Turkey Swamp Bassin'

[crustyangler17]

fished the entire front end of the lake and the cove to the right of the boat dock. started out with a jitterbug. nothing. switched to a watermelon texas rigged weightless worm. a few hits but no commitments. tried a buzzbait for about an hour. useless. finally, put on a watermelon senko and caught a small bass on my first cast under the boat rental dock. missed a hit on my second cast, caught an even smaller one around 9" a few minutes later. missed about 3 more hits then caught a third baby bass for the remainder of the day and swithed back to a jitterbug during sundown (which i regret, i should have stayed with what was producing the most). these bass are REALLY small, which explains why i lost so many fish, along with 3 senkos.

either way, i think topwater fishing sucks.

[acabtp]

i'm with you on that... i fish topwater only at night, seems to be the only time it is productive for me.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by acabtp

i'm with you on that... i fish topwater only at night, seems to be the only time it is productive for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh4_vAeTJiA

[crustyangler17]

lake champlain is alot better than turkey swamp

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by crustyangler17

lake champlain is alot better than turkey swamp

Okay, I'll give you that. Still, don't give up on topwater just yet. Midday in August is not the greatest of conditions for nearly any type of fishing, so try not to use that as a benchmark.

Also, I haven't caught squat on jitterbugs my entire life; maybe switch to something else?

[Skunk City]

Topwater is hit or miss, even at night. In the North Jersey spots where I fish, topwater only seems to work from approximately an hour or so before sunset, through the night, and then until about 10am, depending on the heat. From 10am-6pm, it shuts off, as I've never landed anything on topwater between those times. My 2 cents...

[snapperbluefish101]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

Midday in August is not the greatest of conditions for nearly any type of fishing.

Live Shiners? Get a dozen or two at the manisquan reservoir bait shop and then go over to TSP and fish them from the afternoon till evening. I have done well this time of year on the bass and crappie on live shiners as long as it is not too hot which it is not. I have also got quite a few topwater strikes from the Bass and even Crappie when the shiner is trying not to get eaten. Might be worth a try?

SNAPPERHEAD

[Fluken-Around]

Originally Posted by crustyangler17

fished the entire front end of the lake and the cove to the right of the boat dock. started out with a jitterbug. nothing. switched to a watermelon texas rigged weightless worm. a few hits but no commitments. tried a buzzbait for about an hour. useless. finally, put on a watermelon senko and caught a small bass on my first cast under the boat rental dock. missed a hit on my second cast, caught an even smaller one around 9" a few minutes later. missed about 3 more hits then caught a third baby bass for the remainder of the day and swithed back to a jitterbug during sundown (which i regret, i should have stayed with what was producing the most). these bass are REALLY small, which explains why i lost so many fish, along with 3 senkos.

either way, i think topwater fishing sucks.

Top water fishing is very productive!! You just need to know how to fish them first of all and you need to know the time and place to use that presentation!!

What do you think all those fish you see exploding on the surface are doing? EATING STUFF ON THE SURFACE not just jumping for fun!!!

Get away from jitterbugs. Plenty other top water choices that are much more natural and productive!!

[AJFISH13]

Jitterbugs work, you just have to fish them right. If there is a good amount of surface activity, chances are topwater fishing will work. That being said, we had some this morning and it sucked. Good luck.