How to Use Topwater Lures: When and How to Fish Each Type

The short answer

Throw topwater lures in warm water, from about 55°F upward (sources start anywhere from 50 to 60°F), mostly at dawn, dusk or under cloud, over shallow cover and in calm to light-ripple conditions. Work each type its own way, then wait until you feel the fish pulling before you set the hook.

This guide covers largemouth bass, using state wildlife agency pages, Bassmaster, Field & Stream and Outdoor Life, with pros credited by name. Where sources disagree, it says so.

Poppers get a short section here. Our guide to the types of fishing lures explains what each lure is, and our bass fishing tips for beginners covers the basics of reading a lake.

What you need

A fishing licence. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says “First, you’ll need a fishing license,” and “Every state has slightly different rules, so look up your state for state-specific requirements.”
A rod and reel sized to the lure. Bassmaster pro Bernie Schultz fishes prop baits, poppers and smaller walking baits on a 6-foot, 10-inch medium-action casting rod, and buzzbaits, toads and bigger plugs on a 7-foot, 2-inch medium-heavy to heavy rod. For frogs in heavy cover, Field & Stream advises a stiff flipping rod and 50- or 65-pound-test braided line.
Line that suits the lure. Schultz wants a line that floats for slow-moving topwaters and avoids braid and fluorocarbon for them, using 15- to 17-pound monofilament. Megabass, a lure maker, recommends a 65-pound braided main line with a 15-pound monofilament leader for walking baits. Those two disagree, so try both. Schultz’s mono rule is for slow topwaters: for buzzbaits, toads and bigger plugs he uses 30-pound braid in thick cover, otherwise fluorocarbon in “the 16- to 20-pound range.”
Pliers or wire snips, and your hooks prepared before you fish. The National Park Service lists “Properly sized, single barbless hooks reduce fish handling time and injury,” and says “Two hooks can be removed from treble hooks using wire snips or pliers. Barbs can be removed by flattening the barb against the hook shank with needle-nosed pliers or fishing hemostats.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says every state has slightly different rules, so check yours before changing a lure’s hooks.

When topwater works

Topwater is a warm-water, low-light, shallow-cover tactic. The table sets out the conditions most of the sources agree on; the sections after it give the figures and the disagreements.

A sheltered freshwater cove at sunrise has gentle ripples, lily pads and a fallen shoreline limb. — Photo: Low light, shallow cover and gentle ripples create a topwater setting.

Condition	Topwater works best	Look elsewhere when
Water temperature	About 55°F and up (sources start at 50 to 60)	Below about 50°F (some pros still get bites near 50)
Light	Dawn, dusk, overcast	High, bright sun
Wind	Calm to a light ripple	Waves bigger than the lure

Water temperature. The sources give different starting points. Bassmaster’s John Crews, a Virginia pro, writes that “Bass will bust a topwater bait anytime the water temperature is above 50 degrees and when it starts pushing 60 degrees they really come into their own.” Bass pro Ish Monroe, speaking to Outdoor Life about frogs, says “Anytime the water temperature is consistently 56 degrees or more, for me it’s game on.” Field & Stream’s Shaye Baker puts buzzbaits at “From the time the water reaches the mid-50s.” Megabass says walking baits are particularly effective above 55°F. Kraken Bass, an angler’s instruction site, calls 70 degrees and up “prime time.” In cold water, Bassmaster’s Micah Frazier says near Atlanta “Our water typically drops to around 50 degrees” and bass bite on top at that temperature most years, with reports of topwater bites “down into the middle 40s.” At the top end, Iowa DNR says “Most bass avoid water that exceeds 80 degrees.”

Light and time of day. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation says topwater is most active in late spring, summer and fall in the morning and evening: “Predatory fish prefer the lowlight hours around dawn and dusk to attack surface prey especially in shallow water in the backs of coves and creek arms.” Kentucky’s agency advises “Look for bass shallow early in the morning and late in the evening,” and Iowa DNR says bass “move into shallow water near shore to eat in the early morning, late evening and night.” Mike Bednarski, Virginia’s chief of fisheries, writes that he does best between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m. with topwaters “in 1 to 5 feet of water”; that is his own method, not an agency rule. Crews disagrees that it is only a dawn lure: he says not to think of topwater as only an early-morning or late-evening lure.

Wind. Monroe does not throw a frog when “the wind is blowing and waves are rolling,” because the bass cannot home in on it. Kraken Bass makes the same point and suggests switching when waves are bigger than the lure. Noisy lures are the exception: Bassmaster’s Frank Scalish goes loud in windy conditions, with a pencil popper or a large Spook, and says dirty, shallow water suits a buzzbait.

Cover. MassWildlife says largemouth are active in the shallows in summer, “a good time to target them with topwater lures.” Field & Stream’s David A. Brown picks the bait by cover (next section). When the water falls below about 50°F and topwater slows, our roundup of bass lures for winter covers the slower lures that take over.

When to stop. Elite Series pro Randy Howell says: “I usually put the topwater bait down after about 30 minutes to an hour without getting a bite,” especially under a bright bluebird sky, with exceptions for schooling fish.

Which topwater for which cover

Field & Stream’s David A. Brown groups topwater baits by the cover you meet. Oklahoma’s agency adds that in clear water, stick to “quiet, naturally colored, lures like a hollow-body frog, jitterbug, propeller or walk-the-dog style baits,” while in dingy and stained water, try “lures that cause more surface disruption like buzzbaits and poppers.”

Situation	Start with	Why
Thick mats, lily pads	Hollow-body frog	Weedless
Sparse weeds, gaps	Popping frog, buzz toad	Narrow nose, noise
Open water, schooling fish	Walking bait	Covers water
Docks, hatches, edges	Popper	Targeted spot
Stained water, chop	Buzzbait, popper	Noise, splash
Clear, calm water	Walker, prop bait	Quiet, natural

Brown says walking baits are “great search tools that cover broad areas,” poppers are best “for targeted presentations like mayfly hatches, dock edges, and submerged structure,” and a hollow-body frog is “your best bet” in grass mats or lily pads. Bernie Schultz likes prop baits around grass, flooded brush and laydowns.

Ready to buy?

Once you know which type fits your water, our roundup of bass topwater lures compares eight picks.

Steps: from first cast to release

Read the conditions

Check water temperature, light and wind against the table above. If most are against topwater, keep a second lure rigged.

Pick the lure from the cover table

Start with one type and give it a fair try. Schultz says casual casts will not do it: “Commit to it … and try switching baits and presentations before giving up.”

Cast to the cover and bring the lure through it

Field & Stream’s frog guide says long casts give you the best chance to contact a fish and give it time to track the bait. Only cast where fishing is permitted, and look first: the National Park Service tells anglers “Look around before you cast – make sure no one is near you.”

Work the lure the way its type moves

Walking bait, frog, buzzbait and prop bait each have their own rhythm, set out in the next section.

Wait for the weight, then set the hook

Carolina Sportsman, drawing on bass pro and guide Marc Deschenes, says anglers “will drastically improve their hookup ratio if they wait until they feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook.” Deschenes adds: “You don’t want to wait until the rod bows over and you feel the entire weight of the fish. But you want to feel it pulling.” With treble hooks he says a hard swing backfires: “Just a quick lift of the rod is usually plenty to drive the hook home.” Hooks on topwater lures are often trebles. If you are hooked and the hook has deeply penetrated the skin, muscles, tendons or bone, is on the face or near or in the eyes, or you are bleeding excessively, the National Park Service’s safety page says to “seek medical treatment immediately.”

Land the fish and remove the hooks

The National Park Service’s safety page says to “Handle the hook carefully during baiting and removing your catch,” and its catch-and-release page says to keep the fish wet and calm and that “Needle-nosed pliers, hemostats, and other hook removers are essential for quick and efficient hook removal.” Where a hook is deep, its guidance is “If the fish is hooked deeply or the hook cannot be easily removed, then leave it. Cut your line as close to the hook as possible.”

Release it upright and let it swim off

The National Park Service says to hold the fish underwater, upright, and make sure it is ventilating before release, so you can see the gills opening and closing.

After a miss, cast again

Field & Stream says an immediate follow-up cast with the same or a different bait can trigger a fish that was aggressive enough to strike. After a frog miss, it suggests a heavily weighted creature bait, craw or stick worm through the cover.

How to work each type

Walking baits (“walk the dog”). Megabass, a lure maker, says to jerk the slack, not a tight line, so the bait darts side to side instead of being pulled straight, with short rod-tip pops while reeling up slack and pauses such as three quick jerks and a brief stop. Bernie Schultz moves them steadily, finds the rhythm and glide first, then pauses beside stumps, boulders, laydowns or grass clumps; if bass do not respond he slows down and shortens each pull. John Crews fishes a big walker with “a steady, even walking action” on long casts.

Frogs. Over thick cover, Field & Stream describes twitching the rod tip just enough to make the lure “sashay” from side to side, and a slow stop-and-go retrieve along the outside edges of shoreline cover in spring. Outdoor Life adds that frog fishing is “notorious for missed strikes” and that “patience is the real key to more successful swings.”

Buzzbaits. Field & Stream’s Shaye Baker says to “try to get the bait up to the surface immediately at the start of a cast, then slow your retrieve down until the prop is just gurgling along the surface.” Zell Rowland starts slower because it is easier to speed up than slow down, and cups the blades to reel slower and change the sound. Baker adds a trailer hook because “Bass are notorious for slapping or boiling on a buzzbait but not getting it.”

Prop baits. Schultz casts to or past the target, lets the lure rest until the rings dissipate, gives it two short pulls “no more than a foot per pull,” and lets it sit again. He says pauses of “up to 30 seconds or more” are sometimes needed. Prop baits can foul line around the props. Florida pro Shaw Grigsby solves it with 40-pound braid and a 12-inch, heavy (usually 20-pound-test) fluorocarbon leader, which is a different line setup from Schultz’s floating monofilament; sources differ here too.

Poppers (short version). Schultz starts quick when bass chase shad, with short steady pulls and brief pauses, and slows to longer pauses if that fails.

What size topwater lure to use

No source gives one correct size. They give sizes for specific jobs, and the table keeps each to its source. Sizes in inches for the walking bait are worked out from the millimetre figure (110 to 120 mm is about 4.3 to 4.7 inches).

Lure	Size named	Who said it
Walking bait	110 to 120 mm (about 4.3 to 4.7 in)	John Crews, Bassmaster
Prop bait	5 in (Whopper Plopper 130)	John Crews, Bassmaster
Micro frog	1.57 in, 1/5 oz	Field & Stream
Buzzbait	3/8 oz standard	Shaye Baker, Field & Stream
Buzzbait, small shad	1/4 oz	Shaye Baker, Field & Stream
Buzzbait, grass	1/2 oz	Bernie Schultz, Bassmaster

Crews prefers a walker “around 110 to 120 mm,” about the size of a Super Spook, for postspawn bass. Baker calls 3/8 ounce standard and drops to 1/4 ounce when shad are small; Schultz starts at 1/2 ounce and drops to 1/4 if needed, so the two start from different weights. On sizing down, Field & Stream says “any time your hollow-body frog is producing tentative bites … try going smaller,” and for hard-bait misses in open water, “downsizing often helps,” such as a smaller two-hook walker in place of a three-hook one. Outdoor Life’s Joe Cermele says a popper can be a “small three inch popper” on some days and “a much larger version” on others.

Saltwater, trout and crappie

Saltwater. Outdoor Life’s Joe Cermele breaks saltwater surface lures into poppers, walking baits and sub-surface sliders. He says poppers suit deep, stained or choppy water, walking baits suit calm, shallow water and low light, and that a Spook is the first choice of many seatrout anglers in back bays. He also recommends fishing after sunset along a hard shadow line, casting ahead of it into lit water and stopping the lure as it reaches the dark.

Trout and crappie. Our sources do not cover freshwater trout or crappie topwater technique well enough to give steps. Cermele says trout and bluegills will hit a popper’s dressed tail hook if you barely move the lure. No agency or publication page found for this guide covers crappie topwater, so it is left out rather than guessed.

Common mistakes

Swinging at the splash. Outdoor Life’s Alex Robinson writes of frogs: “You must give the bass time to reposition the bait in his mouth so that your hooks have a chance to hit home,” and says to wait a full “one Mississippi” after the strike. Deschenes’ wait-for-the-weight rule above agrees on waiting but gives a feel cue, not a count.
Overworking a prop bait or buzzbait. Schultz says most prop bait strikes come as the lure sits still, and Baker says going as slow as you can is typically the best buzzbait bet.
Forcing topwater in the wrong conditions. Randy Howell says forcing it has “burned me.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What time do fish bite topwater?

Mostly in low light: Oklahoma’s agency points to dawn and dusk, and Kentucky’s to early morning and late evening. John Crews says bites also come at other times when conditions are right.

Q. What size topwater lures should I use?

It depends on the lure and the forage; the size table has named sizes, and Field & Stream suggests downsizing when bites are tentative.

Q. How do you use a topwater frog lure?

Over cover, walk it side to side with rod-tip twitches or work it slow and stop-and-go, then wait before setting the hook.

Q. When should you not use a topwater lure?

Randy Howell puts it down after 30 minutes to an hour without a bite, especially under a bright sky, unless fish are schooling.

Q. Should I use treble hooks or single hooks on topwater lures?

The National Park Service says properly sized single barbless hooks reduce handling time and injury, and Field & Stream suggests inline single hooks when snags are likely. Many topwater lures ship with trebles, so keep pliers handy.

Sources (26)

Outgearly Team

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