How to fish a topwater at nighttime

[topwaterfanatic]

   As you all know my favorite lure to use is the topwater. Topwaters are in my opinion one of the best lures ever created and they have been catching fish for a long time. Few things in bass fishing can compare to having a big bass smash a topwater in the night! Here is a technique I use to get bass at nighttime;

1.Cast the topwater to wherever you feel the bass are holding.
2.Let all the ripples die out.
3.Pop the topwater once.
4.Let all the ripples die out and pop the Topwater.
5.reapeat this all the way back to the shore.

This technique works great for me on a calm, dark night and it will work well for you too!

[tooboocoo]

Very important to wait til you FEEL the strike before setting the hook.....otherwise you've got a lot of hurt heading your way in the dark.   

[topwaterfanatic]

Very important to wait til you FEEL the strike before setting the hook.....otherwise you've got a lot of hurt heading your way in the dark.   

  Yes it takes a while to learn how to set the hook at nighttime with a topwater! What works for me is to wait a second after the bass hits to set the hook, which also improves the hookups with bass. Most of the time bass hook themselves with topwaters at nighttime, especially if you have sharp hooks!

[LgMouthGambler]

Very important to wait til you FEEL the strike before setting the hook.....otherwise you've got a lot of hurt heading your way in the dark.   

Duck or bleed! 

[topwaterfanatic]

   I say duck and move out the way it the lure comes back flying at you! Make sure your hooks are sharp so the bass gets stuck when it hits the topwater. I like to replace the hooks on my topwaters with high quality hooks so I don't have to worry about the bass not getting hooked well.

[flowerjohn]

I love how night fishing takes our eyes mostly out of the equation and gets our ears and feel going. I pay better attention fishing in the dark because i have to rely on feel and sound. Its way more exciting than day fishing .

[topwaterfanatic]

I love how night fishing takes our eyes mostly out of the equation and gets our ears and feel going. I pay better attention fishing in the dark because i have to rely on feel and sound. Its way more exciting than day fishing .

I agree with you 100%! I rather fish at night and few things in bass fishing are as exciting as having a bass hit a topwater at nighttime for me!

[flowerjohn]

When they whack that top water in the dark that is some noise boy.

[topwaterfanatic]

Big time! I like it when the bass explodes on the topwater when I stop moving it.

[flowerjohn]

Let em eat !

[topwaterfanatic]

One modification you can do to topwaters to make them stand out more is to add feathers or colored strings to the rear hook. You can get the materials online or from the fly fishing section of a fishing store. I like to make a small tail out of feathers and add it to the rear hook. I tie it with sewing thread and add nail hardener to keep the feathers in place.

[topwaterfanatic]

Here's another technique that can help you catch more bass at nighttime with a topwater;

1.Look for a part of a body of water where there's heavy cover and fish around it with a topwater.

2. From a boat you can cast parallel to the heavy cover and experiment with retrievals until you get bit. I like using the slow popping technique I mentioned in my first post. The closer you can fish the topwater to the border of the heavy cover the better it is.

3. From the shore cast as far out as you can and slowly work the lure until your 20 feet or so away from the heavy cover. Once your in this zone you let it rest for a bit and start popping softly where it barely moves all the way to the edge of the heavy cover. Most of the bass will hit less than 5 feet away from the edge of the heavy cover.

[topwaterfanatic]

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[cojab]

Excellent!
I've been reading through this tips section a bunch lately and I dont know how I missed this until now.

[jesterns2]

Sounds like great advice! I will definitely give it a try!

[topwaterfanatic]

Excellent!
I've been reading through this tips section a bunch lately and I dont know how I missed this until now.

Thank you!

[topwaterfanatic]

Sounds like great advice! I will definitely give it a try!

Thank you!

[jesterns2]

Thank you!

No problem! I caught my PB at night on a topwater sunfish but I did not have this tip in which I will apply it next time and hopefully top my PB!

[topwaterfanatic]

Hollow bodied frogs are great lures to use at nighttime, especially in areas with lots of cover!

  I like to use the same techniques mentioned above with hollow bodied frogs in areas with thick hydrilla, lily pads, or any floating vegetation. There are many bass hiding in this thick cover that will pounce on a lure that is well presented above their head.Use at least 50 pound test braid when frog fishing at nighttime with hollow bodied frogs.This way you can reel any big bass out of the heavy cover that gets hooked by your frog!

[topwaterfanatic]

No problem! I caught my PB at night on a topwater sunfish but I did not have this tip in which I will apply it next time and hopefully top my PB!

  I remember you posting your PB and mentioning it was caught at nighttime with a topwater sunfish,it was a solid,thick bass!I am confident that you will break your PB soon, especially with the information I gave about fishing top waters at nighttime. Fish topwaters slow this time of year, especially with the colder weather we are getting now.

[68camaro]

This is great advice. Thanks.

Question, when you mention night fishing do you fish all night or certain hours? If certain hours, do you prefer early evening, middle of night or in wee hours of am.

Also, with topwater do you only use poppers or do you use walk the dog style baits as well, besides frogs.

I only tried fishing at night once with a buzzbait with no luck. I like these ideas though as I love topwaters and frogs.

[topwaterfanatic]

This is great advice. Thanks.

Question, when you mention night fishing do you fish all night or certain hours? If certain hours, do you prefer early evening, middle of night or in wee hours of am.

Also, with topwater do you only use poppers or do you use walk the dog style baits as well, besides frogs.

I only tried fishing at night once with a buzzbait with no luck. I like these ideas though as I love topwaters and frogs.

    You are welcome! I have literally fished all hours of the night and every night is different.Some nights the bass bite best right after sundown,other nights right before sunrise, and sometimes the bite is best in the middle of the night.I have had nights where the fishing goes from slow to red hot around 1-3:00a.m. so I highly recommend fishing a whole night if you can.

    I use several types of topwaters and experiment with them until I find out the pattern for the night. For example, I might use a popper and if it doest work I will change the lure to a different sized popper. If all the poppers don't give me the desired result I change to a different type of lure like a frog,spinnerbait,buzzbait, or another type of topwater lure.