for a moment... We are Turning our Attention to Freshwater -- Why? Because Striper Fishing has become Bigger in Freshwater!

Topwater Fishing is the Favorite

Catching striper on topwater with artificial lures is the favorite of Captain Steve Barnes on Texoma. He primarily uses jigs, slabs and live bait most of the year, but says nothing compares to watching your favorite topwater lure get zapped by a mad hungry striper. If you have ever caught any type of fish on top you know what he is talking about -- and stripers are more aggressive than you average fish.

Tips and Patterns for Topwater Striper Fishing

You fishing equipment needs to be sturdy but not overbearing. Capt Steve uses a 7' med action rod that is just limber enough to transfer plenty of rod action to the topwater bait. Graphite rods are the best choice since they are lighter and don't wear you out as quickly. Graphite is not really the best for live bait fishing, but a good all round rod for both types of striper fishing is the Abu Garcia Workhorse.  These rods are light weight, sensitive and strong. As for reels, you can't go wrong with a Abu Garcia 5500 or 6500 series bait caster. If you just can't throw a bait cast reel, spinning reels will work fine but keep them loaded with fresh 12-20 LB test line. Let us repeat this: keep fresh line on your reels -- it will save you the frustration of losing some really nice fish and a ton of expensive topwater lures!

When the bite is really on, it hardly makes any difference as to what topwater bait you throw. If it is windy, 6" Pencil Poppers work well because they are heavy and you can make long casts into wind and choppy waters. In light winds, the Top-Dog or Top-Dog Jr.  is good; as is the Rattling Chug Bug in the 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" size. Colors do matter and a shad pattern is preferred. The Chug Bugs are probably the easiest to work because all you have to do is pop them. The Pencil Poppers and Top Dogs are a little harder to work because you want to make the bait dart from side to side which is called "walking the dog" and can be a bit difficult for beginners.


The key to finding topwater striper in the spring time is to find where the Shad are spawning along the shoreline. Shad are easy to find, just look for the Heron Birds wading along the bank -- they are better guides than professional fishermen, because if they can't find fish they die! First consider wind blown banks and shorelines where the wind is blowing the shad up against points, rocky banks or sand flats (Shad spawning grounds). If you find the birds wading the area, ease up to them and throw your lure right into the bank. If the striper are active you can hardly miss, but sometimes you will have to experiment and figure out what lure and lure action works the best. There are times when striper want the lure to stop completely and set still for a bit before it takes off. If you do get the strike, don't set the hook until you feel the fish because they often swat at lures multiple times before trying to eat one.