Late August can be a difficult time to fish for bass. Early morning and evening tend to be the best time to fish while bass will sit complacently offshore with little drive to feed in the afternoon. The good news is water temperatures are still high, which leaves time for low-light top-water action. You’ll have success (and fun blowups) Â with the correct top water lure, location, and conditions. With that said, several factors influence proper bait selection, such as wind and light.
Best Top Water Bass Lures: Analyzing Wind
Wind plays a crucial role in bass fishing. Bass become aggressive as the wind stirs nutrients and channels baitfish across drop-offs, brush piles, and other ambush sites. The wind is your friend. But it all comes down to noise and water displacement when selecting the right top water bass lure. Visibility is reduced as wind disrupts the surface cutting down a bass’ ability to laser in on a moving object. Bass will stay away from the surface as a result.
The Strike King Skip’n Buzz Bait is a perfect example of noisy bait in the wind. With a propeller-guided action and tail movement such as a horny toad or paddle tail swim bait, you’ll ring the dinner bell. Â The buzz bait travels over Lilly pads and toped-out vegetation and skips well under overhangs and docks. Additionally, you can throw the whopper plopper which moves fast and generates noise and water displacement.
Early Morning And Evening
Bright light can easily ward bass off into deeper water and shallow cover. Early morning and evening are perfect times to target top-water fish as the day’s sunlight hasn’t reached them. It’s best during these times to use a more subtle action when water surfaces are slick.
The KVD Sexy Dawg is a perfect walking lure when the wind is low and light diminished. It has a good balance of low sound and movement that catches attention from a distance without turning the fish off. This is especially effective when bass feed on bait fish in the fall. The best part is they are easy to walk, just cast, pop the slack in your line, and allow the lure to dart side to side.
The SPRO E POP 80 Popper and the Strike King Bitsy Popper are alternatives to a walking style bait for their softer action as they plunk along the surface, waving a tail feather beneath. These baits are also effective in early mornings and late evenings, as bass will hunt upward when sunlight disappears. I like to throw it when bass are keyed in on smaller bait fish if the bass are smaller, or when the water temperature is cold. The speed of this lure is slow, making it perfect for more lethargic fish, or those hunting specific targets. You can also target shade lines with a popper and entice a shallow-water bass in the heat of Sumer. The smaller size allows for a less intrusive entrance and the action is slow enough to lure a lethargic fish into biting.
Best Top Water Bass Lures: Hollow Body Frogs
Topped-out vegetation is a perfect opportunity to throw a top-water frog. Even sparse cover and overhanging branches are opportune moments to skip a small hollow-body frog on a lighter tackle. The key is finding shade or anything that obscures a bass’ vision.
But how do you choose the right frog?Â
Darker frogs for heavy cover and lighter colors for sparse cover amidst open water. I use bluegill colors when the bass can get a good look at the bait, even for a second. I’ll use clear and white colors during cloud cover and fog.
Larger walking frogs, or popping frogs, kick up plant material and displace water, while smaller walking frogs will appear as frantic top-water prey, darting back and forth. For heavy cover go with a heavier setup:
The SPRO Bronzeye Popping frog displaces water and makes good commotion for bass to track and hone in on from beneath thick surface canopies. It’s worth saying twice, darker colors are best when bass can’t see well. Lighter colors are effective when bass may catch a glimpse of what’s moving displacing water.
The louder and more active the frog, the more attention you’ll call to it. Use smaller body frogs like the Terminator Walking Frog Jr. around sparse cover.
Final Thoughts
In summary, topwater lures can be effective in August but it’s important to find the right time of day and select a lure according to the conditions. Fishing in light wind means using a bait louder and more aggressive. Use a less intrusive lure in calm water like a walking bait or popper. But in the early morning and evening when light is diminished, try overlapping and throw something like a buzz bait or whopper plopper and scale it back if nothing bites.
