SPRO Corp.

If its springtime and the water is warming, then its topwater time, according to SPRO angler Dean Rojas.  Best of all, it will stay topwater time until well into autumn.

Topwater fishing can offer some of the most exciting and most enjoyable fishing experiences of the year for any angler, regardless of their experience level, because they get to see bass strike right in front of them, says Rojas, but at the same time, topwater fishing can occasionally be frustrating if bass are not biting, or if theyve been biting and abruptly stop.

In tournament competition, we often describe topwater patterns as fragile because they can end very quickly if weather or water conditions change, or because of fishing pressure, but Ive always enjoyed topwater fishing and throw several different types of lures for different water and cover situations.

Among his lures are both the soft plastic Bronzeye and Popping Frogs Rojas has designed for SPRO, the over-sized King Daddy floating frog, and the Hydro-Pop, a hard plastic popper/chugger he also created for SPRO. 

I feel there is a time and a place for each of them, continues Rojas, and understanding when and where to use them can increase anyone’s topwater success.  I remember when I won the 2008 Bassmaster Elite tournament at Lake Oneida with the frogs.  I used them both, depending on what type of cover I was fishing, and I know it made a difference.

The Popping Frog, for example, comes through matted vegetation and lily pads extremely well, but because it walks so easily, Rojas also likes to fish it over shallow, open water points and breaklines, too.  It creates a lot of commotion and pushes more water than the Bronzeye, so it also tends to bring strikes from larger and deeper fish. 

The original Bronzeye, which Rojas has also created in a smaller model for SPRO when fishing is really tough, performs better when fished through shallow shoreline grass that is not matted, underneath boat docks, and beside laydowns.  Its a much more passive lure than the Popping Frog, and Rojas uses it more when hes fishing specific targets or when he’s after spooky bass in shallow water.  With its more rounded body profile, the Bronzeye skips easily, so the Arizona angler tries to put it into places where bass normally dont see many lures. 

The newest, largest version of the Bronzeye, named the Big Daddy, was designed to tempt larger bass and it can be fished in any of these same places.  Its too large to skip, however, so Rojas makes lob-casts to specific targets, almost like hes throwing a swimbait. 

Larger lures attract larger bass, so thats why I designed the Big Daddy, says Rojas, and in my own experiences with the lure, I know I don’t get as many strikes, but the ones I do get are all quality fish.  The Big Daddy walks very easily, and when I jerk it and immediately feed it slack line, I can make the lure turn 180 degrees so its facing back the way it came.  I can basically walk it up to a prime piece of cover, and then keep it there.

Because it sits high it doesnt move a lot of water, but it does create a commotion.

While each of the hollow bodied plastic frogs works well around or in various types of vegetation, the hard plastic

Hydro-Pop with its dangling treble hooks is better suited for open water.  Rojas created it especially for schooling and suspending bass, but he also fishes it over gravel and rocky shorelines, riprap banks, even along the edges of tules.  Virtually any type of shoreline cover is fishable as long as it does not have any floating vegetation.

I wanted a lure I could cast a long distance, because that’s what you normally need to avoid spooking bass that are schooling and driving baitfish to the surface, explains Rojas, so I designed the Hydro Pop slightly longer than other poppers currently on the market to make it a little heavier and give you that casting distance.  When Im fishing the lure, I use regular monofilament line because I believe I can cast further with it.   I also put larger treble hooks on the Hydro-Pop, a No. 5 on the front and a No. 6 on the rear, to improve the hook-up ratio.

Sometimes bass want something popping and chugging and pushing a lot of water, and that’s what the Hydro Pop does.

Both the Hydro-Pop and the Big Daddy are also good lure choices for choppy water conditions.  When high winds make boat and lure control difficult, Rojas heads to more protected coves and bays and works the lures right through the waves.  Conditions like this frequently make bass extremely active, and noisy retrieves could make the lures easier to locate.

Regardless of the conditions or the lure being used, one of the keys to successful topwater fishing is changing retrieve speeds and cadence, something Rojas does on virtually every cast.  When hes fishing the Popping Frog, for example, and gets to an area or a particular spot where he really expects a strike, he slows his retrieve, walks the frog a moment, pops it really hard to get several good splashes, and then slows it again. 

I think using topwater poppers is all about covering a lot of water, which you do with long casts, and figuring out the mood of the fish, which you do with different presentations, emphasizes the SPRO angler.  Topwater lures will regularly draw strikes in water temperatures ranging from about 55 degrees up into the 90’s, and that gives the bass plenty of opportunities for mood changes.  Thats another reason its important to use different topwater lures for different conditions.

The cooler the water temperature, suggests Rojas, the more effective a slower presentation will be, while the warmer the water, the more noise your lure should make. 

Cooler water does not really change where you fish, he points out, only how you fish.  You should still think ambush points, like laydowns and matted grass where bass might be suspended in two to three feet of water.  But you want a more subtle approach without much commotion, so the smaller Bronzeye would be a good choice.

Even in cold weather, bass will sometimes remain shallow if they can hide in thick vegetation, and Ive caught them with the Bronzeye when the water temperature was in the high 40s and air temperature stood right at freezing.  It’s certainly not my preferred time to use a topwater lure, but bass will still hit, even when its cold.

On the other hand, prime topwater temperature is between about 70 and 90 degrees.  This is when bass have a higher metabolism and have to feed more often.  Baitfish are more active, too, so a noisy presentation, like that from either the Popping Frog or the Hydro-Pop is definitely something to consider.