Topwater Snob

I imagine one day I will need to seek help. I think I am OK right now, but I might be getting close to the line where some intervention is needed. You see, I only want to catch largemouth bass on top water baits. I will force feed, send telepathic messages, whatever it takes to make Mr. Larry eat on top. Its getting to a point where my friends think all my fish are caught on lil Barky and I don't even bother casting any other lure!

So last week when it was time to take the multi colored and leaky jon boat, the red devil, into some lakes. I didn't pack a whole lot of rubber worms and crank baits in the bag.

We got on the water a few minutes after 7 am, and lil Barky and a 3" Pike were pulled from the box and ready for some action. The wind wasn't going to cooperate, so we figured out where we wanted to start our drifts and started casting. Within 10 minutes, Brian had a pickerel in the boat on a 3" Pike. A few minutes later a small largemouth slurped a lil Barky that I had been stubbornly casting.



The trend continued. We drifted various parts of the lake and slowly picked at largemouth to about 2 lbs and some decent pickerel that gladly ate buzzbaits, 3" Pikes, Jigman spooks and lil Barky. Once we thought we wore out our welcome, we drove a few miles and dumped the red devil into another lake.

We had some confidence that we would find them eating top water in this lake since it is similar to the first lake. Within a few casts Brian had a 2 lb laregmouth on lil Barky. Then I had a fish explode and miss. We continue our drift but didn't find anymore. so we paddled over to our favorite cove, but couldn't find them there either.

We decided to drift into some shallower coves with the assumption that the fish were holding in the warmer shallow water. As we headed over I clipped on a 3" Pike and tuned it to fish about 10-12" deep. We were passing over some weed beds and I thought the bass might be holding in the top of the weeds. On my second or third cast I had a fish on that ended up being the pool winner for the day. A nice 3 lb. largemouth.

We headed into the shallow coves where lilly pads were just starting to pop and there was a lot of submerged wood. Our thoughts paid off, because it was gangbusters back there. We had fish either hooked or exploding on topwater baits ever 2-3 casts. If the largemouth ignored your lure, a pickerel jumped all over it. It was silly. This is why I am a total topwater snob when I am largemouth fishing. I can watch largemouth chase lures on top all day long and giggle the whole time. If I could learn how to cackle it would be perfect.

After a lot of fish in this end of the lake, we headed back to one last spot in the lake we thought they might be. within a few casts I had a crappy fly out of the water trying to get at a lil Barky. That caught our attention. Then I had another one do it while we were paddling and I had a lure following the boat. I switched over to a Jigman pikie and 1 cast later I caught our elusive friend. After another, Brian's taste glands were getting the best of him and he started jigging for pan fish. After a bunch of perch and crappie, the stringer was full and it was about time to pull the boat out of the water. We stopped by one last spot where I picked a 2 lb. largemouth on a lil Barky and we called it a day.

After a long winter and cold spring, this was the kind of day that we really needed. Our top water itch was scratched, but I think the snob in me isn't going anywhere.

We did manage to get a picture of a swimmer I painted perch for an upcoming musky trip, and compared it to the real thing. Its not a perfect match, but it ain't too bad either.

So the time is now for all you freshwater fisherman. The fish are finally looking up and you have a short window left for the pre-spawn chew. Get in on it and then be ready for the post spawn bite too. lil Barky and the 3" Pike did a great job during the post spawn and summer fishing last year. You can pick the 3" Pikes and lil Barky up at RM Tackle and Harborview Bait and Tackle. Don't allow me to be the only snob on the water!