something really finesse you can't beat it. New school take on a Rapala floating Minnow that can do things the Rapala couldn't dream of. Money. And because of the subtlety, natural action, and silent nature its something that the fish won't quickly become conditioned too.
I just got a couple of those. What type of retrieve do you use?
@@jddarby007 there's alot you can do with it once you start playing with it. Easiest is cast 2-3 handle turns, not fast just steady, pause a few seconds till it surfaces and repeat. I'll vary how long I let it sit before giving it a few cranks as well as wait to start the retrieve after the cast, 1-3 seconds sometimes I let it sit for up to a minute and all of a sudden it gets crushed. The first couple cranks it really kicks out hard to one side or the other like a natural hunting action before it starts running straight, so once you get used to it you can almost walk it under the water by doing a single aggressive handle turn, 1sec pause aggressive turn. You can also twitch like a regular jerkbait, I like a few second steady retrieve with a couple jerks before I pause, reel reel reel reel twitch twitch pause let it rise to surface and repeat. The last one I really like is if you do a sharp fast sweep on slack line you can get it to make a little ploop when it dives, but I don't do a very long sweep, after it ploops and dives I only want it to get the first erratic rolls before it starts running straight. I know that was alot but there's really alot you can do with such a seemingly simple bait, don't be afraid to play around with it. Hope this helps.
I imagine this will be in their next " most underrated topwaters video" lol
I'm going to experiment with outer weights on it and use it as a slow sinking dying Smelt later this fall when Temps drop.
Liked it, Ben looked like he’d been playing dungeons and dragons for 3 day straight
Hellfire club baby 🤣🍻
@@thehookuptackle_usa lol
A wake bait is usually killing it for me out here in cali from now till November. Especially a rat. And there’s only one rat you need to be throwing. PB baby. But frog fishing is by far the best way to catch bass. Never leave home without one.
Agreed and agreed
I was able to locate some I wing Juniors, which are about 2.5" long
You did miss one of the most successful old school baits and that is the floating rapala. Cast it out, let the ring from where the bait hit get to a couple feet, give it a slight jerk, let the New ring get to a couple feet. Bring it back in and make another cast. Still one of the most deadly techniques when fishing calm water
I do use all the other techniques though.
Much like Jeff I always start with a topwater fire ant.
Of course! 🤣
poppers are a great river bait.
What rod do you recommend for topwater walking baits and other treble hook topwaters with some crankbait use? I can only keep so many rods on my kayak and I'd like to double the rod's use if I can. My budget is $200 and I was looking at the Daiwa Tatula Elite universal 7'2 MH/regular.
I could see Geoff dropshotting a 8” Hudd maybe😁Love me some Topwater!
Man that sounds terrible 🤣👍🍻
So, am I dumb (don't answer that) or is Bento box impossible to subscribe to? I'm new to hookup tackle, is that something that you really have to keep an eye on for availability, or does it open during select times a month, or am I just doing something wrong? Love the channel, enjoying all your content, discovered Nishine because of you guys and looking forward to testing that stuff out.
Man you didn’t cover the Mylar minnow or other soft top water when they are in clear reservoirs calm water they need ultra finesse presentations like floating minnow type baits.. Mylar minnow is exceptionally good at this as it will float weightless nose or kind of wacky hooked
My favorite way too catch bass! Duh, it's everyones favorite way. I throw wakes and crawlers at night. Two problems with my crawlers. NZ has bad hook up ratios. Mega Bass I wing crawlers break super easy! On my 3rd with less than 40 hours total on 3. I have one I have to send back now. Do they get smashed, Best Crawler for bites.
The Aluminum wings break off after you bend them back after they get smashed. I disagree with your big water scenario, at night especially. The I wing is super versitle. It gets way better hook ups than the NZ. NZ is awesome and get smashed too, and is alot more rugged and has steel wings vs aluminum.
What weights are u using for your Topwater a?
Never going to happen
1/1,000,000,000 oz bank sinkers
That guy in the kayak needs a new paddle.😂
I’m trying to master the small urban lakes. Can you do a vid on the best baits and approaches to these ridiculous bodies of waters called lakes? I’m assuming the crawler styles will be good there.
Urban is super hard. Everything can work under the right conditions. From a topwater standpoint crawler can be good, so can a buzzbait.
General question, I have an otomat, what size whopper ploppers do you think I could toss with it? Also what ratio reel would you be using for the top water? Is an 8:1 too fast?
90 and smaller is ideal for that rod. 7:1 or 8:1 would be good for that technique
@@thehookuptackle_usa would 7:1 be preferred for all around top water?
🍻🍻🍻 IWing for the win
That's a fun one! 🍻
Pompadour is better! 🍻
All are great and the grand siglett is great for super pressured bass here down south. It's also a black crappie killer in spring when they're up on the bank spawning. Yes crappie hit topwater like crazy during their spawn
I jst got a jamaica boa and teckle single prob buzzbait , and was wondering what gear ratio i should use?
I like 7:1, but 8:1 can be good too
@@thehookuptackle_usa thanks man, appreciate the feedback 👍
Quick question, I have trip on the 30th to target salmon up in New York. I plan on getting the 8’10mh Cookai. Do you recommend it or have anything else?
The Cookai have been great rods! I would recommend them!
@@thehookuptackle_usa I ordered one! I’ll probably be the first person to use it for salmon 👀👀
Wakebait!
My hard topwater bait...ALL that have hooks
1st like 👍 do I win a topwater bait of my choice ? 🤣
So far this year…… Megabass Karashi has out fished every other top water bait I own.. and I have em all. Whopper Plopper killed it when they first came out, now it’s kind of irrelevant.
Karashi is still a super under the radar bait for people.
@@thehookuptackle_usa , people don’t know what they missing out on. I had to swap out the hooks for single, more stout hooks. Did my how trailers too and it slays almost every species.
Do you always throw braid for topwater? I assume flouro is no bueno.
Depends on the bait. Fluoro for straight retrieve baits, braid to Fluoro on most others. Sometimes straight mono if they're picky.
@@thehookuptackle_usa Thanks!
Anyone know where I can find jerkbait blanks that have a through wire harness?
ur gonna have to look for musky jerk baits usually they have that the or-poi has a wire thru harness but is a sinking pencil bait but. def underrated for fresh water use don't know many guys doing that and I bet musky would smash it.
Crawler works if you see rats around the bank we have one lake this will work with..if bass hits rat bait they will hit this..i throwed the rats everyone an only lake i caught bass was the lake has rats running around the bank at..when you see guys catching them with rat they only fishing that one lake im referring to.i showed people granddad tackle box he had small crawlers in it from mid last century.he had chatterbait an spinnerbaits made that way
Hello
Good morning! 🍻
What about a fluke style bait you did not cover soft plastic top water
I don’t really consider flukes a topwater - but they’re great baits to throw this time of the year too! We’ll do a separate video on fluke style baits
Lobina:
Spanish for bass
Pronounced, Loh-bee-nah
No shade being thrown. You show us how to pronounce Japanese lures so just helping out on the proper pronunciation of the Spanish word Lobina.
EORITCK
I'm a very good Angler, but I can't get a frog to walk to save my life. It just befuddles me and breaks my heart.
So... you're not really a very good angler. 🤔
@@KriticullCTRL not being able to throw 1 bait does not diminish my skills, you must be a peach to be around.
@@itsz2458 I did, but all the frogs I use just twitch to one side. I can walk a spook all day, but frogs just spasm for me.
Try tightening up your walking movement. Instead of an actual rod jerk like what I use for a walking topwater, with a frog I just squeeze my pinky so the rod moves very little. Frogs are small bodied, so the rod movement needs to me much smaller.
@@thehookuptackle_usathanks I'll give it a try. Grew up fishing clear water lakes and never threw one.