Seabass, one of the most desirable (if not THE most desirable) fish to shore anglers. Seabass are very observant, both when searching for prey and when it comes to protecting itself. This attitude often makes it hard to catch, but that is also why anglers love this fish so much. Seabass is commonly called “The Wolf” in Mediterranean, due to its habit to hunt alone once it has fully grown. It loves to ambush its preys with delicacy and power, exactly how a wolf does.  If a 4-legged wolf is smart enough to avoid the traps of the hunters, refusing even when hungry to eat the fresh meat on the trap, the wolf of the sea acts very similar. Realistic lures, like the 3D Minnow Pop Walker are good, but sometimes you need to observe what is happing, rethink the situation and adapt.

Bring it to the top

One of my favourite ways of fishing for seabass is top water fishing. Seabass are very aggressive, attacking baitfish furiously on the surface, which is why they love poppers and skipping lures so much, but as a rule, they prefer to ambush fish that are close to the surface and unaware of what is hiding underneath them. This tactic of attacking a small fish from bellow is an effective hunting technique and us anglers can take advantage of this by using splashing lures like walkers and poppers. By making a splashing motion, the bubbles will disguise the hooks, lowering the suspicion of the fish to tempt a strike. When I combine the “walk the dog” action with a “touch” of popping, I have the perfect top water sea bass action.

The 3D Minnow Pop Walker!

It is not a popper, it is not a walker, it is both! When I got this amazing lure in my hands, I knew exactly where to use it, what I did not know, was the variety of ways to use it. On the first look, the 3D Minnow Pop Walker, has the classic “fat banana” shape of walking lures, but instead of the classic round face, it has a small popping head. Now, the magic is in the balance of this lure. When you let it sit in the water, it is horizontal, which makes it ready to pop, this makes it a well-designed popper and the angler can use it as a normal popper with a gentle motion. However, once you start retrieving, the lure submerges, putting the popping face down and it then walks perfectly. With a bit of practice the lure can be adjusted so the 3D Minnow Pop Walker will work in a zig zag manoeuvre. That means that it can be a completely silent walker with very gentle commands, or a very loud walker with sharper movements, making a pop every time it turns its head. So, an angler can use it as a popper, as a silent walker or as a “splasher”. Cool ha?

The “Pop Pop Walk” technique!
During a fishing trip I noticed that the seabass where really hitting into the lure when I used it in a certain way. What I was doing, was to make two or three pops, just like a popper in order to get their attention, then start to “walk” it gently. Boom! That was it, I received a lot of strikes and they all occurred exactly when I changed from the popping to the walking action. I experimented a lot, trying only the walking action for many casts or only the popping action for others, just to verify that the combination of both that was effective, all experimentation proved me right. So, the “birth” of “Pop pop walk” technique, became a massive part of my fishing!

Seabass and pop walker
As said before, the seabass is a very smart fish, with very strong behavioural changes. If I have been targeting this individual fish before, I will quickly be able to identify that it can completely change behaviour within minutes. For example, you can start the day off by getting strikes on big loud top water lures very far from the shore, then just to find everything changing very fast. The fish suddenly start to show interest in small silent top water lures just below your feet, adaption is the key if you want to obtain success. Having a top water lure like the 3D Minnow Pop Walker, allows me to perform more than three actions on the same cast.

Walk the walk
Though it is a very user-friendly lure and I can go fishing directly with it straight out of the box, I always spend some time with it first. So, it is better to spend a couple of hours in calm waters, exercising and experimenting with combinations of actions and observe how the lure reacts to every command. Then light that flame and go fishing!

Super Light Popping fishing with 3D Minnow Popper by Savage Gear

Adaption is the key if you want to obtain success. This fish can lead you to the psychiatrist in no time.