San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Hello, my name is Dan and I am a topwater-aholic.

With topwater action soon getting ready to start in earnest, I thought I'd share the BFS topwater baits I have great success with. All of these are thrown with BFS reels. The rods vary depending on lure weights (as described below). Additionally I use 10 lb. Braid to a short 10 in flouro leader and a tiny snap. The short leader is stiffer than the light braid and I find it helps keep the lure hooks from fouling the line on retrieves.

These first three baits are all thrown on a Dobyns 701c ultra finesse rod, which is my softest bass finesse rod.
Tsurinoya 60f topwater (AliExpress cheap but great)
Megabass Baby Pop-X
Lucky Craft Bevy Popper 50 MS

These next three baits are all thrown on a light power rod with a fast action.
Lucky Craft Sammy 65
Lucky Craft Gunfish 75NF
Megabass Dog X Jr.

These last two baits I usually throw on a medium or medium lite power rod with a fast action.
Evergreen SB 77.7
Tsurinoya 70F (AliExpress)

I hope some of you find this useful and I hope to see you out there!

Those should and will get them.
Do you change out the hooks on any of them ( the Tsurinoya ) or any of them if so what have you found is best hooks for smaller baits?

I don’t see the gunfish but it’s not a bfs bait I guess kinda big I know u did well last year Murray I dug one out my box did good barrett last year w it can’t wait for this years topwater it’s so close this is my jakall 007 riser worked Murray last year well

vito1023 wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:04 am Those should and will get them.
Do you change out the hooks on any of them ( the Tsurinoya ) or any of them if so what have you found is best hooks for smaller baits?

I do when they break or bend out, but surprisingly, the Tsurinoya hooks have held up pretty well.

That Tsurinoya 70F reminds me of a bait they sold back in the 90 called a Zenith Carol. They were $15 a piece back then. I know you paid a fraction of that on AliExpress

My gunfish inspired by u Dan

robert_smith wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:22 am I don’t see the gunfish but it’s not a bfs bait I guess kinda big I know u did well last year Murray I dug one out my box did good barrett last year w it can’t wait for this years topwater it’s so close this is my jakall 007 riser worked Murray last year well

I've been meaning to get one of these!

robert_smith wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:26 pm My gunfish inspired by u Dan

You'll love it.

KillinTime wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 3:53 pm That Tsurinoya 70F reminds me of a bait they sold back in the 90 called a Zenith Carol. They were $15 a piece back then. I know you paid a fraction of that on AliExpress

Looks very similar. Almost exact. I think I paid $3. It has lasted pretty well, and even if it didn't I could buy 5 of them for that price lol.

To be clear though. I usually buy the original when I know it exists and is available, however there are some little baits I have only seen on AliExpress. I mean look at this little bugger at only 50mm. It will be my new tiniest topwater when they are chasing those tiny silverside minnows. At least that's the plan anyway lol

That the battle, having something that small that you can use effectively. Back before these small topwaters you had to throw a small fluke or spoon at the breakers. They would rarely hit a full size topwater.

I think I need to open an AliExpress account..... It looks like we all could be saving a grip of hard earned cash?

Keep us posted...

KillinTime wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 3:05 pm That the battle, having something that small that you can use effectively. Back before these small topwaters you had to throw a small fluke or spoon at the breakers. They would rarely hit a full size topwater.

I think I need to open an AliExpress account..... It looks like we all could be saving a grip of hard earned cash?

Keep us posted...

You know I will!

That Sammy is one of my fav. I don’t throw it on bfs as it casts really well on a “big” rod. Definitely a producer.