Topwater Bait Overview: Poppers, Ploppers, and Walkers

When you think of bass fishing, many anglers will agree that seeing a topwater strike from a giant bass is one of the most exciting things that can happen while out on the water. But what kinds of topwater baits are there, and which ones should you use for any given situation? Let’s find out.

Topwater baits are a type of lure that stays on top of the water and are designed to attract bass by creating a lot of commotion on the surface of the water. Topwater baits can be especially effective during early morning, evening, or any other time of day when the water is especially calm.

Typically, these lures are best used from late spring until fall, as the water temperatures this time of year are in the sweet spot of 55 degrees Fahrenheit or above. They’re an ideal choice to use when you’re fishing in areas of shallow water or in areas where you think bass are suspended towards the surface.

When it comes to topwater baits, there are three main kinds that you should keep in your tackle box. Poppers, Ploppers, and Walkers can all be highly effective, but have some key differences and use cases.

Poppers are a type of topwater bait that has a cupped face. They’re designed to be jerked on the retrieve, creating a pop of water as well as a lot of noise. This is meant to mimic an injured baitfish or other prey that a hungry bass would be after.

You’ll want to use poppers when fishing in shallow cover. Think about places like docks, rocks, laydowns, or grass clumps. In these shallow areas, the bass have an easier time seeing and hearing the splashing from the popper and are more likely to come up and strike.

When fishing these baits, you don’t want to do a super fast retrieve. Simply cast it out, and pop the bait back towards you with rests in between. This retrieval method is perfect for those lazier bass that are going to ignore some of the faster topwater bait options out there.

Ploppers are a type of topwater lure that has some type of rotating component included in the body of the bait. These baits are designed to have a steadier retrieve, as the rotating component does all the action for you. On the retrieve, the part that rotates will create a ton of splashing and plopping sounds on the surface.

You can find success with ploppers in a lot of different scenarios. You can use them in the same places you would use a popper, but you can also use them in some open water conditions. Anywhere along points or submerged cover can be a great place to throw a plopper out.

With ploppers, your plan should be to cast them out, do a steady retrieve back to you, and repeat. You don’t have to mix in pauses or jerk your rod at all, just let the bait do all the work. Because of this, ploppers are an ideal topwater bait to cover a lot of water while fishing.

Walkers are a type of topwater bait that has no built-in action. They have long and slender bodies that require you to add in twitches with your rod to get the action you want from them. Walkers are similar to ploppers when it comes to best use cases. You can cover the shallow water around docks, or you can move out to deeper water with submerged cover.

Walkers are probably the most difficult topwater bait to master, but once you get the hang of it they’re incredibly effective. You’ll want to cast out the bait, and then on the retrieve, you’ll do the walk-the-dog retrieve. This essentially means that you’ll twitch your rod tip to make the bait go side to side as you bring it back to you. This definitely takes some practice at first, but you can get some really great aggressive strikes from big bass on these lures using this method.