5 "Must Try" Topwater Tricks For Summer Bass!

It's topwater time! These little tricks will get you bites when nothing is working! We all love throwing topwater but some anglers just seem to have a knack for catching bigger fish than the rest. Tim is one of those anglers. Today he's breaking down some of the subtle tricks he uses to out fish everyone around him with a topwater.
From the number of trebles on your bait, to bait modifications, to bait color, subtle differences can be everything. Tim uses specific baits in different conditions and is very intentional about his color selection as well. Don't think topwater color matters? It does!
Below you'll find links to some of Tim's favorite topwater baits. We've also included the components he uses to modify them, along with great topwater combos from high end to budget friendly. All the links go directly to Tackle Warehouse where you can see detailed photos and descriptions of each item.
HARD BAITS...
•Evergreen Shower Blows SB 105: bit.ly/2zIkqUH
Colors: Ghost Threadfin Shad, Bone, Full Metal
•Megabass Giant Dog X: bit.ly/2yU84eE
Colors: Megabass Sexy Shad, Wagin Hasu 2, White Python
•Jackall PikuPiku: bit.ly/399wl59
Colors: Lively Wakasagi, Glitter Secret Bait
FOLLOW UP BAITS...
•Zoom Super Fluke: bit.ly/2aqys0H
Colors: Electric Shad, Smokin Shad, Chartreuse
•Yamamoto 5" Senko: bit.ly/2axAmNS
Colors: Green Pumpkin Black, Natural Shad
FROGS...
Popping- Jackall Gavacho: bit.ly/2L7KsWS
Colors: Chart Strike Gill, Gold Gill
Walking- River2Sea Bully Wa 2: bit.ly/2axyR2a
Colors: Little Allen, TW Bluegill, Ghost
Heavy Cover- Savage Gear DC Walker: bit.ly/2VVjRVl
Colors: Olive Chartreuse, Shad, Gill
Finesse- Jackall Kaera: bit.ly/2Fz6SA3
Colors: Glitter Hasu, Glitter Gill
BAIT MODIFICATIONS...
Rattles- Skirts Unlimited 20 Pack: bit.ly/3xro58S
Weight- Xzone Tungsten 1/8 oz: bit.ly/40NDHjT
FEATHERED HOOK UPGRADES...
•Owner Tournament Trailer: bit.ly/2dJH8V6
Size: 4, 2
•Gamakatsu Feathered Treble: bit.ly/2Ii4IXO
Size: 4, 2
UPGRADED TREBLES...
Stock Replacement- Gamakatsu Round Bend Treble: bit.ly/3oSXVXp
Size: 2, 4
Strong Hook- Owner 3X ST-56 Treble: bit.ly/2cVg7xW
Size: 2, 4
Slick Coating- Hayabusa TBL 930 NRB Coated: bit.ly/3qBuXkB
Size: 2, 4
TIM'S MAIN TOPWATER COMBO...
Rod- Megabass P5 Destroyer Z Crank Elseil: bit.ly/2wVOSbY
Model: 7' Medium Regular
Reel- Daiwa Steez SV TW: bit.ly/3wXZ9Jb
Line- Sufix 832 Braid (30 lb): bit.ly/2ae93Ji
Leader- Sufix Advance (12 lb): bit.ly/3GJEUix
TIM'S FROG COMBO...
Rod- Shimano Expride 7'3" Extra Heavy: bit.ly/2nTq9FL
Reel- Shimano Metanium MGL (HG): bit.ly/2ezIBfB
Line- Power Pro Maxcuatro 65 lb Braid: bit.ly/2clBRiQ
BUDGET WALKING BAIT COMBO...
Rod- St. Croix Bass X 7'1" Medium Fast: bit.ly/2r0xWAs
Reel- Daiwa Fuego CT: bit.ly/35hugfH
Line- Sufix 832 (30 lb): bit.ly/2ae93Ji
Leader- Sufix Advance (15 lb): bit.ly/3GJEUix
BUDGET FROG COMBO...
Rod- Shimano SLX A 7'2" Heavy: bit.ly/2L3wppO
Reel- Shimano SLX 150 XT (HG): bit.ly/2BRTYL8
Line- Power Pro Braid (50 lb): bit.ly/2aFg46b
TACTICALBASSIN LURE DESIGNS (AND APPAREL)
We have a variety of custom lure designs and apparel available! Everything from Swimbaits and crankbaits, to hats and hoodies! Its all available direct through Tackle Warehouse with fast shipping. See it here...
TacticalBassin Lure Designs: bit.ly/38YpPIz
_________________________________________________________________
*MAJOR EQUIPMENT WE USE DAILY...
Boat- Skeeter FXR 21: bit.ly/43GvGQh
Motor- Yamaha VMAX SHO 250 HP: bit.ly/3xolFv0
Trolling Motor- Minn Kota Ultrex Quest: bit.ly/41RErpY
Electronics- Humminbird Apex 13: bit.ly/3pdaK1q
Anchors- Minn Kota Raptors: bit.ly/3iMUrEJ
Camera- GoPro Hero 12: bit.ly/3MwQToy
*FAVORITE TOOLS AND GEAR…
Favorite sunglasses: bit.ly/3cLH0kl
Favorite Pliers: bit.ly/3xJFwTu
Favorite Rod Cover: bit.ly/3UewJEx
Favorite life jacket: bit.ly/2odXXIP
Favorite Scale: bit.ly/2f7QgQ9
Favorite Lure Retriever: bit.ly/2TLTJc6
Favorite Braid Cutters: bit.ly/35KSp3O
Favorite Split Ring Pliers: bit.ly/2fT4Qw0
Favorite Storage Box: bit.ly/3U9y4cl
Favorite Net: bit.ly/3kdZ3kA
________________________________________________________________
If you plan to do any shopping, using our links before doing your shopping at Tackle Warehouse is the single greatest way to support us! You won't be able to even see a difference but they'll know you're one of us!
#topwater #fishing #frogfishing

[@Mendoza710]

It’s 4am, I got the boat hooked up and we get a new video too. It’s a good day.

[@northernbassalliance1442]

Listen on the way to the lake!

[@Wilford_j]

I’ll just mention this here, been subscribed for a couples of months. I’ve gotten complacent with my approach to fishing. So I’ve upgraded some equipment fished kinda a forgotten color you spoke of the other day. Got my personnel best yesterday a 8 lbs 4 oz So thanks for the restart.

[@haas.c]

That’s awesome dude!

[@tacticalbassin]

Way to go!! That's awesome!

[@Mark-dx8rr]

Heck Yeah, Buddy!!!

[@sqsumo1]

Shower blows 105 has been killer for me this summer.

[@northernbassalliance1442]

Summer whats that😂 water temps are 10 degrees behind up here in MN. 65-68 still. Im ready for summer bass!

[@jonorech]

Love watching your son fight that fish! Textbook. And man is he grinding!

[@brucehoffman7063]

That’s more like it top water ! Need some live action hits on video! Tim and your son would be great in it! I’m 69 years old and had the most fun taking my 3 sons fishing every weekend ! They all love top water! Keep the faith brother! 👍🥸🙏

[@MrRashad776]

I actually tried to trim the legs and this really works well. But I have say the rattles in the 🐸 frogs is genius, mind blowing tips 🤔.

[@brandonglenn8570]

Awesome video Tim! Love waking up to a Tactical Bassin video notification. Tight lines!🤘 We will be looking for that "Tim's top 5 top water video!"

[@rhodesianhunter9360]

Gotta love top water for river smallies. Lucky crafts Sammy 65’s and bevy pencil walker’s can get them to hit in the middle of day on blue bird sky’s. Whopper ploppers used to do the same, but they’ve seen them to much where I’m at now.

[@dylanschannel6275]

Love the gavacho frog🔥

[@tellis17]

Awesome info ! Hands down my favorite part is at 8:11 - 8:30, man I can’t wait for a day like that!

[@nohesinick5492]

you probably know a lot of tricks but anything that has to do with fishing and new is a must watch

[@keenanmoore264]

No one ever really mentions this. But frogs are alrways advertised with these elaborate paint jobs. But doesn't the bass only see the bottom most of the time?

[@bassonfly66]

If you watch some slow motion video of a frog being walked, you'll see that the frog rolls on its side by several degrees. That's why paint jobs can be really important on a frog...especially in open or clear water. I've absolutely crushed fish just out in front of bluegill beds in open water over submerged grass with a bluegill colored frog while my partner can't buy a fish with a solid white or black frog.

[@BrownfamTV]

I’ll try this on Dale Hollow this weekend.

[@kenmccarthyfishing]

Great job Tim, and I like the idea of trimming the leg on one side shorter,never heard of that before ❤

[@Daiwa_Is_King]

I smoked them yesterday on lake mead. I caught a 4.8 lb largemouth on a popper. Also caught 2 smallmouth and a bunch of striper on a chrome kicknocker pup. It was a great day. Had to cut it short though was 112 degrees out 🥵. Thanks for the video as always great content.

[@claycook7307]

Just started throwing top water in the creeks. It really brings out the biggest fish. I think you recommended the Rover98 in one of your videos and it’s been fireee

[@ufcguruofficial]

Tim, Matt, Thank you for all the great info over the years. Come fish Mohave out West one day!

[@tacticalbassin]

Thank you! It's been a while, we're glad to see you back 👊🏻

[@ufcguruofficial]

@tacticalbassin I watch every video, I just have not left a comment in awhile.

[@davidblake5199]

Thank Tim for teaching us all.. Had a good fishing spring this year with a 8 and 9 pounders in the books😀 Best spring day top five over 36 pounds.. Have a great 4th of July Dave from Atlanta

[@jddarby007]

The PikuPiku is a sleeper! Giant Dog X on order.

[@michaelc8606]

Great tips! However, there is a two-treble-hook topwater that produces big bass in my experience---the old silver/blue chug bug. My latest victim was a 4.3 lb largemouth.

[@garyplowman5838]

Great video Tim going to try those top water baits today on my fishery 👍🏻

[@andybales7318]

Another great BIG topwater...ABT Dirty Donkey...got me a 4 & 6 lb'er back 2 back casts on that big bait!

[@toddpossum]

Thanks!

[@johno7435]

Another great video Tim - keep it up!

[@marcusrodriguez9101]

Hey Tim! Hey Matt! Just wondering when we’ll get a video dedicated to hair jigs?🤣 hairrrrr jiggy jiggy jiggy jiggy

[@zSnippy50]

Hey guys just wanted to say I’m a huge fan and been watching y’all’s videos for years and learned so much about fishing. I had a question about leader lengths and how long do y’all typically tie your leaders? Does it vary by technique? All help is greatly appreciated

[@DavidBronstein1961]

Finally bought the Bully Wa II after you guys have been touting it t for years. I could not get that frog to walk no matter what I tried. Cut it off, put on a Booyah Pad Crasher and voila walking like a dream. Has the Bully Wa design changed? A rare miss, your recommendations are always on point.

[@DirtyCuttinScoundrel]

5 inch senko is my god send for bass. Haven’t hit on a fluke yet. And the Yamamoto Tamatanukis

[@brandonmerideth5450]

I accidentally bought a silent walking bait but it walked so easily that I kept on using it and it has now become my go to walking bait around me I think so many people throw them that a silent splashing walking bait like that is so good! Also even though it’s “silent” the hooks slashing on the body I’m sure makes noise too

[@trentramsey7172]

Love all your guys tips both Tim and Matt! I have been trying to figure out skipping a bait under docks or low hanging cover. Can we get some tips on skipping? I primarily use bait casters and seams like the good skips I’m able to get ends up with a backlash and I miss a blow up because of it or I don’t back lash but I’m not able to get the bait to skip back where I intended. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Top water is my favorite style of bass fishing but getting up under docks and cover I think would be a game changer. Thanks in advance guys!

[@59BigWalt]

Hey Tim, you mentioned that if bass are blowing up your frogs and you scale down the size of your bait with your rods in your setup for that day. Is a smaller frog bait similar to the ones you mentioned earlier this month in your rotation? Good vid. 👊🏾

[@HukNBux]

Hey Tim great vid I was wondering if you guys covered when and how to use the crawler style top waters the best?

[@NorthWoodsWes]

I like top water!!

[@Smiththebat]

lol watching kids fight fish is always so goofy looking!

[@andybales7318]

Can't recall the name at the monent, but the newer frog by Berkley is freakin' awesome

[@gitz-zum]

Do you ever have any success with hollow body frogs at night (midnight) either in open water or mats ?

[@Milehighsnake98]

I actually just finished putting together a BFS topwater box. A lot of the same baits...just smaller. Evergreen 77.7, baby dog-x, baby pop-x, plopper 60, piku piku, and the micro pompadour. What line/leader do you use with a BFS topwater?

[@JL050]

I love three treble hook top waters but man I hate having to dig those hooks out of the guts or faces of fish. It's gotta hurt em so I just smaller dual hook top waters now.

[@SacredGter]

They make a ball rattles. I use to put them in my frogs years ago.

[@marcusrodriguez9101]

Also Top 5 top water baits is not ENOUGH! lol we need a top 10

[@adt83live]

Agreed, you could even do a top 5 for each type with a bonus top 5 of unique type tw's

[@richardbossman9875]

How do you guys fish frogs in the thick stuff, do you just hop/drag it across like a real frog moving across or?

[@richardbossman9875]

Btw that was a textbook hook set by JD, little man is learning well!

[@Tightline_angler]

I’ve found that consistent motion gets a lot of strikes. You’d be surprised how many blowups you’ll get just reeling the frog back to the boat as slow as possible. That consistent wake allows bass to track the frog better and can trigger a predatory strike.

[@Milehighsnake98]

Depends how thick. If it's really thick, heavy mats, add a little extra weight so that it makes an impression on the surface. I still move it "hop hop hop" kind of with the same motion of walking the frog. Otherwise, I'll slowly drag it across if there's openings, then walk it across an opening, and right when I get to the edge, I'll pause the frog for a good 20-30 seconds. If you've ever seen a frog in a lake, that's what they do. I've gotten blown up with it just sitting there.

[@MISANTHROPE1964]

Something that changed my top water’s is a short mono leader. Seemed like half of my casts, the braid would get caught on the hooks. Ruined cast, spooked fish. A short, 4-6”, mono leader added just enough rigidity to the line to keep the limp braid from tangling up in the bait.

[@Tacobellohio]

Do you use a leader normally?

[@adamkoepke1366]

I know it’s an oldie, but whenever I’m not having luck, I’ve tossed out a jitterbug and have gotten some big smallie blowups from it

[@zacheriahlewis9666]

What’s your favorite sun mask??

[@iambquinn]

Pre spawn I find the bone color is killer an any condition working it SLOW. Popper usually, KVD Sexy Dawg Jr is my go-to. Post spawn I switch to other colors and move away from poppers to work them faster.

[@raytubach8988]

Hey everybody what day is it? It’s TIM’S Day 😄

[@WEALTHWITHCHEHO]

@Tim from TacticalBassin. Please stop saying that about GIANT DOG X. The name GIANT doesn’t apply to the size of the bait LOL. When Ito named this bait he was referring to the size of fish it’s going to catch. GIANTS!!!!

[@baka3750]

If you could only have one rod to do all the top water in today’s video? I’m thinking the Expride 7”3 EXH?

[@Milehighsnake98]

Really can't. That Extra heavy would be way too stout and would bend out/pull out the thin treble hooks. I use an 843MBR for walking baits. The extra heavy would only be good for the frog.

[@adt83live]

Medium Heavy would be a little light for the frog especially in the thick stuff, and a little too heavy to throw the finesse stuff shown, but if only one rod can be used then this is the one.

[@Easyliger]

Yuhhhhhhh!!!

[@marcusrodriguez9101]

I’m still waiting on a dedicated video on hair jigs😭

[@marcusrodriguez9101]

Hair jig vid??

[@aqueousveritas9024]

I been tournament Bass Fishing for 30 plus years , those colors are to attract you , not the fish. You need 2 "belly colors" white and black

[@Cbasschin]

Does anyone know how to straighten out the feathers on the the treble hooks when they get all bent and messed up in your utility boxes?

[@adt83live]

Get em wet

[@bobfishnut]

Try an iron.

[@Cbasschin]

@@bobfishnutit has plastic strands in it otherwise I totally would!

[@peekay1563]

Hey i live in quebec canada and i havent gotten a five pounder (largemouth) yet my pb is 3.9lbs how can i fix that

[@andybales7318]

Big baits=Big Fish....throw bigger baits...I'd recommend a 7-8" soft jerkbait....a 10" Rat wakebait....7-9" glide bait...8" soft swimbait...10-12" plastic worm...if u have alot of grass or vegetation, pick up a Spro Big Daddy frog

[@Milehighsnake98]

Find lakes that have 5+lbers in them. I'm way south of you and never catch 5s because the lakes closest to me just don't have them.

[@andybales7318]

@@Milehighsnake98 u may be surprised what your lakes have....before 3 years ago my PB was a little over 3 lbs...ever since I started throwing bigger baits, I routinely catch 4-7 lber's in lakes I didn't believe had any big bass...in ohio, 5 lbs + is a big bass & I've caught quite a few...give bigger baits a shot, u may be pleasantly surprised

[@adt83live]

Both answers are right, some lakes just don't have bigger bass, but bigger baits will catch bigger bass. Small baits catch big bass too though, and big baits still catch small bass. Pick up an S-Waver 168 and you'll at least start seeing some of the bigger bass in a given lake chasing the lure up. I've seen just as many if not more bigger bass caught on jigs, tubes, and ned rigs as I have seen caught on 6-8" swimbaits and A-Rigs. But the drawing power of the bigger baits will get you some followers and usually the bigger ones are the ones following. If you see some bigs chasing but not committing, follow up with a ned rig or wacky worm in their general area.

[@gewglesux]

" shallow vegetation" Guess you ain't never been to long island NY

[@Glock-1]

I had the biggest bass of my life 2ft from my boat come clear out of the water and throw my hook yesterday and I was sick because I was getting ready to grab her and she threw my hook, I was throwing a swim jig!

[@andybales7318]

I had my PB, looked to be around 8+ lbs. snap 30 lb. Braid doing a SERIOUS nose dive under the kayak 3 weeks ago...I'm still sick!

[@taraolson9207]

Well... Im not a guy...but liked the tips🤦🏻‍♀️

[@JustInfoYang]

Ist🎉

[@A1K3NFISHING]

No. You are actually last, last to the one to start this trend out of millions that’s have done that before you.

[@JustInfoYang]

​@A1K3NFISHING why are you so salty? Is it because you weren't the first one to comment on here?

[@haystack02]

Lets go

[@Just_A_Name14]

Still claiming titles of wasted time and life. 😂 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@JustInfoYang]

​@@Just_A_Name14just like u rn?

[@onfootbassin]

Does the Gavacho actually hook fish? I just got my first one in the mail and literally don't think the thing is capable of hooking a fish.

[@andybales7318]

It's had a great hookup for me, believe it or not

[@andybales7318]

It's had a great hookup, believe it or not

[@tacticalbassin]

It's the only frog with this hook style that we have a great hookup with. Hit them hard, it will get them 👍🏼