/ 
While the bass angler will often use stickbaits, the black-bass stalker will prefer frogs and the mere mention of topwater for an exotic angler will make him think of poppers. The family of surface lures is large and varied, but they all have one thing in common: they create a more or less visible and audible swirl or wake on the surface of the water.
Stickbaits
Stickbaits are one of the best-known surface fishing lures and probably the most widely used. They are stick-shaped, i.e. they are straight and have no lip. The aim is to animate them like a walking dog, i.e. to reproduce a sinuous (zigzag) swimming action on the surface like a fish trying to escape. While the basic animation is simple to acquire, it is possible to add a number of subtleties.
Poppers
Poppers, unlike stickbaits, have a concave front face designed to trap an air bubble during animation and cause it to explode on the surface. This is a very noisy lure, all the more so as some can produce a spray of water over a metre high. The main objective of this type of lure is to reproduce a hunt, not only by the noise of the bursting air bubble, but also by the spray of water simulating an attack.
Propeller lures
These are probably the oldest surface lures, and the Big Big naturally comes to mind when we think of this topwater. Equipped with one or two propellers, this lure produces a visual and audible trail, visible and audible from a distance to predators. Not only is it easy to animate, but it is less and less used, and regularly makes the difference against overfished fish.
The frogs
Mainly used in freshwater for bass and pike fishing, these frog imitations are designed to reproduce the activity of this batrachian as it wanders from one lily pad to another or dives from the bank. While these lures should be used primarily in these environments and contexts, it is highly probable that they can also be effective elsewhere.
The other advantage of this lure is that it's often flexible, with hidden hooks pointing upwards to avoid snags in the most crowded environments.
The crawlers
Crawlers, as the name suggests, are surface-swimming lures that wiggle from right to left. Often compact, they feature two fins on either side of the lure that chase the water alternately as it progresses. This lure is very noisy and easy to animate, and perfectly imitates a small animal or large insect struggling on the surface of the water to avoid drowning.
Shads
A final way to fish on the surface is to use shad-shaped soft lures, often mounted with a Texas hook and without ballast. The lure's paddle will stir up the surface of the water and leave a visible trace on the surface. This is the most discreet way to fish on the surface and is often reserved for difficult conditions, but also for places where there is vegetation on the surface to avoid untimely hook-ups.
Each of these lures requires a different form of animation which you need to master in order to exploit them to the full and under the most suitable conditions.
