06_2025_REELLIFE_digital - Flipbook - Page 26
for me, and while I’ve had a
blow-up or two, I’ve yet to
catch a fish with a whopper
plopper.
And then there are the
classics. The Arbogast
Jitterbug and Hula Popper
have been around for over
70 years, but they still work,
especially in the evening
hours. Speaking of which,
when is the best time to
fish with a topwater lure?
Conventional wisdom says
you should fish topwater
lures in the early morning
and in the evening.
However, if the weather is
cloudy, you can experience
good topwater fishing all
day long.
LIPLESS CRANKBAITS
Lipless crankbaits like the
original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap
or my favorite, the Berkley
War Pig, are great search
lures. You can cast them a
“country mile” and retrieve
at a fast or moderate pace,
which means you can cover
a lot of water while looking
for schools of bass. Places
to fish lipless crankbaits
are in shallow water (two to
eight feet deep), especially
parallel to brush lines, weed
lines, or near points of land.
These lures also work well
over submerged grass or
weed beds. One thing that
can be particularly effective
is to pause your retrieve,
just for a moment, from
time to time while you reel.
SPINNERBAITS
The spinnerbait, like the
lipless crankbait, is used
to search for schools of
bass. One advantage
the spinnerbait has is
that, by design, it is more
snag-proof than lipless
crankbaits or topwater
plugs with treble hooks.
The spinner bait can be
fished a couple of different
ways in the summer. You
can fish it mid-depth with
a moderate retrieve, just
under the surface of the
water, creating a wake, with
a fast retrieve. Or slow roll it,
letting the spinnerbait sink
to the bottom in six to 15
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