REVIEW FROM CHI-TOWN ANGLER

The Skip-n-Pop from JDC Inc. is a bait that does exactly what its name says. It’s a new soft plastic topwater shaped like a popper with a collapsible air pocket that closes when the fish inhale the bait thus exposing the hook. It's enjoyable to see engineering affect the outdoors by providing us with better ways to experience it.

I was fortunate enough to get a chance to try it out during the smallmouth bass spawn on the Fox River. High sun and increasing daytime winds had me thinking a couple fish was going to be a good day, someone forgot to tell the smallies! The result's ended up being one of the single best outings I've had in the past ten years. The day brought 3 fish in the 18-20 inch class and several more quality fish, in 5 hours time! I was really beside myself, almost mad that I didn't know about it before. I'm a plastics' fisherman but I had been using mostly pulse grubs, lizards and stick worms over the last few years, to my defense I'd never heard of a plastic topwater. There is something that is incredibly intimate about using a topwater. Whether it's watching the action of the bait slurp across the surface or actually see the monster that lurks beneath demolish the bait before your very eyes (think peacock bass fishing but to a much lesser degree). Catching smallies on a topwater is unmatched in its ability to turn an avid angler into a fanatic.

May 5th was an absolutely incredible outing. I worked a spot that had a lot of surface activity last time out. The fish were going nuts from the time I got there to the time I left. I can't remember ever seeing the fish that active during midday, usually it's more of a sunset thing. I'm sure a fair share were carp jumping but I saw a few that were green and had stripes. I couldn't have gone more than 20-30 minutes without hearing a "cinderblock" hit the water within eyesight. It seemed most of the action was confined to the shallower areas with an occasional something chasing something around some deep rocks. The first fish was sitting behind the very front boulder on a current seam in about 12 inches of depth. The deepest area I caught a fish all day was maybe 3 ft and most came from shoreline areas with structure or flats adjacent to current seams behind rock bars and islands and such.

During the day I'm not sure bait selection mattered very much so long as it was something that got the fishes attention by noise or sight, big plastic lizards and flash jigs are what I used. Once the sun got low the ticket was something that made noise on the surface. The retrieves also had to be of the slower variety. Even with the topwater retrieve it seemed the fish would take it after a more subtle twitch. What worked best for me was giving it a hard twitch so it'd really make some noise, then dead-stick it anywhere from 3-10 seconds followed by a more subtle twitch or two. When the bait did it's last little twirl the fish would smash it!

I experimented rigging the bait with a long shank hook set slightly off-center. By doing this when you pop the bait it will dive and spin on the rise closely imitating a "wounded diver". Rigging it as directed also results with a fantastic action. They have a variety of colors for different water visibility and sunlight conditions; on the Fox I liked watermelon, daiquiri and green pumpkin the best. Ordering online from JDC Baits (www.jdcbaits.com) is extremely easy and being accustomed to Cabela's, I was amazed at how quickly they were shipped. It was a great experience in every phase.

Jason Napadano can be found wade fishing many rivers in Illinois and Wisconsin, and frequently posts his reports on Chitown-Angler.

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