surface lures what to get?

I have a heddon tiny torpedo and jitterbug but im wondering what is the best of the others with the best action?

I am thinking things like heddon tiny crazy crawlers, hula poppers, Rebel R Pop, Rapala Skitter pop etc.

One of my best experiences fishing was trolling a heddon dying flutter behind a canoe for pike. It was awesome. Fish every cast and watching them hit was great. I have one that is painted like a bass, but the white with black striping has worked the best for me. It certainly doesn't work all the time, but when it does, the action is great. I've also tried mouse flies, but not much luck.

luv the popn r also try the reg size tordedo can cast a mile

Try a Sammy style bait, either by lucky craft or one of the ripoffs. They are a really cool bait to fish.

Jitterbug is my favourite. Buzzbaits are good too. Alos have a Live Target Frog which has caught its share of bass.

I have to highly agree with rntducker on the style of bait he recommends but disagree on the "others" being ripoffs. I don't know who was the first to come out with the cigar shaped topwater that has no built in action but they are awesome.

I don't think it's the original but an oldie and a goodie (and my fave for covering lots of water) is the Heddon Super Spook. (Great colour)
http://www.sportpeche.fr/images/HEDD...K_SW_HOS_2.jpg
The only bait that has hooked and landed two bass at once on several occasions for me.
Any bait that looks like that will work in a similar manner, some very tail weighted and I tend to like them less.

Another similar option is the spitin' image, very little forward movement so it stays in the strike zone for a long time, great when they want something slower.
http://www.lake-link.com/images/stor...SpitNimage.jpg

If you want a popper here's a little something I learned from a Rocky Crawford seminar: He likes poppers that spit water forward more than the ones that make a big blop, something about fleeing baitfish. I went with that advice and have had great results.
I really like the frenzy popper:
http://www.purefishing.com.au/assets...renzy/main.jpgot
What I really like about this little bait is if you get the hang of "Walking the dog" this little guy will do that as well. Many times I've had smallies come in to the bait and just sit under it, often I can get them to commit by quickly making it walk away real quick.

Another great popper is the chug bug:
http://www.fishermansheadquarters.co...Storm/Chug.jpg

Change it up a bit and throw a small buzzbait
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...gUNsDkLbe-&t=1

Those are a few of my favorite things :fish:

I use a lot of live target frogs, thunder frogs and this year I've used the live target mouse too .....I love top water

Rapala Skitter pop is my favourite for spin or light baitcaster tackle its not oversized and get hammered by anything. If going heavier tackle a Spook is hard to beat.


For Muskie, Jackpot & Top Raider are my favourite.


I find any colour with an orange belly is best. No matter what lake I have been on.

Like the Heddon Zara spooks alot - one of the few topwater lures I still use regularly. If I recall correctly this may be the bait that one this years OOD sparrow lake bass tourny.

The dying flutter has always been a great lure for me - white with black stripes, and a darker one with an orange belly - never caught a thing on the 'fire tiger' though.

Like the jitterbugs and crazy crawlers as well.

My biggest pet peeve with most of my favourite (all Heddon) topwater baits has been the degradation of quality. The migration from balsa to plastic was not an improvement, and I find I spend more time tuning the baits or wasting casts due to mechanical failure of the moving parts on a lot of them. Someone needs to start building premium topwater baits again.

I used to work with a touring bass guy. He put me onto the Rebel Pop R.. It's been my go to surface lure ever since, and I've caught more fish with that Rebel than any other lure I've owned.

Has anyone had success with the smithwick's devils horse or toothpick

I think it's called a Nip-I-Diddy. It's a long cigar shaped surface lure with propellers fore and aft. It's deadly!

My all time favorite and I'm going back to 1970s when I was fishing waters many wouldn't dream of, thinking they were unfishable but today is common is the Creek Chub Darter. You can work it on the surface, just below with a series of dart, or on a retrieve. Deadly, deadly deadly.

Creek Chub went out of business around 1980. Since then someone acquired the rights or they rebooted, don't rightly know. These days though everything is plastic.


I'm so thankful my father had the foresight back in 80/81 to buy every Darter he could find in any store.
I'm still using them, i have 3 that are torn up, lost or losing paint, and still have 3 or 4 left unopened in their boxes.
From my cold hands as they say

Bass Pro Shops XPS Z-Pop or the XPS Professional Series Topwater Poppers are probably my favorite and most used topwaters for smallies. Also like the live target topwater popper. Pic is of the XPS Pro series popper =)


Attachment 21261

I got a Phillips crippled killer in black shore minnow color and it has been pretty good catching bass in a lake where bass are scarce.

Megabass back to the garage popper with open gill system, ridiculous price with ridiculous results

Super spook... My fav... Cast a mile and lots of hook ups!...

If the surface is not weedy then the dying flutter is my fave. In the weeds and pads i go with the Spro Frog.

Live target mouse works great

Hula popper as well

Most are mentioned already like Crazy Crawler, propeller types, and Spook but my preference for design and action would have to be with the chugger type lure such as the Lucky 13, Jitter bugs and Skitter Pops

There is nothing that drives fish as crazy as a Zara Spook. I have a buddy who will stop fishing just to watch me work one. The strike per cast ratio destroys all other topwater baits on any day. I've caught fish on them from sun up to sun down. I have other topwater baits in my boxes but they rarely see the light of day. Usually only when I lend them out or when I want something weedless to throw in the slop.

Skitter prop is likely my favourite. Makes a ton of noise and the smallies this past summer just absolutely crushed it in the evenings.

LIVETARGET FOR SURE!

I fell in love with the Skitter Pop in brown frog pattern years ago for smallmouth in the Kawartha's beside docks and along rocky shorelines. If I use any other topwater, it would be an Excalibur Spit n Image...also deadly in the above circumstances.

Live Target or River to Sea frogs are tops for me.
Just can't beat the hook quality on the LT.
Can't beat the swim action (when used correctly) on the River to Sea.
LT in heavy cover and R2S when you can dive a bit.


FSHN 247
Jay

Have a look at River to Sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGL7-UUGE4

Pop r when fishing specific covers, spooks for fishing flats.

I've had some success with the skitter pop.

I'm a big fan of the Jitterbug, and Hula Poppers. My dad has a pair of out of production Heddon "Meadow Mouse" lures, that are just deadly on big bass, pike, and musky.

They are still available on ebay now and then....me, I'm probably going to get them in the will, lol.

My go to for smallmouths will always be a tiny torpedo. I also like zara spooks and skitter pops. Been having alot of luck with the live target frogs for pike. They come up and absolutely crush the lure. Been through a few so far. This year i want to try the new live target frogs that have the legs that kick behind they look amazing. Edit: they are not live target. They are made by lunkerhunt.

http://youtu.be/HDIGyozPnKI

this is why i love bass fishing. Hard to beat the feeling of a nice bass breaking surface and crushing your topwater. This is the lunker hunt lunker frog i mentioned in my previous post.

Just came back from a week fishing. I tried a little more variety for topwater this year. I tossed a spook (baby bass) with no luck, and missed 2 hook sets on a Livetarget Frog and Mouse. I am having no luck with the Livetarget hollow bodies!! The blow up's out of the slop are amazing, but I can never seal the deal with a hook set. Once again, the most productive topwater was the Pop R. Best for the week were a 1.0 kg and a 1.2 kg bass on the Pop R.

live target frogs and mouse. best lures i have ever fished.