Best topwater lure.

In your opinion, yes, everyone, what is the best topwater lure for big Northerns/Ski’s? For those esox guys, when is best time of day to throw one? (Lets say….LOW, 1st week of Sept. Submerged rocks)

viper, and lets see….ah viper. I would use this early in the morning and late in the day. I use them in calm water and also in rough water as well. The viper is a great bait.

A Zara Spook has been #1 on my list for many years.

BIRDDOG

Bob what is a viper and who makes it.

I found the viper on the thorne bros website. If anyone else is curious it is a glider and made by phantom

This glider rides very low in the water, I have had great hook up percentage on this bait. The spook is another great one too. Sometime that smaller bait is the way to go. Good call on the spook

What? Nothing with a propeller to add commotion?

Try a big white buzzbait…I catch lots of big northerns fishing for bass on buzzbaits- never caught a musky before though

Come on guys, how can you not throw a Hi-Fin Creeper in the evening or the old go to hog wobbler. Lets not forget about a Reef Hog?

Hawg Wobblers a good go to for sure. Anyone looking for some new musky lures should check out http://www.muskyshop.com . Worlds largest musky-pike tackle selection (they say). Biggest I’ve seen. Right now they have 50% off on internet orders.

I should of said earlier what my favorite is. I like throwing heddon flaptails. Unfortunately for me they dont make them anymore. I have tried imitations but they are no heddon. The best imitation I have used though my grandpa put together. Another a great old bait it the ol’ buddy rubber sucker. this is a great bait fished on rivers. very easy to use all you have to do is twitch it. unfortunaly this bait isnt made anymore either.

Good call on the Viper. I too, am a big fan of her. Like Bob said, she sits low in the water, so the fish don’t blow her out hard. On the flip side of the coin, I get lots of blow-ups on the Jackpot, but the hooking percentages really sucks…..The fish have a tendancy to blow the Jackpot away from their mouth because the Jackpot sits high in the water. Being that she sits high in the water though, makes her easy to use and make lots of commotion.

As for prop baits, I have to give a thumbs up to the Top Raider and the Top Water bucktail. The topwater bucktail I feel works very good, because the prop is in the front and the hooks are in the tail end of the bucktail. Most fish hitting props generally come from up behind or hit it in the back end. With the hooks being in the “loose” hair, makes it easier for the fish to get hooked up.

I know alot of people like the “weagel” but I keep hearing it is a pain in the butt to get it to work right. Too much work for a simple top-water that has no better hooking percentages than any other type of top water…..

I am with gary, topraider is #1 in my book or a shallow manta.Love the musky talk Thanks Dan.