Poppers and Chuggers—Concave-mouthed lures like the popular Rebel Pop-R (3 sizes) and classic Arbogast Hula Popper catch air on the pull, expelling bubbles and noise as the bait dives slightly beneath the surface. A sharp tug of the rod tip creates any action from a gentle plop to a serious blurp, leaving a bubble trail in its wake. One might postulate that this looks and sounds more like a bass feeding than a frog plopping, triggering a competitive reaction. Who knows? Experimentation reveals what works best. On any particular day, sometimes an aggressive tug and blurp creates just the right sound to trigger bass. At other times, a series of quick jerks outproduces single plops interspersed with long pauses, though most folks tend to use the single plop and long pause. Tends to work best on a rod with a little bend in the tip, rather than a stiff stick.
Poppers and chuggers often are used to call fish up a long way to the surface—10 feet or more—along bluffs in clear highland reservoirs. They’re also great over weeds and wood, with smaller sizes particularly effective for river smallmouths. Pro models often feature premium sharp hooks and short mylar skirts for added flash and profile, plus new realistic finishes to mimic the real thing at rest. Sticky sharp hooks as on Rebel’s Excalibur lure series often produce double hookups as a fish jumps and shakes its head, trying to shake the lure.
Storm’s Chug Bug series starts small with a Baby Bug, up through the Rattlin’ Chug Bug and Big Bug, finishing with the Double Bug—two Bugs joined nose to tail, imitating either one chasing the other, or one gigantic meal. Other notables include the Bill Lewis Spitfire, Mann’s Loudmouth Chug-N-Spit, Luhr-Jensen P. J. Pop, Buddha Baits Pop Fire, and Bull Dog Ratling Pro-Pop.
Twitch Baits—While most topwaters are twitched, the twitch bait category commonly refers to walk-the-dog-style lures like the Heddon Zara Spook that zigzag side to side on consecutive twitches. These long cylindrical baits move in a short chop-chop-chop fashion with fast repetitive twitches, then glide in longer flowing strides when the twitch rate is slowed. In the old days, when we all sat in small boats and the line tie was positioned at the tip of the lure’s nose, we held our rod tips high to make our lures dance properly. Nowadays, with the line tie often positioned along the bottom of the body, slightly back from the nose, better results are gained by keeping your rod tip pointed downward at the surface (everyone stands nowadays, anyway), twitching the tip backward about a foot, then reeling in the slack as you move the rod tip forward again. Repeat, repeat, repeat all the way back to the boat.
The classic Zara Spook and smaller Zara Pooch and Puppy are joined by a flurry of similar lures: Buddha Baits (slogan: “It’s just Bubba spelled sideways.”) Samurai Edge, Norman Rat-Lur, Mann’s Tailchaser, Ozark Mountain Woodwalker, and Owner’s C’ultiva Zip’N Ziggy. Bent-tail versions like the Bagley Ratlin’ Twitcher add to the repertoire. The thinner-bodied Bill Lewis Slap-Stick and Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow sit more upright at rest and perhaps work best at slower speeds.
Trivia buffs: Remember back far enough when the Zara Spook was originally made from wood and called the Zaragossa?
