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September is Top Water
Time on
Lurking somewhere
beneath us in the crystal clear waters were smallmouth and largemouth
bass, cruising through the stalks of submerged coontail waiting for
small bait fish to gorge on the zooplankton that rose to the light.
Meantime, we tied on topwater lures and commended ourselves for
being on time.
As the eastern sky
turned caulky gray, Winegardner quietly lowered the
Minn Kota trolling
motor into the water, pushing the
Ranger through the fog toward the rocky point. After casting his top
water prop bait into the gray space beyond, the only sounds we heard
were the gurgling lure on it’s return journey back to the boat and a
distant flock of Canadian geese lifting from the water to begin their
morning feed. I tied a
number
11 floating gold Rapala to the end of my spinning rod and cast
toward a dock into the mirror like waters, all the while admiring the
balsa plugs gold foil finish and remembering using this very same lure
on Deep Creek Lake when I was a kid.
In hushed tones,
both of us concurred on the reverence and solitude of
Suddenly a huge
swirl erupted from below and my Gator
spinning rod bent sharply as the Diawa reel drag screamed.
The bruiser smallmouth exploded out into the mist, then dogged
deep beneath the boat in it’s attempt to separate itself from the sharp
treble hooks on the Rapala plug.
Bret slipped the net under a beautiful 3 lb smallmouth bass as
the morning sky brightened.
Both of us continued
hooking these fighting bass just after sun up.
Bret’s aggressive topwater prop bait fooled many of the fish
while my twitching Rapala tricked several more
All these beautiful bronze backed hard fighting fish were gently
released back into the lake and maybe will delight another angler on
another day.
Topwater Tips
Our favorite
topwater lures include many.
Topwater poppers such as the Pop R,
Rico and
Skitter Pop really fit the bill.
A big bushy marabou tail feather is a plus as it undulates in the
water when the plug rests between pops.
We also like a prop bait such as a Nip A Ditty, Tiny Torpedo or
Woodchopper. My favorite
and most successful prop bait is
Rapala’s Skitter Prop in the frog color.
These louder more aggressive top water lures are good when
there’s a slight chop on the water.
When it’s calm, go to a floating Rapala.
A Zara Spook or
Lucky Craft’s Sammy should always be included in a DCL angler’s top
water arsenal. You must
make these lures “walk-the-dog”.
This is achieved by twitching and lowering the rod tip closer to
the waters surface while at the same time, imparting slack in your line
between twitches, allowing the cigar shaped lure to dance from side to
side. A tip here is to
always tie the lure with a loop knot or better yet a small wire clip.
This gives the lure more action and increases your strike
opportunities.
Excellent locations
for using these top water techniques abound throughout the lake.
All main lake points from the
Vary your retrieves
from fast and aggressive to mild and gentle finesse. Allow the fish to
dictate the pace they want the lure presented.
Top water fishing on
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