Who Says You Only Fish Topwaters Early Morning or Late Evening?

When I decided to stay with my INT topwater bait every trip, right on through the hottest days of last summer, I could not be sure but what my decision would eventually lead to a "train wreck" of sorts. I figured I very well might reach a point where the topwater bite would shut down completely, but that simply never happened.

Instead, I kept catching quality topwater fish, right on through those steamy days of July and August and beyond, many times at 2 or 2:30 in the afternoon, without a noticeable downturn in production. As a result of that success, I'm motivated to see if I can get through another summer with nothing but my topwater baits. All I can say at this point is, "So far, so good."

Part of my current motivation stems from an item I recently read online about Garland, TX, tournament angler Josh Jetter, who also throws topwater lures all day long, all summer long, and catches bass on top, even when the sun is straight overhead.

According to that article, "He sticks with surface lures in part because he loves watching fish blow up on them (won't get no argument from me about that). More functionally, though, he keeps throwing topwaters because he catches bigger fish on average on surface lures than any subsurface approach."

A major part of Jetter's all-day topwater strategy is shade lines, even a narrow band of shade, which may hold feeding fish. He hits shaded banks both early and late but concentrates on areas beneath overhanging trees, docks and similar structures during the middle of the day. These areas provide all-day shade.

Jetter also pays close attention to positioning his boat so the lure stays in the strike zone as long as possible--in other words, he parallels the seawall or other low structure that provides a narrow band of shade. (The reality of this tactic is that it works better for someone fishing by himself/herself, which is the reason I don't mind "flying solo" on the water.)

While many bass anglers only use a frog for casting across thick stuff like lily pads or matted hydrilla, Jetter likes the pop, walk and profile of a Poppin' Pad Crasher to fish throughout scattered cover and even over open water. He's more inclined to fish the frog, instead of a Booyah Boss Pop, when there is some vegetation. On the other hand, though, he'll commonly throw a frog beside a boat dock or seawall where no other cover exists and work it across the open water. (For me, froggin' is still a work in progress. I always carry some in my box, but they are my last resort.)

Jetter also believes the right lure cadence is critical to drawing strikes. His contention is that pauses are as important as pops, and he normally uses both, unless the fish demonstrate to him they want something different. Then, he will experiment. (Amen! to that--not just the cadence, either. I also like to experiment with different colors.)

For more mobility, Jetter always uses a loop knot to tie on a topwater lure. If a surface bait comes with a split ring, he typically removes it because the loop knot serves the same purpose. (My preference for attaching all baits is a snap, and if I'm fishing weightless plastic, I will use a snap swivel, or more times than not, a lightly weighted swimbait hook, to prevent line twist. I've had some unpleasant experiences over the years with snap swivels coming apart on big fish.)

And the bottom line here is just to keep throwing topwater all day long, even though there will be those who think you're ready for the loony bin...and may say so to your face. Finally, in case anyone is wondering, I still have a hefty stash of my INT baits. The reason I've not been talking about 'em of late is because I'm reserving 'em for a day when the three other topwaters I'm currently throwing don't seem to be working. In other words, I'm treating the INTs as a niche bait--my "ace in the hole," if you will. After all, everybody needs one of those. And just for good measure--primarily for those instances when fish blow up on the topwater baits but miss--I'm keeping my modified Senko rig handy, too.