Definitely want to have a battle with some smallies in 10 more days!!!!
To me - that would be the iconic - epitome of a BWCA fishing trip!

Thinking of bringing some Topwater lures and wondering if you guys use them, and if there are particular ones you get.

We went day fishing in Mudro over labor day last year and a monster got away!!! Need to redeem myself!

We will be in the Shell/Lynx/Hustler area.

You can find lots of suggestions on here if you search carefully and use different terms to search. Big fun with top waters and queue the jaws music, dum dum dum dum................ Anyway, my two favs are zara spooks and heddon torpedos, rapala zpops/popr's, and chug baits also fun. If you buy nice lures, investing in some sort of leader material is worth the price of losing lure to pike bite offs.

I use the Rebel Foxy Shad Magnum Pop-R, Heddon Magnum BullFrog Torpedo, and Heddon Bullfrog Lucky 13 are probably what I throw the most.

Not sure if you have a copy or not but Stu wrote an entire article on top water smallies in the Spring 16 BWJ. Not even the most productive in my tackle box but my favorite is a black jitterbug.

Heddon Super Spook Jr in bass pattern, use the walk the dog retrieve. PopR baby bass color, use pop, rest, pop, pop retrieve. Heddon torpedo in bass color, use slow retrieve. These three are three different presentations with three different actions. If you use these you can catch as many bass as you want. One more I just thought of was a black jitterbug for night fishing. Cast this one out and let it sit for about 30 seconds, then pop, pop, pop, pop and hang on...

Hula Popper!

Sorry to say it but I will be coming out of that area when you are entering. I'll have everything fished out. If I see you I'll give you the hotspots.

Heddon Torpedo

Soft frog baits

Hula Popper

Super Spook Jr.

Smithwick Devil's Horse

Lots of advice on lures.........but my chief concern would be your connection. What sort of line are you using? I am a fan of braid for topwater fishing.

Be advised that some topwater lures (the Heddon torpedos are a prime example) have very fat/thick tie offs. Light mono does extremely poorly tying off to thicker diameters than itself. A clip would be helpful to bridge the gap if light mono (8lb for example) and lures with thick tie offs are going to be used.

My favorite topwater bass lure is a Yellow Magic.......sort of like a Pop-R.

yellow magic

MT: Excellent point. I see it from a pragmatic viewpoint: Since the fish are basically looking up at a sillouette, just a basic lure shape like a Spook or a Chugbug is not a big deal. If the fish are chasing bait that is flipping at the surface, then something that makes a lot of noise(chugbug) might get the edge...conversely, if the bait are just eating plankton, just hanging around at the surface, then a Spook worked quietly might emulate them best. However, both lures(and Zulu, Jitterbug) can be worked quiet and noisey. The MAIN part is the connection to you. A frayed knot and....no hog! no matter how well you worked the lure.

When you go, don't make it the first time you have worked a particular lure. Practice a little, find a knot that doesn't fray your line....and don't believe the lure package, sharpen the hooks yourself.

Love me some top water smallies on the fly.

quote bassnet: . The MAIN part is the connection to you. A frayed knot and....no hog! no matter how well you worked the lure.

"

I always enjoy your input bassnet but you may have missed my point. A frayed knot no matter how thick the tie off and bye bye fishy.

This is something less obvious. It is much ado about physics. Certain lures such as the Heddon Torpedo (an excellent choice BTW) have very thick tie offs (eyelets)......the portion where you attach your line. Mono does best when tying itself to like diameters.........wether to other mono or a lure eyelet.

So if you use mono to tie to a Torpedo or other lures with thick eyelets, I would suggest 10 lb test or bridge the diameter gap with a small snap of sorts. I don't personally like using anything over 8lb test because I believe you compromise casting distance........an often important facet of topwater fishing.

For that reason I much prefer braid for this work as you cast throw it a country mile and not have to worry about stretch when setting the hook.

Whereas there are times when smallmouth prefer a noisy lure, I've caught most of my smallmouth on an F13 Rapala. An F11 or F9 would likely work equally well, but I like the casting distance I gain with the longer lure. I use the fluorescent red because I can see it in the chop or early morning mist.

I remove one of the hooks, often the middle one, and replace the two remaining hooks with barbless trebles.

I'm a pretty fast twitcher and I don't wait long after the lure lands before the first twitch. I'll twitch-pause-twitch and do that 3-7 times before reeling and casting again.

However, I do burn through these lures (6 lb. mono) as pike hit them too and whereas they can throw them (barbless) after cutting my line, I still lose about one per day, so I take at least one per day of fishing. The smaller the pike, the more likely you are to lose one. I land the 40-inch pike. The hammer handles are my archenemy.

Nice to see you on the board missmolly.

quote blutofish1: " Nice to see you on the board missmolly."

+1

quote QueticoMike: "

quote blutofish1: " Nice to see you on the board missmolly."

+1"

;-)

Welcome back Missmolly. I second your floating Rapala suggestion, very effective. I prefer a F9 in Perch (like the darker color) and use more subtle technique than you it sounds.

I let it sit...give it a twitch or two....sit....crank it down a bit.....let it rise and sit....twitch, twitch.... Deadly...

Heddon Torpedo

Welcome back Miss Molly!! I third the floating Rap minnow!! That lure and a Spook sent me off in search of the same, only weedless. I searched the lure catalogs foe months. And then, the magic article in INFISHERMAN appeared on a new soft plastic: SLUGGO!! in '89. I was a jackpot killer!! Fishing with my brother, we made A LOT on money. Every friday night those 3 would account for money fish!!

The moral of the story, children, is to learn to use theses three really good. The surface, and near-surface, is a great feeding area for ambush feeders, like LMB, SMB, and pike, IF they are near an ambush lair. Open water surface feeding, different story.

Skitterpop, black Jitterbug, heddon torpedo, hula popper, zara spook, or something similar.

I have caught a ton of fish on these. Skitterpop in firetiger has been one of my go to lures for the past several trips. It's currently in need of repair as the front set of hooks got torn off last time.

Good luck!!

The Rebel Original Pop-R netted me a couple of beauties and a lifetime of fun last year. I used the silver/black color combination, but it was more the lure action than color that worked best.

http://www.rebellures.com/rebel-pop-r-8051

quote blutofish1: " Nice to see you on the board missmolly."

+2

Some of my favorites are the original Floating Rapala, Heddon torpedo, super spook, and my favorite top water of all time the Jitterbug in black. That being said my most productive two are the Original floater and the spook .

To BP69...my biggest might be on a Spook or Rap, but the best STRIKES are those heart stoppers at night on a black Jitterbug! That's why I keep an AED with me when night fishing....(okay, went too far??)

Super spook jr. Great lure, underrated. I like the black minnow color and the green frog color. Pike really go for this too.

Lime green skitter pop.

Tiny torpedo. Black shore minnow color.

I love to fish these three topwater baits.

mastertangler,

What size YELLOW MAGIC do you like? I see it in Cabelas in 2 3/4 inch standard 1/4 oz. or 3 inch Magnum 1/2 oz.

Cabelas Yellow Magic

Also, what color do you prefer? Whoa at $17.99 a pop ... Yikes ... only going to buy one or 2 for my 4th of July trip.

quote zeke1000: "Super spook jr. Great lure, underrated.

I completely agree. The ultimate finesse topwater (along with a Rapala). I never had enough patience to work one like it should be but my partner could get that thing to struggle in one spot for the longest time going back and forth, back and forth.

quote TwoByGreenCanoe: "Sorry to say it but I will be coming out of that area when you are entering. I'll have everything fished out. If I see you I'll give you the hotspots."

What day are you coming out?

Mr.MN made a haul today! We now have a legit BWCA tackle box! Got some jig rap, Heddon tiny torpedoes, X-Rap Popper, power bait, braided line (thank you), and a bunch more I can't even pronounce off the receipt, and some basketball nets - THANK YOU DUCKS for the tip on that!

New Tackle Box
Inside
Details

Gonna slay!

quote bassnet: "To BP69...my biggest might be on a Spook or Rap, but the best STRIKES are those heart stoppers at night on a black Jitterbug! That's why I keep an AED with me when night fishing....(okay, went too far??)"

LOL but that description is not far off !

quote Wally13: "
mastertangler,


What size YELLOW MAGIC do you like? I see it in Cabelas in 2 3/4 inch standard 1/4 oz. or 3 inch Magnum 1/2 oz.


Cabelas Yellow Magic


Also, what color do you prefer? Whoa at $17.99 a pop ... Yikes ... only going to buy one or 2 for my 4th of July trip."

Don't do it Mr Walleye 13 (or "Mr Wishful Thinking".......both monikers are equally applicable)......."hey we can dream can't we" ;-)......Its a trap! Yup the Yellow Magic is hands down a top bait. But its just gonna be taken away from you by a slimy little 22" snot rocket. Best lose a $6 Tiny Torpedo.

OK fine your gonna get one anyway........any size, any color. They don't call it "magic" for nuthin.

Snot Rocket, I love it!!

When's the top water activity stop or can you fish top water all year? I normally don't get up to the north shore until at least August.

The water is so clear, a topwater bite could occur anytime after the spawn. That said, it more or less shifts to "low light" conditions...dawn, dusk, cloudy, drizzly, a windy deep bank. Also, thick weeds can support an all day bite...buzzbaits, frogs, something so youwon't get hung in weeds.

Gotta remember, Bass and Pike are "ambush" feeders. Give them a place to hide...low light so the baitfish can't see as well...sudden T-storm that makes a rivulet run in with bugs and forest detritus so that it has decreased visibilty...anything to give the predators an "edge". Dinner's on the table!!

If you see frogs on shore, throw a soft frog. Including in September.

Anyone use a topwater setup with the use of a leader?

If so, which lure and leader type still allowed good action on the lure?

We lost so many lures last trip due to pike break offs.