Surface lure

A surface lure, topwater lure or stickbait is a fishing lure designed to float and waddle, pop, lock, drop, pulse, twitch or fizz across the water surface as it is being reeled, and in doing so imitate surface prey of interest to predatory fish, such as small injured baitfish, mice, lizards, frogs, cicadas, moths, snakes and ducklings.

This fine Australian bass was caught and released on a fizzer equipped with barbless hooks.

A typical surface lure has a solid body made out of wood or plastic, carries one or two treble hooks, and has an eyelet at the front of the lure body to attach the fishing line.

• Walkers tend to simply slide across the water surface in a serpentine fashion that resembles a prey swimming close to the surface.
• Waddlers get their action from a scooped metal dish attached to the front of the lure body, which causes the lure to wabble and splash like a front crawl.
• Poppers get their action from a cupped face carved or molded into the front of the lure body, which funnels water towards its tail and produces turbulent bubbles and wakes behind it to imitate an injured or drowning prey.
• Fizzers get their action both from the fisherman manipulating the lure with the fishing rod and from one or more blades attached to the lure body, that spin when the lure is pulled and produce a fizzing noise said to imitate the buzzing wings of a drowning insect.

Sizeable fish can cause a sudden, noisy and spectacular splash when they strike a surface lure, usually giving the fisherman a fright in the process. Catching fish on surface lures is therefore considered a fairly exciting form of fishing.