Its Topwater Time on all of Alabama’s Lakes!
Written By Reed Montgomery
Fishing with topwater lures (with any degree of success), begins as spawning bass invade the lakes shallows this spring season. Water temperatures always dictate whether a bass will or will not hit a variety of topwater-fished lures. As the lakes waters warm even more with each passing week, the aggression of the bass increases as well.
Mid April on some of Alabama’s lakes will display many different types of deciding factors on a good topwater bite. By May bedding bass are post-spawn bass, hungry and just looking for an easy to catch meal…like a topwater lure! 
Some factors, that will increase the topwater bite such as rising lake levels, are now evident. As bass invade the rising waters of the now newly flooded shallows, they are not only looking for ideal bedding spots, but some bass are feeding as well. Looking up for a well placed topwater offering…one some bass just cannot tolerate.
New growing aquatic weeds are another deciding factor, one that is good for both predator and prey alike as bass and baitfish find security in the oxygen-rich enviornment. As lake levels rise, with many lakes being down all winter long as much as five feet, newly flooded waters become a new home for the next few weeks as spawning bass and post-spawn bass continue to inhabit the lakes shallow waters.
With so many lure choices on today’s market, ones mind can be boggled when it comes to selecting the right topwater lure for the right situation. So having several rods rigged and ready with a variety of topwater lures is highly suggested for anglers now planning a bass fishing trip, one they will remember for a long, long time.
Topwater explosions can often linger in an anglers mind for more than the few seconds they suddenly occured. Some explosions you will never forget! The best ones are the ones where you successfully fool the bass and then land the bass, having pictures afterwards to aid you in remembering it for a long time.
Just like in the past, there are still many lures made today that fool big bass into violently attacking. But only if an angler fishes with these topwater lures throughout an entire day of bass fishing. Not just at early morning light. For many big bass will hit topwater lures all throughout the day and with the right conditions the topwater action can be an all day excursion.
Buzz baits cover water fast and these lures can fool some big bass into attacking, from upper 50 degree water temps right on into summertime with water temps near 90 degrees!
* Always include trailer hooks and fish buzzbaits with strong line. These lures attract the big bass bite and monofilament line less than 15 pound test can easily break, especially with a small nick on the line or a bad knot. Line in the 20 pound test catagory is suggested. Some anglers use braided line or florocarbon line in the heavy test category.
Another lure, besides the very weedless buzz bait, one that can be fished right up in most aquatic weeds are fake rubber frogs or rubber mice imitations. Short hops (when retrieved correctly), with these types of lures simulate the antics of these bank-running creatures, often triggering some very aggresive bites with the results often leading to missed strikes.
* Note - A short pause, then setting the hook, will result on more hook ups and less missed bass and less frustration as well! Always wait until you feel the bass or actually see the frog or mouse imitation suddenly dissapear beneath the waters surface, before setting the hook!
Fishing open water with topwater lures calls for a variety of lure choices and many anglers have one or two select choices all their own that always produce. So, it can just simply come down to just a matter of preferance when it comes to lure selection for targeting big bass lingering away from the weeds, wood cover and rocks. Often these bass can be seen and caught, while fishing away from the banks that most anglers target on lakes featured throughout Alabama.
Still, just like dozens of years ago, anglers can select topwater lures their dad or grandfather may have used, to succesfully fool today’s bass, bass that do see a lot of lures anglers fish from top to bottom, as the spring season gets underway.
Walking-type topwaters like the age old Heddon zara spook still fool bass today. Or popping-type concave mouth topwater lures like an old Rebel pop-r. Heddon also still makes a single prop lure called the Baby Torpedoe and the waddling action created by the age-old Jitterbug fool big bass both during the day and at night as waters warm for the summer months ahead.
So maybe its time to sharpen some old hooks, or replace those old rusty, treble hooks with some new sharper ones on some of your old topwater lures, some you have not fished in over six months! They still fool big bass and believe it or not there are still many big bass that have not seen a topwater lure in the last six to seven months!
Topwater lures still fool big bass! Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass and some huge striped bass will crush a well-placed and well manuvered topwater lure. Not only now during the spring spawning season, but on into the hot summer months and the Fall season ahead. Lures fished on or near the waters surface fool bass other anglers miss.
Why? Because those anglers are to busy fishing with other lures and many anglers just give up on the topwater bite. A bite that may result in you fooling the biggest bass of your life time. But like said, “only if your fishing with it”. So always be rigged and ready…
Thanks and Good Fishin’
Reed Montgomery, owner of Reeds Guide Service “guiding on all of Alabama’s lakes for over forty years for all species of bass in all seasons, year round” Call (205) 663-1504 or see www.fishingalabama.com for more info.
