Any angler who claims he or she doesn’t love a good surface take is a liar. It doesn’t matter if it’s a trout rising to sip a caddis fly or a striper boiling on a Spook in the back of a wave, topwater ...

Freshwater anglers have lots of topwater options. In the bass game especially, those looking for surface eruptions can dip into practically any lure genre and find the perfect bait to call up a hog.

Low-light conditions are ideal for poppers. In direct sunlight, bass often hunker down to stay cool and hidden – but when the risk of exposure is lower, they’ll move into shallow water to feed. Cloudy ...