(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
While there are a few lakes around the country where bass leave their beds and almost immediately transition to their summertime patterns, Jacob Powroznik believes that on most fisheries there’s a transition period where bass stay shallow. In fact, he said that on lakes like Buggs Island, if there’s water in the bushes they’ll stay shallow as long as they can.
Nevertheless, when the beds go empty, it’s time for a change, and he said that in the immediate aftermath of the spawning ritual there’s typically a 2-week period where the topwater bite is off the chain. If you think you’re fishing too shallow at this time of year, sometimes you need to look even shallower.
“The brim aggravates the bass and now it’s time for the bass to aggravate the brim,” he explained. That means he can pull out his favorite poppers from Livingston.
The company’s Walk N Pop comes in three different sizes and each of them has a time and a place. The smallest doesn’t walk – it’s not supposed to – but it "bloops" seductively and if you get it around a ball of fry “it gets smoked.” If there’s a little more wind, he’ll turn to the middle size for casting accuracy and additional water displacement. His true favorite, though, is the Walk N Pop 77, a 3 1/8-inch version that weighs a half-ounce and shares many of the same features of the famous Pop-R P70, with the addition of Livingston’s Electronic Baitfish Sound. He throws this big popper on a 6’3” Quantum baitcasting rod and 20-pound monofilament, and stressed the element of surprise. In other words, it’s important that the lure doesn’t “sound like a cinderblock when it hits the water.”
He offered several key tweaks to maximize topwater success. First, “feathers are a must” on the rear treble. They add action when the lure is at rest. Second, he downsizes the split rings on his lures, which allows him to upsize his hooks, for example changing his No. 6 trebles to No. 4 models. Additionally, he never shaves the lips of his lures, leaving them able to bloop in the case of the smaller models while the biggest Walk N Pop can walk as well.
In order to ensure that his poppers act as intended, he ties his line directly to the eyes of the smaller models (he also believes that a snap is acceptable), but ties a loop knot to the Size 77 model to allow it to sashay side to side. Ultimately, each presentation involves “slack lining,” which permits the lure to displace water while staying in one place.
His final rule for topwater is that anglers shouldn’t put it away. While even many experienced tournament fishermen believe that cloudy days are best, he likes the sunny ones even more. The bass can see longer distances and will key on any little bit of shade, like dock ladders or the poles leading to the bank. They can be targeted more easily and will come a long way to hit the lure.
Another of his favorite presentations this time of year is a white V&M jig paired with a white V&M “rabbit ears” trailer. He swims it around docks and shore grass, covering water at a rapid clip. One advantage of this lure over the topwater is the extremely high hook-up ratio, with 90 percent of solid strikes getting converted into fish in the livewell.
While other anglers claim to practice to catch five good bites, Powroznik said he prefers to practice to catch 50 fish, believing that gives him the best chance at the right five. These tactics are a key element of that plan in the post-spawn.
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