By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan

(Editor’s note: This is the final installment of an occasional 5-part series about pro anglers' favorite topwater techniques and the details behind them. To read part 1, click here. To check out part 2, click here. To read part 3, click here. To read the fourth part, click here.)

My first memories of Gerald Swindle’s fishing career go back to his early days as a Quantum pro staffer and a signature series rod he designed for fishing poppers. For a while, a topwater popper became his calling card, but then the chatter faded away.

“I still throw it, I just don’t talk about it,” Swindle said, recalling his reasoning for taming the popper talk. “I don’t have a hard bait sponsor and it’s so much easier now because if you have something that is working, you don’t have to say (anything). I did that intentionally.”

In his late teens and early 20’s, Swindle started to delve into the intricacies of a popping bait. He quickly realized how productive it could be. By the time he began fishing competitively, he learned how versatile a tool it was.

“There’s more to it than just tying on a popper and chugging it around,” he said. “When you’re intimate with it, you understand the subtleties that go with it. My popper box never comes out of my boat. If the water temp is above 58 degrees and the fish are relatively shallow, it can be damn deadly.”

Working Magic

If he’s fishing bream beds and they are eating mayflies individually, he’ll work a popper so it makes a single “bloop” noise. Other times, the allure of popping a bait once and letting it sit to the point of inactivity can create the “deadliest bite on the lake,” he says.

When targeting smallmouth, he knows they’ll be chasing fry so he’ll work it quickly and aggressively so that his bait spits big sprays of water.

Other times, like when fishing Lake Guntersville in May and he’s targeting largemouth in the grass, he’ll tie on the larger Rico popper and fish it over holes. He’ll twitch the bait hard to create a profound “doosh” sound and then let it pause before repeating until a fish explodes on it.

When targeting boat docks, especially when fish are spawning on the back corners, he’ll methodically work a Rico or Pop-R until it’s been “in the strike zone a little too long for him.”

Often it’s the same kind of scenario in which he would throw a buzzbait, but only elicit boils.

Most times, he’ll fish a popper with his rod tip down, but the most important lesson he’s learned is that how hard he pops the rod using his wrists can control the spray. If bluegills are in play, it’s more about the blooping sound than the spray.

He was confident he could have pulled out the win fishing a popper at the 2015 Sabine River Elite Series had it not been for Mother Nature. He was 5th after day 2, but a significant rain storm on day 3 brought the river up three feet and washed out his area. His weight was improving each day and he caught them better than everyone around him.

“I took an itty-bitty popper on 12-pound line and lay it right beside the cypress tree,” he recalled. “I’m talking an inch! I made the most aggravating cast possible and hit it one time and let it sit.”

That’s where patience plays a key role.

“Maturity, time, and experience show you that a lot of time when it’s sitting still is when your popper is doing its best work and that’s the hardest thing to get used to,” he said.

Counter Logic

Swindle has also witnessed instances when fish are super shallow and spooky, a popper might be the best option.

“It doesn’t make a big splash when it hits the water, and you can work it very subtle, the bite will be subtle but the fish will be big,” he said.

A buzzbait fished in the same conditions has a tendency to spook the fish.

While the Pop-R is still a go-to lure of the veteran pros, Swindle’s not sure the new generation has realized how effective it can be.

“It’s like it is lost in time,” he said, “but I promise you, it is a bad dude when it comes to catching bass.”

Pinpoint Accuracy

Swindle is an avid bow hunter so he knows how crucial being accurate from a distance can be. The same is true when presenting a popper.

“I’m the guy making the cast where you have one inch of variance on each side,” he said. “I’m trying to get in between two ropes and a pontoon boat and a pier and hit it one time.”

Being able to lay the popper right down beside the target is key. Bass don’t always want to chase down a lure. As soon as the bait hits the water, his right hand engages the reel followed but a subtle pop.

“I’m trying to create (the scene) that a shad just broke,” he said. “After that first pop, I might let it sit a few seconds.”

He’ll fish the same way over bedding bass and those tight to grass.

For post-spawners around a cypress tree or boat dock, he’ll work it a little faster to create more spray trying to emulate a baby fry flittering on the surface. At the Sabine River, for instance, his bait sat for 12 seconds, but most often, he pauses it for 3 to 5 seconds.

“If I’m fishing a specific piece of structure be it a stump, cypress tree, or a small piece of brush in the water, I want it to stay in the strike zone as long as I can,” he said. “If I’m fishing submerged vegetation or rip rap, then I’m going to move it a little faster and keep it coming.”

One Tool Among Many

Swindle considers the popper a tool, not something that he will throw all day, every day in a tournament.

“It’s kind of like your fullback when you need 2 yards,” he said. “Don’t try to win the tournament with it. Let it help you accomplish the weight that you are looking for.”

At the 2016 Potomac River Elite Series, he’d yet to pick up his popper, but upon finding a little corner of grass that made the perfect point once the tide fell out, he saw an opportunity. On his third cast, he boxed a 4-pounder.

It’s a versatile bait, too. While some anglers are plowing ledges on Guntersville with 10XDs, he’ll tie on a Rico and make long casts. He’ll try to mimic the shad flittering on the surface in June when it’s 90 degrees.

On the business end, Swindle tries to match the hatch, whether it’s bream or mayflies.

The Yellow Magic, Zell Pop, the smaller Lobina Rico and the larger Rio Rico, and Don Iovino’s Splash It all play a role. Swindle carefully takes into consideration their size, weight, and the sounds produced by each.

For spawning fish, he likes the smaller sized Rico because the fish eat it better. In dirtier water and around grass, the Rio Rico has a rattle that calls them in.

“There is something about the sound of that rattle and that noise that I think pulls them up a little deeper than anything else you can throw,” he said.

Since the Rico and Splash It are heavier, they’re easier to cast. They excel when there are ripples on the water or when casting into the wind. Under such conditions, he’ll work the bait more aggressively.

The Yellow Magic excels when he needs a subtler bait, perhaps to imitate mayflies. His color choices are simple. Some are painted in mayfly, some clear, black back/ silver side, and perch colors for brim beds.

Hold the Caffeine

Swindle stresses anglers not swing on fish upon seeing the blow up.

“The key is patience – that pause after you get the bite. I reel into the fish and hold,” he said. “It’s an itty-bitty bait and he’s a 4-pounder. Give it to him for a second and let him get it in the back of his throat. It’s hard for him to spit it if it’s in his crushers.”

He prefers monofilament line to let the fish get the bait and prevent him from yanking the bait away too quickly.

For the smaller poppers, he opts for a 6’8” medium-action Quantum casting rod with a Quantum Smoke HD casting reel (6.3:1 ratio) and 10- to 12-pound Sunline Super Natural monofilament line. For larger baits, he’ll go with a 6’10” rod while keeping other elements the same.