UL Topwater Fishing

[toddmc]

I like these classic plastics in the teeny size. They are either 1/10 or 1/8 oz. Walmart will carry them. That pop r is a fun bait and gets bit by everything. Gills love them. I catch way more on it than my Baby PopX. That little Wee R crank is a fun one too. That's a nostalgia shallow crank for me before "square bills" were a thing and this teeny one has a great action. I'll crank it along rip rap banks and catch everything that swims. The hopper can be waked and paused and it works well too but my favorites are the Pop R and Wee R.

We carried two piece ultralight spinning setups in our golf bags when when we were kids in the early 80's. We threw all of these Rebel baits on them. The only reason that I learned to golf was to have access to the course ponds! I still fish many of those same ponds over 40 years later.

[Smalleyez]

The Zara Spook Puppy has produced lots of smallmouth bass for me. It’s probably at the upper limit of BFS and weighs 1/4oz.

The Puppy fishes well on a light casting/BFS setup. I've caught limits around 25lbs. on it when my home lake has a stable water level all summer and grass mats are able to develop. The fish come out from the matts to the outside edge to crush it when small baitfish is what the fish are eating. It is super fun to watch donkeys crush a tiny bait. Most of the tiny topwater baits don't regularly catch many big fish, but the Puppy and small Pop-R catch quite a few big ones also.

Agree on the big fish. A stout 18” smallie I caught tight to shore on a medium sized river comes to mind.