The Music of Topwater

The Music of Topwater

     Here in Arizona the fall topwater bite seems like months away, but as September gets underway and the Halloween Warehouses begin to pop up around town the visions of topwater explosions begin to fill my dreams at night.  Once these daily high temperatures begin to drop down into the 90s and the night time lows start to cool down our desert waters, throw some monofilament on your favorite baitcaster and make sure your iPod has a full charge.  I'm about to let you in on a secret of mine that I've been perfecting since I was a kid!

     Pop, pop, pause...  Pop, pop, pause....  Big bass have seen this presentation hundreds of times.  It may have fooled them when they were young and feisty two-pounders, but it's not going to work anymore.  I don't keep a detailed log of my catches, but I don't recall ever catching a big bass using this standard topwater cadence.  To catch a monster, you have to show them something new, even borderline unnatural.  Fish don't have hands, if they see something interesting and want a closer look, they've got to put it in their mouths.  What's more interesting to a fish than the classic beats of The Sugarhill Gang?

Jump On It - The Sugarhill Gang

     This "Jump On It" cadence is fairly simple, but very effective.  Pop it along with the rhythm of the early 90's synthesizer and pause for the "Jump on it, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it."  That's a pretty long pause.  Letting it sit motionless like that right over a curious bass is going to drive him nuts.  He might even JUMP ON IT!  (Wow, what a bad joke that was....)

Don't Stop Believing - Journey

     Chug your popper along to the bass line of this powerful rock classic.  The quick, steady tempo imitates a fleeing baitfish.  This is a cadence I use more often in open water targeting schooling fish, especially when you see the boils on the surface.  It works well with walking style lures and prop baits as well.

Another One Bites The Dust - Queen

     For a lighter more subtle presentation give the ole' Freddy Mercury a try.  I like to use a smaller popper or floating minnow jerkbait with a lighter twitching motion than a full pop.  "Twitch, twitch, twitch, another one bites the dust" pausing on the lyrics just like Jump On It above.  Break it down and you'll find that this is just a slower version of the Journey cadence above.

Rite of Spring - Igor Stravinsky

(Skip to the 4 minute mark)

     You might need a bachelors degree in fine arts to pull off this early 20th Century classic.  Stravinsky uses asymmetric meter as well as off-beat accents to pull off his aural representation of ancient pagan rituals.  At its Paris debut, the Russian ballet caused outrage and riots, audience goers were found setting fires and flipping horse-drawn carriages like it was L.A. in '92.  If this provocative sample of musical pornography can cause old French women to loot the Monocle Shoppe, then imagine the strikes this erratic action can trigger from a hungry largemouth!

Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees

     We'll round out my top five topwater cadences with the 1977 disco classic by the Bee Gees: "Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive".  Give the bait a pop on every word except "alive".  This is a relatively steady retrieve that will work for frogs and poppers, but where it really shines is with walking lures.  Repeat the pattern over and over again.  The short and consistent pauses on "alive" will be enough action (or lack of action) to trigger the strike from a bass that may only look at or follow the same bait with a steady retrieve.

     Did I leave out your favorite tune?  Tell me in the comments below if there are any songs you steal your cadences from.  And as always, let me know if any of the beats above lead to you catching a musically inclined hog!