Folks, it’s that time of year again and it’s started already. The other day, I received a text from a buddy. The text read, “It’s here” and showed a string of photos of nice spotted bass, lips adorned with a familiar topwater plug, a Chug Bug popper.
The Chug Bug has been a favorite in the spring and fall for topwater bass and stripers the past few years. To be honest, it’s worth its weight in gold here on Georgia’s Lake Lanier. I imagine it will find similar success wherever there are spotted bass and stripers.
This time of year, I’ll either be popping or walking the dog with a topwater walking bait. Now, the timing varies on different waters, but here the bait starts moving to the top when surface temperatures reach 70 degrees. Some of the bait is seeking warmer water, and some are entering their spawning season, so they are swimming the surface in the shallows looking for a structure to spawn on. In May on Lanier, we are catching the tail end of the shad spawn and entering the blueback herring spawn. In both cases, there are plenty of opportunities to find surfacing predatory fish looking for a big meal.
In calmer early morning hours when the creeks are glassed over, I pull the boat out into the middle of the creek, shut the motor down and watch for fish chasing bait. They usually give themselves away on points and shorelines. I’ll make a mental note of the areas I’ve seen activity, and then I go to work hitting those locations. Generally, the fish stay and feed as long as bait is in the area.
I’ll start out throwing a walking bait like the Lucky Craft Sammy. “Walking the dog” with this bait is very effective, and creates a wake on the surface the fish are looking for. This can be a lock very early in the morning on creek points. But if walking the dog doesn’t get their attention, I’ll break out the popper and start making some noise. “Calling them up” with a popper mimics fish feeding on the surface, and it’s sometimes the ticket when the quieter walking bait doesn’t produce. This pattern usually goes on for a while, and fishing is easy. It’s when they quit surfacing that times get tough, and you need to go looking.
The next place to look is main-lake humps, where the water comes up shallow out of the depths. The pattern is the same as in the creeks, and at times surfacing action on the main lake can last all day. A lot of times these fish go undetected, and throwing topwater baits around shallow-water markers can produce.
Whether it’s the creek points and shallows or main-lake humps, there are two baits and two tactics for me in May. You can find me walking the dog with a walking bait or calling them up with a surface popper for some of the best topwater action in the South.
Jim Farmer is an avid fisherman and owner of Cast Away Bait and Tackle, a custom tackle shop located just off the shores of Lake Lanier in north Georgia.