Turkey Swamp Bassin'

[crustyangler17]

fished the entire front end of the lake and the cove to the right of the boat dock. started out with a jitterbug. nothing. switched to a watermelon texas rigged weightless worm. a few hits but no commitments. tried a buzzbait for about an hour. useless. finally, put on a watermelon senko and caught a small bass on my first cast under the boat rental dock. missed a hit on my second cast, caught an even smaller one around 9" a few minutes later. missed about 3 more hits then caught a third baby bass for the remainder of the day and swithed back to a jitterbug during sundown (which i regret, i should have stayed with what was producing the most). these bass are REALLY small, which explains why i lost so many fish, along with 3 senkos.

either way, i think topwater fishing sucks.

[acabtp]

i'm with you on that... i fish topwater only at night, seems to be the only time it is productive for me.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by acabtp

i'm with you on that... i fish topwater only at night, seems to be the only time it is productive for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh4_vAeTJiA

[crustyangler17]

lake champlain is alot better than turkey swamp

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by crustyangler17

lake champlain is alot better than turkey swamp

Okay, I'll give you that. Still, don't give up on topwater just yet. Midday in August is not the greatest of conditions for nearly any type of fishing, so try not to use that as a benchmark.

Also, I haven't caught squat on jitterbugs my entire life; maybe switch to something else?

[Skunk City]

Topwater is hit or miss, even at night. In the North Jersey spots where I fish, topwater only seems to work from approximately an hour or so before sunset, through the night, and then until about 10am, depending on the heat. From 10am-6pm, it shuts off, as I've never landed anything on topwater between those times. My 2 cents...

[AJFISH13]

Jitterbugs need to be reeled in slow to medium. Reel them too fast, they skip, reel too slow they don't make enough noise. Used to use Jitterbugs a lot. Right now the topwater bite has been from 5-7 am and if you can get out there, dusk is usually good. Topwater fishing is AWESOME when they are feeding. You need clouds for a good midday topwater bite. Dragonflies also help since the fish come straight out of the water when they are feeding on them. This is all from experience. I have an article on topwater fishing in the tips section. Good luck.

[Moz]

I caught my first bass last year on a jitter-bug that's been in my tackle-box for over 20 years. Top water offers a lot of excitement, but not much in the consistent results category.

I do however find that a popper does draw curious bass in. I've had a few instances this summer after using a popper for a couple of casts I quickly get a bite or hook-up after switching over to a plastic worm.

[fish45]

Jitterbugs are at times an awesome topwater choice. I can't comment on fishing them at Turkey Swamp, however early a.m. in the summer and at night at Hopatcong have been great. Lake Champlain is a whole different animal compared to any public lake in Jersey. If you can't catch bass in Champlain take up another sport. Recentley Champlain was rated by touring Bass Pros as one of the top 10 bass destinations in the U.S.

[snapperbluefish101]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

Midday in August is not the greatest of conditions for nearly any type of fishing.

Live Shiners? Get a dozen or two at the manisquan reservoir bait shop and then go over to TSP and fish them from the afternoon till evening. I have done well this time of year on the bass and crappie on live shiners as long as it is not too hot which it is not. I have also got quite a few topwater strikes from the Bass and even Crappie when the shiner is trying not to get eaten. Might be worth a try?

SNAPPERHEAD