Catching fish on top-water lures can be so exciting that some anglers would rather catch one fish on a top-water lure than two or three down deep.

Flip Putthoff

Flip Putthoff is a staff photographer and outdoors reporter. He's covered outdoor recreation for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and its predecessor newspapers for 45 years. Flip invented the Wheezer Scale for gauging the difficulty of hiking up hills. Wheeze wheeze! He's a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism who always cheers for Mizzou -- unless they're playing the Razorbacks. Contact Flip at [email protected].