Fishing with topwater lures is possibly the most enjoyable fishing you can do. Anglers typically use topwaters in the early morning or the late evening when water conditions are at their calmest and surface feeders are searching for prey. These lures are designed to attract fish by producing different water disturbance patterns, flash, vibration and sound. Topwaters are successfully used in both freshwater and saltwater, but we'll focus on saltwater in this article.
Before we get into the specific lures, you need to understand why lures are designed the way they are. When you hear about flash in a lure, it is essentially a flickering reflection of sunlight. When schools of baitfish swim through water, the sunlight flashes and flickers through the breaks in the school of fish. Flash in a lure is creating the illusion of a school of baitfish swimming near the surface.
Some lures also have rattles inside them to produce sound during the retrieve. Fish sense and are attracted to certain sound patterns and the rattles produce those sounds when combined with a rhythmic action such as walk the dog.
Vibration from something like a pounding propeller is also a great way to trick the fish. Props produce both an interesting water pattern and a vibration to attract the fish. The splashes and vibration mimic the behavior patterns of fleeing baitfish. As we go through the list of topwater lures we recommend, you'll see different water patterns, flash, vibration, sound, and even color.
As far as choosing the color of your lure, we follow a pretty simple concept: in clear water, opt for natural colored lures like silver, white, or bone. In murky water, go for darker shades like olive green or black. A little bit of metallic gold, chrome, or silver, helps to reflect the light and catch the eye of a fish nearby. There is also an element of personal preference to color choice in a lure. If you like to go for the silver and chartreuse lures, instead of the red head ones, I say go for it. Through years of experience on the water, and a bit of research, I've compiled a list of the 9 best saltwater topwater lures that I'll share with you below.
1. Heddon Saltwater Super Spook
The Heddon Super Spook is a surface walker lure that's been around for decades. It's part of the Zara Spook collection, which consists of the Super Spook, Zara Spook, Super Spook Jr, and Zara Puppy. The Super Spook and Super Spook Jr both have an internal rattle which helps attract fish from further distances. The Zara and Zara puppy do not contain the rattler. The saltwater versions simply have more corrosion resistant hardware, which is a great feature to help your lure last longer.
The Super Spook is 5 inches long and has 3 hooks which is perfect for targeting larger species nearshore or offshore. Heddon's spook design makes walking the dog feel so easy and the aerodynamics add distance to the cast. If you've ever tried fishing from the beach or jetty with a lure that's flailing in the wind, you'll appreciate the castability of this lure. If the baitfish are looking pretty small around me, I might opt for the Super Spook Jr size.
When using the Super Spook lure, consider its weight of 7/8 oz and check the lure weight rating of your rod. You'll want to make sure you're pairing the lure with the right rod. I also love how affordable this large lure is. Ringing in at just under $8, its competitive pricing makes this lure an easy favorite.
As far as choosing a color, I'd go with the Silver Mullet color if you're fishing during Florida's mullet run, so you can “match the hatch” as they say. At other times, any of the light colors will do well when waters are clear, and darker colors, such as the Black Shiner, when water is deep blue or murky. To hear more about the Heddon Super Spooks and Zara Spooks, check out our YouTube video for Surf Fishing with Artificial Lures.
2. MirrOlure MirrOmullet XL 26MR
Now if you're looking to catch snook or redfish inshore, MirrOlure's MirrOmullet XL is tough to beat. Its slender body is similar to that of a young finger mullet. This surface walker is about 3.5 inches long and features realistic colors to help fool the fish. If the baitfish are looking really small, you can try this same lure in the 16MR size. Pair this lure with a shorter rod with a fast tip, and you won't tire out too quickly.
In clear water, we go for the red head color with a white and silver body, and if we're closer to muddier waters by the mangroves, I'll opt for the green back with white and silver luminescence. MirrOlure has designed in a luminescent insert that helps increase the flash on these lures. I've caught several redfish and snook with this lure and a quick walk the dog action. This lure is small and lightweight (1/2 oz), which makes for easy casting on a calm morning when topwaters are most frequently used.
3. Rapala Saltwater Skitter Walk SSW11
Another well respected surface walker is the Rapala Skitter Walk. The skitter walk is similar to the Heddon Super Spook in the sense that it includes an internal rattle. The design allows the clacking of the rattle during each pump and reel of the walk the dog action. This lure weighs in at 5/8 oz, so its lighter than the Super Spook, but heavier than the MirrOmullet XL. This one is a versatile lure that you can use in all saltwater situations. It works in the shallows, and also performs out in the deep waters.
The weighted tail on the Skitter Walk helps catapult this lure as you cast it out. The color options are incredibly realistic, which makes this one a top choice for really clear water. The clearer the water, the more realistic the artistry should be. Rapala uses VMC hooks on the Skitter Walk with premium durability in saltwater and sharpness to puncture tough mouths. I caught my first Jack Crevalle on one of these at Sebastian Inlet, and let me tell you, that was a fun catch!
4. Shimano HD-Orca Flash Boost
Shimano's Flash Boost series is one of the most eye-catching lure collections I've seen. Shimano's design has foil on the end of small springs inside the lure, which allows for constant flashing through the entire retrieve. The technology comes at a high price point, though, as this lure is just under $40. It's our most expensive lure to recommend, and its also the largest. The Shimano HD Orca Flash Boost is 7-7/8 inches long and weighs 5-1/4 oz. This lure is designed for use offshore, just be sure you save some energy for fighting that fish you catch. Doing walk-the-dog with this heavy lure and a powerful rod might wear you out pretty quickly. I would recommend waiting to cast it out until you've set your eyes on some surface feeders nearby.
If you see some tuna in the water, cast this lure out in the green mackerel color and I bet you can get a bluefin tuna to bite. To help improve your odds of success, try different approaches with your retrieve. Changing speeds tends to look like a very natural presentation in the water. If you've never caught a large pelagic fish on a topwater, you're in for an exciting show.
5. Storm Rattlin' Saltwater Chug Bug
The next lure on our list is another classic, the Storm Rattlin' Saltwater Chug Bug. For its length of 4-3/8 inches, its fairly lightweight. At 15/16oz, and a long slender body, casting can be a challenge. This one still made it on the list though because I have a lot of success with it even if we miss the cast target. The rattle gives it that extra sound in the water to draw the fish to it, even if they have to travel a bit.
This lure has a teaser attached to the rear for more disguise, and a loud rattle to draw in the fish from further away. The VMC hooks are corrosion resistant to make this lure last longer. The chugging and darting motion is unique to this lure, so I always keep one in the tackle box. I would recommend getting the metallic silver mullet color if you're fishing where mullet typically live. The extra metallic in the finish helps add flash that the lure would otherwise be missing.
When fishing with this lure, I'd recommend twitching it, pausing, twitching again. It will float on the water when you pause and it'll essentially do a walk the dog motion on the water, with the addition of the chugging water pattern to imitate a distressed baitfish. Even when I was a beginner fisherman, I was catching mackerels easily with this particular lure.
6. Yo-Zuri 3D Inshore Popper
Number 6 on our list comes from Yo-Zuri who has become well known for its intricate and realistic color patterns. This one has a lot of flash with the holographic colors. It's a popper style lure, which features sharp darting motions with additional water disruptions from the concave mouth breaching the surface. This one is a traditional popper body style with the tapered body and concave mouth. Yo-Zuri has also priced the 3D Inshore Popper competitively at about $8.
These lures are meant for inshore saltwater fishing. As for the size, you should match the hatch. When the baitfish are young and small, go for the 2-3/4 inch one as long as the weather is calm. The 2-3/4 inch size only weighs 1/4oz so it can be tricky to cast if its windy out. I'd go up a size if you feel its flailing around in the wind on the cast. The ghost shad color is a nice choice for redfish when the water is clear.
7. Rapala Skitter Pop
You can tell the Rapala Skitter Pop will make a large splash on the pop as soon as you see the size of its cupped mouth. As with most Rapala lures, these ones are easy to action. Pump, pause, pump, pause and you've got the perfect surface pattern to fool any redfish or snook around. The only drawback to this lure is the price. Its over $10 which prices it above most similar-sized topwater lures. The good thing about spending money on a saltwater lure is, it'll last a long time if you care for it properly. Rinse it off with freshwater afterwards and you won't regret it.
This one is the easiest to cast popper we've used, which makes it great for fishing in the surf when you're trying to reach some structure a little ways out. Try this one out the next time you go saltwater fishing at first light. There aren't many color choices on this one, so we'd recommend the mullet color.
8. Berkley Choppo Saltwater
A lot of the lures on this list are tried and true topwaters with a long history of performance. This next one was an ICAST 2021 winner for best saltwater hard lure and you've got to try it. The Berkley Choppo Saltwater is a propeller style lure with a large surface area on the prop. I used to dread using prop style lures as they'd always seem to get caught on something, but Berkley designed the prop surface to easily push grass out of the way, instead of catching it. This lure is one you've got to try.
It comes in two sizes in the saltwater version, 105mm and 120mm. I'd go for the 105mm if you're fishing inshore and the 120mm size anywhere else. The splash and vibration pattern this lure creates will certainly draw in some exciting surface feeding fish. I also love that it comes in a nice mangrove minnow pattern which I use when I'm going after redfish around the Thousand Islands in the Indian River in Melbourne, FL.
9. Yo-Zuri 3DB Prop Lure
The last lure on our list is another Yo-Zuri. The 3DB Prop lure is a propeller style topwater with realistic coloring. All color choices of the lure contain a dark red eye to mimic an injury. The propeller surface is polycarbonate, as opposed to stainless steel that you might see on a freshwater prop lure. The polycarbonate is a durable material and the rounded shape helps the prop to bounce off any rocks or structure it may hit. The propeller creates consistent ribs across the water, and an internal rattle adds additional sound.
Yo-Zuri uses an internal prism to produce the flash. It reflects light consistently no matter what type of action you're using. I like the “Prism Clown” color with the red head on clear days and the Prism Gold Black on murkier days. Similar to the 3D inshore popper, this prop lure is very affordable coming in right at $10. This lure is much smaller than the Berkley Choppo, so I'd recommend using this prop for inshore applications, and the Berkley Choppo prop for nearshore or offshore days.
That rounds out our list of the Top 9 Saltwater Topwater Lures. Before you go, be sure to read through our Surf Fishing with Artificial Lures article to learn about crankbaits, jigs, twitchbaits and other lures. Tight lines, y'all!
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