Keith Combs may be a Texan with a penchant for offshore cranking for big largemouth, but the broad-shouldered Bassmaster Elite Series pro also knows how to catch Northern smallmouth on topwaters. He’s had quite a bit of success catching big brown fish in New York and the Great Lakes region. For example, he finished second in the Bassmaster Elite on Lake Champlain last season and did most of his damage with a topwater.
“Those non-goby lakes in the North, especially those with lots of emerald shiners, tend to be the best topwater lakes,” said Combs. “But I rarely rule it out anytime I’m fishing for big smallmouth.” His experiences have taught him that there are a lot of misconceptions about topwaters and brown fish that lead anglers to make mistakes. Here are eight of those mistakes that many smallmouth anglers make.
