Australian Bass are an endemic species to Australia and are certainly not shy about eating surface lures. It is not uncommon to be scared to near death, as you hear an almighty “BOOF”, and see your surface lure engulfed off the surface – and trust us, it is exhilarating!
This post will help you narrow down what surface lures you should pack when fishing for Australian Bass on surface. In our opinion, this is the one and only surface lure list you will need to help you catch more Australian Bass on surface lures during the Australian summer months (December to February).
There are a few different types of surface lures, but our top five list consists of:
· Bibbed Surface Lures;
· Fizzers;
· Pencils;
· Buzz Baits; and
· Frog Imitations.
Bibbed Surface Lures:
Bibbed surface lures ripple across the surface of the water, displacing water with their bib as they swim. This style of surface lure is the easiest to retrieve. A slow wind with lots of pauses mixed in, will see you convert lots of fish.
#1 Recommendation - The Jitterbug:
Our standout bibbed surface lure, is the mighty and humble Arbogast Jitterbug.
The Jitterbug lacks a little power in the castability department, but trust us, it just gets eaten. This lure should be one you add to your tackle trays pronto.
The Jitterbug works fantastically, both in the smaller cicada sized variant (5.08cm), and in the jointed variant (6.35cm). The jointed variant will usually entice enquiries from larger Aussie bass.
Fizzers:
Fizzers are a standout choice for any Aussie Bass fisherman wanting to target fish on surface. Fizzers ‘fizz’ through the water with the help of a helicopter style rotor blade in-built into them. Fizzers pack a punch when it comes to mixing up your retrieval’s because they fish amazingly well when they are burned quickly, ripped and paused, or slow wound.
#2 Recommendation - The Jollip Lures Arancini Fizzer:
In our books, the Jollip Lures Arancini Fizzer is leaps and bounds above the competition. The Jollip Lures Arancini Fizzer is near fool proof because it can be fished at high speeds, slowed down to a very slow roll, or it can be ripped and paused – all retrievals converting lots of quality fish. The Jollip Arancini Fizzer also packs a bit of weight to improve castability, but we have found the extra weight does not affect the buoyancy of the lure at all – making it near perfect.
#3 Recommendation - Jackall's Micro Pompadour:
We could not just narrow it down to choosing one Fizzer surface lure because in our opinion, Jackall’s Mirco Pompadour, is a very close second to the Arancini Fizzer. The Jackall Micro Pompadour is a bit of a mixture between lure types – it is a bit like a bibbed surface lure in that it has two metal wings, and then it also has a propeller blade at the back, making it fall into the Fizzer category in our books. The Jackall Micro Pompadour also has standout castability performance, but this lure needs to be worked slower than the Arancini Fizzer to see results.
Pencils:
Pencils can also be known as “Walk the dog surface lures”. Walk the dog surface lures swim from side to side and these lures action is mainly imparted through the fisherman’s technique. The walk the dog retrieval of a pencil surface lure is likened to patting your head while rubbing your stomach, which makes it difficult to master, but once mastered, it is deadly effective.
#4 Recommendation - Duo Realis Pencil:
Our number one choice pencil lure is the Duo Realis Pencil lure (85mm – 9.7 grams). This lure excels when it comes to castability because it is relatively heavy for its size, allowing the angler to punch out long casts to cover territory easily.
Buzz Baits:
Buzzbaits are the more bizarre lure choice on this list. Buzz baits are difficult to explain, but picture this – buzz baits are a mixture between a fizzer and a spinnerbait. Buzz baits are usually made of metal wire which will have a plastic or metal propeller type prop on them, which when retrieved at high speeds, will buzz across the surface of the water making an audible “buzzing” type noise.
#5 Recommendation - Bassman Spinnerbaits Buzz Bait:
The buzz bait we have found ourselves using the most lately has been the Bassman Spinnerbaits Buzz Bait. We have fished other brands of buzz baits, and we find they either get fouled up easily, or will bend out of shape so the propeller prop does not work properly. We have had none of those same issues with the Bassman Spinnerbaits Buzz Bait’s, and what is even better – the fish love them!
We have found surface eats on buzz baits are more reactionary given the speed at which you retrieve them, and as such, the top water explosion is usually bigger when Aussie Bass eat them. If you want big eats, a buzz bait should be your ‘go to’ lure choice.
Frog Imitations:
Frog Imitations are exactly what they sound like – yes that’s right, these surface lures imitate a frog swimming or hopping along the surface of the water. The more well-known Aussie Bass frog imitations are made of soft plastic material and are usually rigged on an unweighted weedless jig head.
Admittedly, we have not caught many fish on frogs, but from running our Instagram page (australian_bass_finatics), and from speaking to people in the know, a well-presented frog imitation will get the eat from an Aussie Bass when not much else will. This is an area of our own fishing style that we hope to improve on into the future.
From speaking to other fisho’s in the know, the standout frog imitation surface lures are the Zman Finesse FrogZ (2.75”) and the Daiwa Bait Junkie Kikker Curly (3.2”).
An honourable mention also goes to the brand new MINTOSS frogs (made by Drew M – the Youtuber). We are soon going to be putting these lures through their paces and will report back.
You will see we have intentionally left Poppers off our top surface lures list. We just do not believe poppers will help you catch more fish than any of the other surface lure recommendations we have made (of course, that is a very broad view. We know poppers have their place in Australian Bass fishing, just not a place deserving their place in our ‘top list’).
Summing Up Our Recommendations:
Our top 7 Australian Bass surface lures for the summer of 2023/2024 are:
Bibbed Surface Lure: Arbogast Jitterbug in both 5.08cm variant and the jointed 6.35cm
Retail Price (BCF):
Retail Price (Jollip Lures Online Store): $22.00
Retail Price (BCF): $29.99
Retail Price (BCF): $25.99
Retail Price (MoTackle): $15.95
Frog Imitation: Zman Finesse FrogZ (2.75”)
Retail Price (BCF): $11.99 (4-pack)
Retail Price (BCF): $$11.99 (3-pack)
The Finatic Blogger...
I love bass and all bass content but there is something special about a written article. Great information and a pleasure reading about an aussie icon.