Without a doubt, the prop bait is the most underrated top water lure out there. And in my opinion, it is the most underrated lure period.
There are a few scenarios where prop baits simply work better than any other lures.
Not to mention, they are super fun to catch bass on. And for some reason, they catch BIG bass.
A prop bait is a top water lure that has a pair of spinning propeller blades at each end.
These blades create bubbles, vibration, sound, and a flash that draw bass up to the surface to strike.
Prop baits (or spy baits) compile characteristics from lures like the popper, buzzbait, plopper, and even the jerkbait.
Prop baits are a lethal and very underrated lure that catch lots of big bass.
Prop baits will come in two distinct body styles. The long and thing, minnow style. And the short and fat, bluegill style.
The long, slender body style prop bait is a bit more popular and commonly used. It is great for mimicking shad and other schooling baitfish.
The slender design really shines in a bit deeper, open water.
Bass that are suspended out in this water really hone in on the schooling baitfish that are imitated by this style of prop bait.
The short, fat design is almost always going to be mimicking bluegill.
For this reason, it works better in real shallow water and around grass lines and patches.
There are a few times of year, which we are about to discuss, where this style of prop bait drives bass wild, and really shines.
As with any lure, there are certain times of year where the prop bait shines.
This doesn’t mean you can’t catch fish on a prop bait outside of these seasons, but they will give you the most success.
Every professional angler will tell you that prop baits really shine during the spawning season.
Nobody really knows why, but something about the sound, vibration, and profile of a prop bait drives these cautious, protective, spring time bass crazy.
I start using prop baits at the tail end of the pre-spawn when bass have already moved into the spawning areas, but have not yet begun spawning.
During the late pre-spawn period, I prefer the long, slender style of prop baits.
It is still fairly early in the year and bass haven’t seen tons of bluegill yet, so this presentation will work a bit better.
Top water lures are not commonly thought of as spawn lures.
But something about the prop bait is so good at catching spawning bass.
The unique presentation gets these bass very angry and nervous.
Because of how protective and territorial spawning bass are, if you can make them feel mad and threatened, you can catch them.
If you can find a large, shallow flat with multiple bass beds in it, tie on a prop bait immediately.
You don’t have to pick apart each bed individually. Just cast close by one or two of them at a time and let the prop bait do the rest.
Post-spawn bass are very aggressive and very shallow. They have just finished an exhausting spawn and are ready to eat.
The annoying and slow presentation of the prop bait is perfect for these hungry, shallow water bass.
By this time of year, I have begun using the short, fat, bluegill style lure.
This is because from the post-spawn through the summer, bass really hone in on bluegill.
Also Read: When to Use a Buzzbait?
The bluegill spawn might be my favorite time of year to fish prop baits.
As you probably guessed, I exclusively use bluegill style prop baits during this time.
During the bluegill spawn, bass are cruising just outside of the spawning grounds and looking for an opportunity to ambush.
They quickly dart in and pick off unsuspecting bluegill or attack bluegill that drift a little to far off their bed.
A bluegill prop bait is one of my two favorite lures for the bluegill spawn. The other lure being a bluegill swimbait.
Also Read: Best Summer Topwater Lures
Fall bass are very aggressive and willing to hit top water lures. Top waters work especially during the early fall when bass are still shallow and high in the water column.
Feel free to be a bit more aggressive when fishing a prop bait during the fall.
Especially if you see bass busting on shad or pushing baitfish up against the bank.
I primarily use the long, slender style lure as bass have shifted their focus away from bluegill.
The majority of the time, you want to be fishing this lure quite slow. Fish it a little like a popper or a jerkbait.
Twitch, pause, twitch-twitch, pause.
Pause the bait for 1-3 seconds between each twitch. During the fall, it can be fished a bit faster because of how aggressive and willing to chase bass are.
But during the springtime and the summer, your retrieval should be slow.
Bass are usually going to hit the prop bait while it is paused and not moving. So give it some time to sit there and draw bites by itself.
I have found that a 6’10 – 7’3″ casting rod works best. You don’t need a super long rod, but having a bit of length helps you catch up to bass that hit the lure coming towards you.
Either a medium or medium-heavy rod will work just fine depending on which you prefer.
Any time you are using a top water with treble hooks, it is best to have moderate to slow action rod so that you don’t rip the hooks away from the fish.
I personally prefer a reel that has a fast gear ratio. If you don’t already have a high gear ratio reel, don’t feel the need to go by one just to use a prop bait.
In all honesty, it won’t make much of a difference. I just personally like being able to reel the lure in very quickly.
The line you use will be important and have a big effect on how effectively you can fish this lure.
You don’t want to use sinking line because you are using a top water. You don’t want to directly tie braid to lure because it will get caught up in the propeller blades.
But you still want to use thin line so that you can make long casts. The perfect setup is braided fishing line with a short monofilament leader.
The monofilament will float and is stiff enough to keep itself out of the propeller blades.
And the braid gives you extra casting distance and strength to pull in big bass.
After testing out almost all the prop baits on the market, these are the lures that are the easiest to use and catch the most fish.
So after hearing where, when, and how to use prop baits, you might be wondering, “why tie on a prop bait instead of other top water lures?”.
With other, more popular top water lures out there, why should you ever use a prop bait over them?
The propeller style blades put off a unique vibration that no other lures do. Earlier in the article you heard me say “something about the sound and vibration”.
Bass are always reacting to new and different presentations on the water.
This flash, vibration, and sound of this lure paired with a realistic body style give the bass a presentation unlike any other lure, and can persuade (or annoy) them into biting when other lures won’t.
Even though it is usually best to fish prop baits slowly, you have the freedom of fishing the slow, fast, erratic, or other ways in order to give the bass exactly what they want.
And even though it usually works best in shallow flats, it’s sound and vibration give it the ability to call bass form far away, including deep water.
Other top waters aren’t this versatile.
Buzzbaits have to be constantly reeled in.
Poppers can’t be fished very quickly without messing up the action.
Frogs don’t call fish up from deeper water.
The location and retrieval versatility set these lures apart from other top waters.
Sometimes there is not specific reasoning or descriptions for why a lure catches fish.
This can be referred to as the X factor characteristic. I don’t know exactly why prop baits get bass so aggravated, territorial, and drive them crazy.
But for some reason, bass will often bite a prop bait when they won’t bite anything else.
Prop baits are a hugely underrated lure that simply catch fish. They work best in and around the spawning season in shallow water.
But they also have the ability to call bass up from long distances away. Prop baits have two body styles to mimic either bluegill or schooling baitfish.
The gear setup is mostly the same as other top water lures like a walking bait, plopper, or popper.
The best way to learn how to use a prop bait is to tie one on and go fishing with it.
Experience is the best teacher, so get out on the water and start learning.
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