| As any freshwater bass fisherman will tell you, | | | | came across a Yo Zuri top water lure similar to |
| there are few things more exciting to an angler | | | | the old Zara Spook - not really a popper, but |
| than a fish exploding on a top water lure. We've | | | | more of a walking lure. I figured what the hell and |
| all had the experience at one time or another of | | | | snapped it onto my leader. |
| dancing a jitterbug across the glassy surface of a | | | | I don't think I made more than three casts |
| small pond as the last rays of sun settle on the | | | | before I saw the wake of a fish behind that lure |
| horizon. So peaceful. Then suddenly, a | | | | and knew my luck was about to change. |
| four-and-a-half pound largemouth hits that lure so | | | | The fish making that wake was a bluefish, the |
| hard it flies twenty feet through the air. You very | | | | first of many I would catch that morning - that |
| nearly jump out of your boots but finish the | | | | vacation actually, and the hit was a sight to |
| retrieve and cast again. This time the bass engulfs | | | | behold. Many times the fish came up on the lure, |
| the jitterbug and you're whooping like a banshee | | | | knocking it this way and that, and it was almost |
| as your rod doubles over. | | | | all the way back to me by the time the fish was |
| Surface fishing for any species is about as intense | | | | hooked - once it was on though, the blue tore off |
| as it gets, but it took me a number of years to | | | | fifty yards of line in no time. |
| recognize the full potential of this type of fishing | | | | The scene was repeated many times during that |
| as it relates to the salt. | | | | trip. I was never sure why the typical methods I |
| Certainly I have cast my share of Atom poppers | | | | had often used with great success just wouldn't |
| and iridescent Rangers under hordes of frenzied | | | | produce, but every fish I hooked during that |
| birds while game fish punished a school of bait. | | | | vacation fell victim to a surface lure. Perhaps it |
| This fishing is fantastically exciting as well, but in a | | | | had to do with baitfish behavior - many of the |
| different way. You expect to catch fish - you | | | | friends I have who fish the same areas during |
| already know the fish are there, and you know | | | | that time frame reported similar low success |
| they're feeding. It's just a matter of hooking up. | | | | rates with most of their catches coming on |
| Using a surface lure to test the water and search | | | | surface lures. |
| for fish just wasn't something I spent much time | | | | Whatever the reason for the success with my |
| doing. I'd cast swimming plugs, drift bait, even | | | | Zara Spook - type lure that summer, it changed |
| swim rubber shads around structure, but rarely | | | | my outlook on fishing surface plugs in the salt. I |
| would I put much faith in a top water offering | | | | now regularly use top water plugs when hunting |
| unless I already knew the fish were there. | | | | for fish and have found them to be as effective |
| All of the other methods I employed worked, and | | | | as any of the other offerings I throw out there, |
| continue to work, most of the time. | | | | sometimes even more so. |
| Then, a couple of year's back, while vacationing in | | | | If you're like I was and have been reluctant to |
| southern Maine at a spot where fishing usually | | | | fish the surface unless you know the fish are on |
| comes easy, I found the place barren. None of | | | | top, give your favorite popping plug or chugging |
| the tried and true methods I had used in the past | | | | lure a shot - you may be surprised at how |
| would produce even a single hit. | | | | successful you are at raising the fish - and you |
| After a few fishless mornings, while searching | | | | just can't beat the action! |
| through my bag for something different to try I | | | | |