The topwater solution for bass

Tournament anglers often refer to topwater lures as the “10-percent solution,” meaning surface baits can be useless 90 percent of the time.
But during the evening hours in the late summer and fall, the tables turn.
The days are getting shorter and more and more bass fishermen are staying on the lake until dusk, when the topwater bite is just starting to pick up. That’s when topwater becomes the “90-percent solution.”
“It seems like there’s always guys hauling back at closing time this time of year,” said Adam Casey, assistant manager the Lake Casitas marina.
“That’s when the fishing is at its best. The lake usually stays open a half-hour after the sun goes down and the fishing is best right around then. It gets to a point where you want to keep fishing because the topwater bite is so good, but its so dark you can’t stay on the lake any more.”
A majority of the time, evening bass anglers at Casitas and other Central Coast lakes are throwing topwater lures and shallow-water crankbaits. And they’re throwing hard baits for two reasons: They’re as productive as they are fun to throw.
“Topwater is absolutely the most fun way to catch fish,” Casey added. “It’s fun because you’re always on the move. That’s the thing people don’t like about fishing, just sitting there and waiting all the time. With topwater lures and crankbaits, you’re always on the move.”
Noisy hardbaits make lunker largemouth pounce in the fall. And more often than not, it doesn’t matter what you throw once the sun starts to go down. If it hits the surface right, topwater lures and shallow water crankbaits are going to provoke reaction strikes for boat anglers and shore fishermen alike.
In the fall, bass make their seasonal move into shallow breaks, coves and tributary creeks in search of baitfish. So the best baits resemble shad, are fast moving and make plenty of noise. Lipless crankbaits seem to have the best shape, color and wiggle for fishing the lower-level lakes in early to mid autumn. A silver Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Diamond Shad Premier, Cotton Cordell Super Spot or the various patterns made by Lucky Craft are good shad look-alikes. Small-lipped crankbaits like the various Rapalas, the Stanford Cedar Shad, Abu Garcia Tormentors and Reaction Innovations Method Cranks also produce solid results.
The key for all of the above baits is to draw the attention of the bass. Bright colors, like chartreuse or hot orange, are great attention-getters and help baits standout out in a dimly lit environment. Large baits are also a good pick since chunkier baits are easier for bass to spot and strike. The bigger baits also mean bigger fish, although don’t be surprised if you pull up an occasional juvenile at the end of the day.
“You’ll catch all kinds of sizes with big baits,” Casey said, “even the smaller, dumber fish because they don’t know any better.”
As far as topwater lures are concerned, there are three types that come in handy right now: walkers, poppers and weedless baits.
Walkers look like narrow, lipless crankbaits and slide across the surface with walk-the-dog action and rely on this built-in movement to draw strikes. Good walkers include the Rapala Skitter or Berkley Frenzy Walker.