bigfishtx,

Robert, well thought out reply. I know a little about the YM since I have thrown it since 2000. Won a T on it and a scum frog in late June of that year. Scum frog caught a 10.48, the YM accounted for 2 8's, a 5 and a 6 for a total of 38.+ One of the greatest weekends topwater fishing I have had. That being said, I have confidence in myself, not my baits (except for about 36 CBs, the kind David Fritts wouldn't take $1000 for each bait, the PROVEN fish catching lures).

The YM SPITS water better than any bait, except maybe the Rico. BTW, when I took the paint off of a YM, a Don Iovino Splash-it and a Rico, I found them to be basically the same blank for all 3 (back in the mid 2000s). The YM can also be walked the dog style of retrieve, not so, most poppers, and Robert already talked about the different sounds they make. I now have over 30 YMs, Ricos and Splash-its. Most are the discontinued 3/8s oz model (14 of them, maybe the worlds largest collection). The 3/8s oz YM (Plus 1) model is even better at catching big fish than the 1/4 oz. models. You can find them on Ebay for $20 to $50 each. Good luck if you try them. Hope this helps.

Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

I can't explain it either. I use to have just one. We would be in a tournament and my son would pick mine up and start catching them. I would have to get a Pop-R out and throw it and never get bit. Didn't understand it. A fish took that away from me at Fork. I cried. Bought several from TW on a 20% off sale. I probably have 20+ now.

Yall using the 1/4 or the 1/2 oz

I agree and do this with every Yellow Magic I throw.

Wow this is more information about topwater baits than I thought was ever possible! Thanks everyone for your input!

love fishing spooks, my buddy sells the yellow magic. never would buy one. he said "I'll give it to you, if you like it, send me a check, if you don't send it back. needless to say, I sent the check. now need to order more.

IMHO, Yellow Magics are a substitute for changing up presentation. I've never seen them pull a strike where another top water worked for the conditions wouldn't. As the age old saying goes, it's not what you got, it's how you use it. Go and ask most any old salts in fishing. A huge part of the fishing industry relies on catching anglers, fish is up to you.

I hate to be a bummer on y'all who thrive on running up credit limits on new goodies, but fish have limited intelligence. The same thing, fished a little different can get the stubborn ones.

Granted, fish get used to seeing the same thing over & over. But often a new lure isn't the key, a new lure just makes it easier. Rethink what the fish think...

Just my $0.02 worth...

THIS: A huge part of the fishing industry relies on catching anglers, fish is up to you.
Learned that lesson ALL OVER AGAIN!

I have yellow magic which works good,but I have just as good a luck with my old heddon chugger spook in black shore minnow with a feathered hook and the back. The chugger spook catches lots of big bass.

So, would you agree that Grande Bass Rattlesnakes are just as effective as Hags F4's?

Yellow magic and Rico's catch fish they usually don't catch fisherman because most of y'all are to dumb to think that your pop R or whatever will even come close to a yellow magic or Rico. If u wanna catch more and bigger fish buy YM or Rico if u wanna save money so u can waste it on something like a laser crankbait buy the cheaper brands

There is one other hand pour that is even better. Capt. Grump's Cat Tails.

I have seen the YM do it's magic against 3 other poppers. Got a chance to fish with a guide once, he had two friends that were touring pros and I bet them that I could catch more fish on my YM popper (1/4 oz) to their 3 fishing other poppers. For every fish I caught more than them, they each owed me $5, for every fish they caught more than me, I owed them $1. After about 8 minutes, they called the bet off, as I was up 4 nothing on them and I had missed 3 more bites, so they wanted to know what I was using. This was many years ago, before the YM got popular, but it just went to prove to me and to them that it was a special bait, at least at that time and place it was. They paid me off and made me give them one each of the 1/4 oz. baits and 1 each of the 3/8s oz. baits. I told them to only throw those on HEAVY test and they didn't they all lost their baits to big fish using 15 and 17# test, they could not believe the big fish catching attributes of the 3/8s oz.

The small ym popper is the only topwater besides a frog that i throw. i have been outfished 5 to 1 when i was throwing something else and the guy .in the front or back was throwing a ym. not sure why but it convinced me. i throw japanese shad bone and the clear one. i just looked at their site and i dont even see one with a "blue ghost stripe" and the colors i throw dont have anything lke that so i dont think that has anything to do with it. just buy a one and u wont be dissapointed

Well, I guess I would qualify to be called an "old salt". For a long time I resisted buying a Yellow Magic because I just couldn't believe it could be that much better than my old standard Pop-R. I eventually gave in and bought one. I have fished it along side of Pop-R's and almost always caught more fish on the Yellow Magic. So, I would say that there is something different about the Yellow Magic, and it, in fact, catches more fish than other poppers.