REPLACING HOOKS
Many anglers increase their odds at catching topwater fish several ways, but changing the factory hooks on various topwater baits is one tactic that's often overlooked.

"Sometimes you change them out," says five-time Angler of the Year recipient David Rush. "When you're having difficulty with fish hanging on to the bait, it can be beneficial to change the hooks. You don't have to do it every time. More often than not, I fish the factory hooks, unless they are cheap hooks."

When changing hooks, it's imperative that you switch the proper hooks and don't change all of them. Changing out too many hooks can cause the bait to lose its action.

"If you're having trouble on Spooks, you change the belly hook. That gives you a bigger hook, and that's normally where they are trying to grab the bait," Rush added. "If you put a bigger hook on the tail, it 'kilters' the bait and kills the action. If the hook is too big, they'll come around and gather up. That's a bad deal."

Replacing hooks is much easier than it might seem. By removing the split rings and replacing the new hook on the split ring before reattaching it, anglers can easily add sharper, more productive hooks and also add feathers to them when necessary.

"The modification I do is add feathers to them," Rush said. This is standard practice for many successful anglers. Some manufactures also now make baits that come dressed with feathers. "A feather brings the bait alive more. It gives it more of a natural action," Rush added.

COLORS
Another key to success is determining which to color to use on a given day. While dozens of patterns and colors are available, each works best under certain conditions.

"I look at the clarity of the water and I build around the species," says Gutierrez, who uses certain colors and patterns when targeting smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass.

To narrow it down, Gutierrez uses chartreuse and brighter colors for spots and smallies, and clear, blues and darker greens for largemouth. It's a science he's learned by trial and error, and one that's worked well for him over the last decade. When faced with clear water, he uses more translucent colors and more see-through styles. If the water is off-color, he'll adjust his technique.

"I just stay with the brighter colors, something they can't see through," he said. "The fish change so often. I start out fairly slow and then I'll change it until I find the pattern that they like. The pattern can change every day and throughout the day."