Summer is definitely a good time to throw topwater baits; however, some days the fish are just not looking up and will not hit them with any consistency. That was just the case this past July when Alex and Bob fished with me. We were catching fish on a variety baits, and a couple of our better fish had come on topwater, but they were definitely not on it. Bob was doing really well on plastics, when Alex picked up his topwater lure and began chunking it all over the place. I let him throw for about 10 minutes or so and then asked him, "Are you gonna keep throwing that in the turbulent water?" Alex repsonded, " I wasn't really thinking about it." We then start targeting soft pockets with the topwater lure while all the time Bob is picking up nice fish on his plastics. I told Alex that if he caught something, it would probably be a "big fish" since the average-sized fish had shown no interest in the big 3/8oz topwater plug. Alex agreed, and commented he'd rather throw it for the "big one." We were working a very shallow ledge when Alex made a perfect cast on the downstream side into the soft pocket. Immediately, the fish engulfed his bait and the fight was on. We manuevered the fish through the shallow ledge and boated him; a solid 21.5"/4lb 4oz summer smallmouth for Alex. Alex definitely threw the crap out of that lure, and he had mentally prepared himself for the long drought of no fish in anticipation of catching a quality fish. It paid off for him!!!