Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

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Thenewrick
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Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Thenewrick » Thu May 25, 2023 1:12 pm

So my confidence lure is the wacky rig Senko. But I'm trying to branch out into more challenging and exciting lures, like top water.

I got 3 recently and haven't gotten a bite on them yet.

My ponds are very shallow with lots of slime and algae, no cover and soft mud bottoms.

I got a lipless crankbait style with propeller tail, a Spook in 1/4 and 1/2 oz, and a 4 inch hybrid Spook/plopper/prop tail.

Online I've read these are all more or less walk the dog, or twitch on surface than pause style lures, but can be steady retrieved also.

Anything I'm missing?

Saw another fisherman get a 3.8 lb, which is huge for my pond, with a large Spook doing a walk the dog style retrieve.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Hogsticker2 » Fri May 26, 2023 10:05 pm

With the wacky rig, I highly recommend dropping the Senkos and using a Jackall Flick Shake 4.8. Toss it on a 1/8 oz wacky jig head. Fish have seen the Senko a million times, and in my experience, the Flick Shake gets munched everywhere I've fished.
As for the top water in your pond, try down sizing to a smaller, lighter lure. Something like a quarter ounce popper, crawler, or wake bait.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Thenewrick » Sat May 27, 2023 5:04 am

I actually downsize all my lures because I go for more bites over big fish. And because I use lightweight finesse style gear. Also because my lakes typically are shallow and have smaller bass.

I’m going to try toying around with them more. I just haven’t gotten a bite on them yet.

They absolutely love the standard weightless 5 inch senko tho. Caught 4 in about an hour yesterday with several other bites from the same spot on the bank. I actually work them pretty fast with a twitch twitch twitch pause twitch twitch twitch pause type of movement. It’s too shallow for it to really fall and flutter so it works almost like a spinner bait or hopping jig. If it settled on the bottom too much it’ll collect slime so I sort of hop it quickly along the bottom part of the water column.

I’d like to get more top water bites but treble hooks are such a pain and bites are so rare that I may give up. I’ll try them some more.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Hogsticker2 » Sat May 27, 2023 10:38 am

Thenewrick wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 5:04 am
I actually downsize all my lures because I go for more bites over big fish. And because I use lightweight finesse style gear. Also because my lakes typically are shallow and have smaller bass.

I’m going to try toying around with them more. I just haven’t gotten a bite on them yet.

They absolutely love the standard weightless 5 inch senko tho. Caught 4 in about an hour yesterday with several other bites from the same spot on the bank. I actually work them pretty fast with a twitch twitch twitch pause twitch twitch twitch pause type of movement. It’s too shallow for it to really fall and flutter so it works almost like a spinner bait or hopping jig. If it settled on the bottom too much it’ll collect slime so I sort of hop it quickly along the bottom part of the water column.

I’d like to get more top water bites but treble hooks are such a pain and bites are so rare that I may give up. I’ll try them some more.
Perhaps try slowing down your presentations. Drag a light Carolina rig - go as light as you can get away with. I don't know how much pressure the pond gets, but typically showing the fish something they likely haven't seen before can produce additional bites.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Thenewrick » Sat May 27, 2023 11:44 am

Thanks for the advice.

What I'm saying is I'm very successful with soft plastics and wacky worms. I'm just getting a little bored of it and want more challenge with top water lures.

I haven't been able to get bites on them yet and when I get bites on my frog I don't get hooksets often.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Hogsticker2 » Sat May 27, 2023 6:16 pm

Thenewrick wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 11:44 am
Thanks for the advice.

What I'm saying is I'm very successful with soft plastics and wacky worms. I'm just getting a little bored of it and want more challenge with top water lures.

I haven't been able to get bites on them yet and when I get bites on my frog I don't get hooksets often.
Typically only a small window of opportunity for top water bites this time of year.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat May 27, 2023 8:20 pm

Hogsticker2 wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 6:16 pm
Thenewrick wrote:
Sat May 27, 2023 11:44 am
Thanks for the advice.

What I'm saying is I'm very successful with soft plastics and wacky worms. I'm just getting a little bored of it and want more challenge with top water lures.

I haven't been able to get bites on them yet and when I get bites on my frog I don't get hooksets often.
Typically only a small window of opportunity for top water bites this time of year.
I know our locations are quite different, but Ive literally caught fish 12 months out of the year on topwater here in GA.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Thenewrick » Mon May 29, 2023 11:45 am

I tried a whopper plopper style lure today for a couple of hours. Man it was brutal. I small bite no hookset. Catches every bit of grass and slime and clogs up. Snags on everything. Turtles go after them too.

I kinda hate treble hooks and low-bite top water stuff. The fish around here just seem to hate top water.

I wonder if I'm in the minority here. I get endless fish on wacky rig and soft plastics but hard bodied lures, spinners, topwater stuff, swimming lures, I get almost nothing.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by PotatoLake » Wed May 31, 2023 9:56 pm

So when I was hitting ponds hard two lures crushed. 1 was a Yamamoto Kut tail worm in a bluegill color. Many companies sell versions of this worm. 2. Was a frog, doesn't matter which brand pick a few and go with it. I ended up liking Spro and Jackall frogs. They never liked the walking the dog action, I get way more bites on spook style baits when fishing reservoirs. for me I get bites on those when I'm around schools of shad.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Cracker » Wed May 31, 2023 10:22 pm

Try small/medium size frog. Jackall Kaera is a good choice.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by DarkShadow » Fri Jun 02, 2023 9:43 am

Thenewrick wrote:
Thu May 25, 2023 1:12 pm
My ponds are very shallow with lots of slime and algae, no cover and soft mud bottoms.
If that slime and algae reach all the way to the surface, any type of topwater with trebles hooks on the bottom is bound to create more frustration, than strikes.

Some have mentioned a small frog, and that's a good idea, as the hooks face up.

Or, you may want to consider a weightless fluke. I know it's not topwater, but it's a good alternative that allows you to fish the entire water column, without getting harassed by the vegetation.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by dragon1 » Mon Jul 10, 2023 9:37 pm

Try dragging a weightless salamander/lizard up top and twitch it as well...worked for me in super weedy ponds along with the traditional frogs.
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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by Hogsticker2 » Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:28 pm

Most topwater is just as easy as a wacky rigged worm. In some cases, the wacky rig needs to be manipulated more in order to get bit and be successful.

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Re: Wacky Rig is too easy so I'm trying topwater

Post by MK49 » Mon Jul 17, 2023 7:26 pm

Hogsticker2 wrote:
Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:28 pm
Most topwater is just as easy as a wacky rigged worm. In some cases, the wacky rig needs to be manipulated more in order to get bit and be successful.
I agree. The best morning in my life (bass fishing for over 40 years) was 21 bass, averaging 7 to 8lbs, including 10 pounders, and smallest being a 6 pounder, all on topwater (I ended up catching 51 bass in the morning by 9:30 or so). I don't believe Wacky rig could caught the same quality and quantity in the morning.

It all depends on the situation, but there are a few topwater baits that catch many fish, excluding some of my secret baits that are no longer available.

1. Megabass Giant Dog X
2. Lobina Rio Rico
3. Evergreen Shower Blows (105 size)
4. Duo Realis Pencil (the 3/4oz size)
5. Heddon Original Zera Spook

These baits have caught over 10,000 bass for me. I do believe I can catch bigger fish with topwater. Just look at these pictures. They were all caught on the top. http://www.tackletour.net/viewtopic.php ... 45#p711756

That said, again, it all depends on the situation. I have way more confidence in topwater, but sometimes, I do use Wacky.

BTW, one time, my friends were fishing deeper side of a drop off with swim baits, and I was fishing shallower side of the same place (probably 1 to 5ft deep). Our boats were close enough, just casting different directions. My friend told me that he didn't think I could catch many bass (including a few big ones) in the shallow water. It's just the different mentality, I guess. I like shallower water with topwater baits, and based on my friends' experience, they didn't think I could catch fish there under that situation. I did catch more fish than two of my friends combined in that morning. It's one of those days that topwater worked way better than their swimbaits. It all depends on the situation. I have more confidence in topwater baits, so I throw them more. My friends have more confidence in switbaits, so they just use the more. Under different circumstances, they can catch more or I can catch more. You just need to figure out what works better.

For 5 or 6 years, I ONLY used topwater baits, because my fishing buddies gave me hard time, "you're cleating!", every time I used baits that go under the surface. They were hardcore topwater dudes. Because I didn't want to "cheat", I used only topwater for 5 or 6 years, and nothing else. We did catch on the top, even in Dec ~ Feb. It's pretty amazing. My friend was walking the dog in the middle of a winter (a kind of deep cove), and suddenly, I heard a big splash, and the friend hooked a decent winter bass. I have caught a bass in one of the coldest day of the year in Feb with a popper, when nothing else worked.

So, I guess it's all about confidence. If you don't have much confidence in topwater baits, and you don't catch after 30min, you would stop using them. I haver confidence, so I keep throwing them for long time, even without a bite. I normally have at least two rods with topwater baits in the boat. Another friend of mine is mostly a soft plastic guy. I kept telling him that he needed to have a topwater available ALL THE TIME. He didn't listen (again, it's the confidence thing.) One time, that friend hired a guide in Michigan, and that guide's friend was KVD. The guide asked my friend if he wanted to fish with KVD. Obviously, he said YES. According to him, KVD always had topwater ready (like I kept telling my friend), and as soon as they saw a bass jumping, KVD threw the topwater bait to the fish, and half the time, he caught the fish. My friend didn't listen to me, so he didn't have a topwater ready, so it was all for KVD to catch those fish. When I heard the story from my friend, I said "I've been telling you." Ever after that, most of the time, he doesn't have any topwater bait ready in his boat. He just threw the topwater (just because, I kept telling him) for 15min in the morning, and that's about it. So, it really the confidence thing.

If you think Wacky rig is easy, that's really good,. You have built up the confidence. And, you want to try some other style of fishing, that's also good. There is no one style of fishing that works better than anything else ALL THE TIME. One time, I and my friend caught about 140 fish with lipless crankbaits in about 90min. We just found a school (mostly 3 to 4lbs, and the biggest being 5lbs), and we kept catching them, pretty much every cast. That was way more than enough fish, and not big enough, so we left the place to look for bi8gger fish, which didn't work out that day. :lol: Anyway, under that situation, I don't think there was any better way to catch them, not the topwater nor the wacky rig. We just happened to find the way to catch them every cast. In fact, after catching 50 fish or so, I started throwing topwater (more fun), but they didn't bite.

Another time, I caught six bass in six casts, so I started counting. I ended up catching 46 bass in 50 casts. That was a deep diving crankbait. That's enough experience to have confidence in it.

I'm a little drunk, while I'm writing this, so I don't know if I make any sense. Anyway, what I'm saying is learn how to catch bass in different styles (topwater, lipless crankbait, wacky, or whaever), and have confidence in them, and most likely, one of those styles match the situations, Then, all you need to do is find what works better for that particular moment.

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