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What's your earliest success with topwater?

Bowhunter57

Bowhunter57

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Roaming the country side....Retired.
I just love topwater baits...of all kinds. Nothing like having a heart attack when a bass blows up on your bait. :smiley_bril: I'm guessing that the water temperature would have to be above 50 degrees before topwater lures would have any appeal to the fish.

What's the earliest you've had some success with topwater lures?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
Johnch

Johnch

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NW Ohio , Genoa area
About Mid March

I fish a number of small overpass ponds
Several have large shallow areas the warm up early

I find on warmer sunny days the bass and pike move into the shallows and feed

OK , I use a unweighted SlugO and fish it in a slow eratic retreive just below the surface
But they hammer it

Oh , many times the fish are hanging out in 2' or less water

John
 
Fluteman

Fluteman

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Last year the first weekend of April I caught a couple on a Spro Frog. Seems like I always have the best luck towards the end of this month into May. Caught my best bass of last year on topwater the end of April. Weighed in just over 5lbs.
 
Fluteman

Fluteman

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jagermeister

jagermeister

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That's a biggun, Fluteman. Those Spro Bronzeyes are great frogs! Have you ever tried a River-to-Sea Bullywah? They're similar to the Spros, but have a better walk-the-dog action to them IMO. Koppers Live Target just came out with a frog bait this year, too... it looks sick!

I've caught them on topwaters as early as late april. I could probably catch them sooner on topwater, but I really don't stray away from jigs or senkos until the water warms up a bit.
 
Fluteman

Fluteman

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Haven't seen them yet. Gonna have to check them out and order some. I catch most of my bass this time of year spot fishing with suspending husky jerks. Get one of those right on front of a big gal and twitch it a bit. They can't resist.
 
Fluteman

Fluteman

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I caught her in one of the strip mine ponds up on the AEP recreation lands in less than 4ft. of water. I caught probably 25 bass that day, with 5 fish totaling a little under 18lbs. All caught on Spro frogs. I will warn you that if you plan on using them, you should consider going to a braided line. I lost three frogs at $8 a piece in one day due to line breaking. I was using 12lb mono, and I had just spooled it up that morning. Using the frog, you have to give them at least 2 seconds before you set the hook. They kept taking me into the grass and snapping my line. I now use 40lb braided on an 8ft medium heavy bps rod, and haven't lost one since.
 
jagermeister

jagermeister

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Fluteman said:
I caught her in one of the strip mine ponds up on the AEP recreation lands in less than 4ft. of water. I caught probably 25 bass that day, with 5 fish totaling a little under 18lbs. All caught on Spro frogs. I will warn you that if you plan on using them, you should consider going to a braided line. I lost three frogs at $8 a piece in one day due to line breaking. I was using 12lb mono, and I had just spooled it up that morning. Using the frog, you have to give them at least 2 seconds before you set the hook. They kept taking me into the grass and snapping my line. I now use 40lb braided on an 8ft medium heavy bps rod, and haven't lost one since.
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+1 on the braided line. I only spool my baitcasters with 50 lb Powerpro these days. When you start losing 8-10 dollar baits, it really starts to hurt.

Do yourself a favor and pick up some topwater frogs, 57. IMO, they're the most versatile topwater bait you can buy. BUT... DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A CHEAP ONE! There are lots of frogs you can pick up for 2-4 bucks, and they may catch you a few fish here and there, but they don't even come close to the higher-end Spro Bronzeye and R2S Bullywah frogs. Aside from the better finish and better action, the high-end frogs will hook a lot more fish, too. I use to fugg around with cheap frogs, and miss 8 out of 10 bites on average. After switching to Bullywahs, I'd say I get a solid hookup 80-90% of the time. I think a lot of it has to do with the material they're made out of and the hooks that are on them.
 
Fluteman

Fluteman

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JBrown said:
+1 on the braided line. I only spool my baitcasters with 50 lb Powerpro these days. When you start losing 8-10 dollar baits, it really starts to hurt.

Do yourself a favor and pick up some topwater frogs, 57. IMO, they're the most versatile topwater bait you can buy. BUT... DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A CHEAP ONE! There are lots of frogs you can pick up for 2-4 bucks, and they may catch you a few fish here and there, but they don't even come close to the higher-end Spro Bronzeye and R2S Bullywah frogs. Aside from the better finish and better action, the high-end frogs will hook a lot more fish, too. I use to fugg around with cheap frogs, and miss 8 out of 10 bites on average. After switching to Bullywahs, I'd say I get a solid hookup 80-90% of the time. I think a lot of it has to do with the material they're made out of and the hooks that are on them.
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That's for sure Jim. I won't throw a frog if it doesn't have the skirted ruberband material legs. You get way better action out of them, and as a result, catch more fish.

Also, when you do set the hook with one of these, it's always good to get two or three good tugs to make sure the hook is set. Nothing like losing a nice fish because you didn't get a good hook set the first time.
 
jagermeister

jagermeister

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Here's a couple more bass that couldn't resist some topwater frog action... :smiley_bril: Caught these at Resthaven Wildlife Area in Erie County during a tourney a couple years ago.



 
jagermeister

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Thanks, Greg.

epe said:
Where do you guys buy the spro frogs?

sent from my HTC evo
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epe, most big market stores like cabelas and bass pro shops carry the Spro frogs, as well as the other higher-end frog baits. It can be a little tougher to find them at local tackle or sporting goods stores. I'm not sure where you're located, but I buy all my frogs down at Fin Feather & Fur Outfitters in Ashland. BTW, my brother sent me a pic earlier of one of those new Koppers Live Target frogs he picked up at Bass Pro... dammmmmnnnn that thing looks real!
 
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