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Summertime means red-hot bass fishing
Plop. Blip, blip, pop, glub, glub - KERSPLASH!
To many anglers, these are the sounds of summer - a topwater lure chugging across still water on a warm evening, followed by a depth-charge detonation of water as a bass hits your lure at full speed.
If you're fortunate enough to be on the water when the conditions are right, there's probably nothing more exciting than fishing topwater lures, including buzzbaits, poppers or chuggers, prop baits and stickbaits.
The most famous stickbait is the Heddon Zara Spook, made popular by Charlie Campbell.
And while it doesn't exactly look and feel like midsummer, it's likely sizzling weather - and more prime time topwater fishing - is not far away.
Robbie Harbin, at Mar Don Resort on Potholes Reservoir near Othello, is a die-hard bass angler who says fishing topwater lures is a deadly tactic on smallmouth and largemouth bass.
"These fish are very opportunistic, and the sight of a struggling or injured bait fish (which many topwater lures are designed to imitate) is enough to bring any bass to the surface," he said.
Although hot summer evenings and flat water mornings are ideal for topwater baits, they can be used effectively at many other times of the day.
"I use Rapala's Original Floating lures in the perch pattern at various times because bass are often looking around for an easy meal," Harbin said.
Floating lures or stickbaits, which have a small lip on them, dive only a few inches and resemble small swimming bait fish when retrieved.
On the Columbia River, poppers or chuggers, such as the Excalibur Spook Jr., Pop R, Rapala's Skitter Pop or Storm's Chug Bug, are equally effective at different times of the day, said Matt Demiter at Critter's Outdoor World in Pasco.
Topwater lures, such as a buzzbait, create so much surface commotion that bass - which rely greatly on sight and sound to locate their prey - are quick to react, even from deep water.
A couple of weeks ago, I was fishing for smallmouth above McNary Dam. Crayfish pattern crankbaits and plastic jigs hadn't produced that well, so I switched to a popper late in the afternoon. I fished the same water I had with the other lures, but this time around several large bass torpedoed my lure.
While you don't need 14-pound test line to land a smallmouth in open water, at the cost of some of these lures, I lean more toward 8- and 12-pound monofilament line. And, if you're working a topwater over weeds or heavy cover, you might want to try one of the braided lines on the market such as Berkley's Fireline.
However, presentation of a topwater lure can be critical.
Harbin said a proven method when using topwaters is to cast the lure and let it lie still until the rings have flattened out, then begin a series of short twitches, depending on the type of lure you're using.
"I let the fish tell me if I'm using the lure correctly, because if I don't get any hits, and I know there are fish around, I'll change the way I'm fishing it," he said.
Not only is summer an ideal time for topwater fishing, but full moon periods also offer extended fishing time - if you don't mind a few bugs.
"Big bass feed at night. So, as long as you can see what you're doing and where you're casting, you know the bass can see a 3- to 4-inch lure silhouetted on the surface," Harbin added.
Harbin said Potholes Reservoir bass are on the bite, with largemouth moving out to the edge of sand dunes as the reservoir's water level continues to drop.
"If you're fishing near the dunes, keep your eye out for beaver huts because largemouth are usually hanging around, he said.
The face of O'Sullivan Dam, Goose Island and the rock quarry near Medicare Beach also are excellent for smallmouth.
Closer to home, the lower Yakima River has been hot for topwater anglers floating or wading the river, and anglers report success with largemouth in the sloughs and backwaters of the Columbia and Snake rivers.
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