Whopper Plopper, I’ve read the name on here a thousand times catches fishermen but does it catch really catch fish? Bought one yesterday and threw it around the backyard today, so far I am not impressed. How do you fish it? Trolling, straight retrieve, paused, jerked?

Hi Nooneuno...

We always put two in our kits for BW trips. I think they work well for my younger daughters as they create their own action. My daughters will cast them forever and regularly catch smallies and northerns. They also pick up the occasional large mouth. We primarily do a regular retrieve but it is also a pretty good teaching lure to pause and wait. Doesn't work so well, in my opinion, to troll or jerk. I'll use them from time to time but when I am surface fishing I'll either use flies or the zara spook.

NDYakAngler has a youtube channel and showcases the whopper plopper with impressive results.

I am a whopper plopper believer! I am not one for gimmicky new baits but I tried a whopper plopper a couple years ago and haven't looked back. I have not thrown it much in the BWCA yet but have done extremely well on various rivers in Wisconsin. It is the main topwater lure I will throw and have wrecked the Smallmouth. I mainly retrieve it straight but will twitch it some at times if I know there are fish around to keep it in the strike zone longer.

In my opinion where the whopper plopper shines for topwater is you can work it much quicker then typical topwater lures. (poppers, spooks, jitterbugs). It creates a lot of commotion, noise, and vibration that attracts fish like crazy and you can fish it 2 to 3x faster and cover much more water.

I second watching some of NDyakanglers youtube videos. He has some great ones and you will see how he works the lure.

YetiJedi: "Hi Nooneuno...


We always put two in our kits for BW trips. I think they work well for my younger daughters as they create their own action. My daughters will cast them forever and regularly catch smallies and northerns. They also pick up the occasional large mouth. We primarily do a regular retrieve but it is also a pretty good teaching lure to pause and wait. Doesn't work so well, in my opinion, to troll or jerk. I'll use them from time to time but when I am surface fishing I'll either use flies or the zara spook.


NDYakAngler has a youtube channel and showcases the whopper plopper with impressive results."

+1. Yes to all of the above. And NDYakAngler has the hands down best channel on YouTube for using not only the Whopper Plopper, but dozens of other lures. Watch his two BWCA episodes. They aren’t technically in the BWCA but on Triangle Lake near Entry Point 29 but they show off the Whopper Plopper in all it’s glory. Certain times of the year it is absolutely deadly whether steadily retrieved or jerked and paused.

The Whopper Plopper is a great top water bass lure. Do they catch fish, yes. Probably better than any other lure on the market today. Are they worth the $18.99 price? Absolutely they are. Currently I have about 14 of these lures in my top water box. I like the 110 size the best. As far as colors get the Loon, Bone, White, Bass, sunfish, Monkey Butt, as starters. To use them properly you need the correct gear. Use a medium fast rod and a fast retrieve reel, along with braid line. This will get you out of the sticks, and weeds better, give you better hook sets too. Cast it out and Immediately make a steady fast retrieve back to you. Retrieve fast enough to get the prop making noise. If the prop is not plopping you might have a weed caught in the prop. The hooks on these lures are incredibly sharp so be warned. There are two other companies now that have copied the design. These other companies are selling them for much less, but I will stay with the WP brand. “When” the top water bite is on the Whopper Plopper is my go to lure. I have a rod in my boat always tied with this lure on. That prop is like ringing the dinner bell. Last summer I even was catching bass in fast moving water in rapids on the Mississippi River. Facebook has a page devoted to the whopper Plopper. And I will also give a shoutout to NDYakangler Matt Nelson on YouTube who has probably the best fishing site out there, the whopper Plopper is his favorite lure too. NDYakangler , NDYakangler #2 video NDYakangler #3

It’s a fun lure to use. Has good action, and you can cast it a mile! Catches anything any other surface lure catches.

It's a nice lure but so far I've had just as good of luck with buzz baits and other more typical top waters. But I do like the few ploppers I have, I've not noticed much difference between the original and all the other versions

cyclones30: "It's a nice lure but so far I've had just as good of luck with buzz baits and other more typical top waters. But I do like the few ploppers I have, I've not noticed much difference between the original and all the other versions "

I picked up the 110 in sunfish, throws more water than the local fire department and makes more noise than a cat in a clothes dryer, I cant imagine what it’s trying to imitate, except possibly a WWII torpedo.

Berkley makes a lure called "choppo" it works the same way and is cheaper. I've noticed though that the impeller doesn't turn at as slow of speed as the whopper plopper. They are both good lures but being just miles away from the Berkley plant and being able to have friends get the very generous discount I'm likely to go the Berkley route. Sorry I don't want to take this off topic but if you've not read up on Berkley fishing and it's orgin story here's a brief read. https://www.bassfishinghof.com/inductee/berkley-bedell

Both the plopper and choppo are my go to top water baits. Both large and smallmouth bass will hammer them. Read any of Stu’s bass fishing articles in the BW Journals,it’s his favorite top water bait.

nooneuno: "

cyclones30: "It's a nice lure but so far I've had just as good of luck with buzz baits and other more typical top waters. But I do like the few ploppers I have, I've not noticed much difference between the original and all the other versions "

I picked up the 110 in sunfish, throws more water than the local fire department and makes more noise than a cat in a clothes dryer, I cant imagine what it’s trying to imitate, except possibly a WWII torpedo."

Haha that is hilarious! I have wondered what the WP is imitating as well. Definitely nothing natural that bass would eat that often would make that much commotion. I really think it is a reaction strike that they can't ignore, would be my best guess.

Maybe I need to throw other topwater baits more as I have never seen any other topwater baits I have thrown come close to the whopper plopper.

Well, I’m hoping it works cuz I bought one from the recommendations on this forum. Don’t think it was anywhere near $18.99 at Basspro but I could be wrong. I’m certainly not going to troll it, it’s a top water lure last I checked. Got the bluegill pattern cuz my local lake is a LM bass and panfish lake. Got the size 90 but looking at it I could have went bigger.

The choppo is nice and yes I have a friend that works at HQ as well. :)

Got my Maverick Choppo ready for my trip. Be my first go at it. El Choppo is what I like to call it. Don’t know why, just strikes me as funny. Lol

scat: "Well, I’m hoping it works cuz I bought one from the recommendations on this forum. Don’t think it was anywhere near $18.99 at Basspro but I could be wrong. I’m certainly not going to troll it, it’s a top water lure last I checked. Got the bluegill pattern cuz my local lake is a LM bass and panfish lake. Got the size 90 but looking at it I could have went bigger."

You need to get a few of the 110 size too for those largemouth bass.

nooneuno: "Whopper Plopper, I’ve read the name on here a thousand times catches fishermen but does it catch really catch fish? Bought one yesterday and threw it around the backyard today, so far I am not impressed. How do you fish it? Trolling, straight retrieve, paused, jerked?"

Works better in water than it does in the yard .

Nooneuno-
I've been fishing your back yard for years with limited success. it might not be the lure. :)
Seriously, though, they work. It is a very corny name for a lure, but the basic design has been around for a while. Joe Bucher's Top Raider is another forerunner (I think.) I've caught nice smallies and northerns on a loon pattern.

Basspro69: "

nooneuno: "Whopper Plopper, I’ve read the name on here a thousand times catches fishermen but does it catch really catch fish? Bought one yesterday and threw it around the backyard today, so far I am not impressed. How do you fish it? Trolling, straight retrieve, paused, jerked?"

Works better in water than it does in the yard ."

Depends on the backyard, heres a few shots all taken within 100 feet of my back door:

lundojam: "Nooneuno-
Seriously, though, they work. It is a very corny name for a lure, but the basic design has been around for a while. ."

I think it’s a catchy name, pun intended. It describes the lure perfectly, catches Whoppers, when you pull it through the water it goes Plop, Plop, Plop. The name is marketing genius. The name was the first thing that attracted me to this lure. I said to myself look at this crazy lure with the corny name. But then on a few fishing forums everyone was talking about it. So I bought one, then three, then over a dozen in various sizes and colors. I even follow Whopper Plopper Nation group on Facebook. This lure is a reactionary lure, not sure if the fish are upset at this lure, hungry or curious and strike. I have one tied on all the time in my fishing kayak for river fishing.

Nooneuno, that river in your back yard looks exactly like the rivers that NDYakangler catches bass on after another in the videos linked above in my post. By the way, nice fish.

nooneuno: "

Basspro69: "

nooneuno: "Whopper Plopper, I’ve read the name on here a thousand times catches fishermen but does it catch really catch fish? Bought one yesterday and threw it around the backyard today, so far I am not impressed. How do you fish it? Trolling, straight retrieve, paused, jerked?"

Works better in water than it does in the yard ."

Depends on the backyard, heres a few shots all taken within 100 feet of my back door:


"

Awesome backyard!!!

I've not fished in the BWCA but the plopper catches, it's great for covering lots of water and you don't have to worry about throwing loops into your line like when you're using a walk the dog type lure. I chuck the little size 60 in the rivers around here and do pretty well with it on smallies.

We like the 90 size in bone(pale yellow) down here in the Tennessee rivers. One thing I like about the WP is how good the hooks are stock. Man...no need to replace trebles on those things like you do the Heddon and some other topwater stick baits.