Review: Whopper Plopper vs. Cavitron

[tcbass]

Fishing a lake that I've fished for a few years. It doesn't have a great topwater bite during the day, but have caught some fish during the day and evening with buzzbaits and KVD Sexy Dawg. 

 

Went out yesterday with my friend and fished from around 5:30pm - 8:30pm. He used 2 different colored Cavitrons (our most successful buzzbait) in unknown weights and I tried a Whopper Plopper 110 in Munky Butt. Over the course of 3 hours he caught 1 bass, missed 1 with his buzzbait, and I caught 8 bass and missed 3 with my WP. He then tried my Whopper Plopper and caught a nice bass just under 2lbs. 

 

 

So, for our unscientific, 1 day testing, the Cavitron caught 1 bass and the Whopper Plopper caught 9. That's a whupping. 

 

I've only used the Whopper Plopper for 3 days I've caught fish in 4 ways. Letting it soak on the splashdown, within the first 6 inches of the retrieve, mid-retrieve, and stopping it mid-retrieve. The Whopper is definitely becoming my most successful topwater bait in quick order. I can't wait to try the Teckel Sprinker Frog because it has a Whopper Plopper style while being weedless. There was a lot of places I fished that day that had thin surface weeds that a frog would work well over but the WP was getting caught up on. My friend liked it so much he wants to buy 2 WP's now. I'll still stick with my Cavitrons but the WP is sort of like a buzzbait with the addition that you can stop it mid-retrieve and catch fish on the splashdown by letting it sit. Also, my friend said he just lost 2 of his Cavitron skirts for no reason, I know one was a brand new lure and the skirt came flying off on his first cast, he was upset by that. I said, skirted baits lose skirts, you can buy replacement skirts for about $4. He said he shouldn't need to on a new bait, which I agree, that one must have had manufacture defect. One thing about the Whopper Plopper is you don't need to worry about losing skirts. We'll have to try another Cavitron vs. Whopper Plopper contest this summer.

[Ratherbfishing]

The whopper plopper strikes again!

[J Francho]

And on the next day, the results might be reversed.  Or the ribbontail worm.  Or the spinnerbait. Or the...ad infinitum.

[MassYak85]

3 hours ago, J Francho said:

And on the next day, the results might be reversed.  Or the ribbontail worm.  Or the spinnerbait. Or the...ad infinitum.

Exactly. Lures are tools, the best lures will still produce bad results depending on the conditions. I think what you observed is that small differences matter. Both topwaters with similar styles but very different results. I've experienced the same where they won't touch a buzzbait but absolutely destroyed a plopper. IMO the whopper plopper is more versatile than a buzzbait but I'd still take the buzzbait in certain scenarios. 

[FCPhil]

The only reason I would fish a buzzbait over a whopper plopper is for the weedlessness. And if it is more than a little weedy I'll be throwing some type of frog instead.

[Deleted account]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

And on the next day, the results might be reversed.  Or the ribbontail worm.  Or the spinnerbait. Or the...ad infinitum.

 

No, no. The way Lure De Jour® works is we say this is the best thing ever! and ignore the fact that (in this particular case) it jams with a barely perceptible piece of grass, has suspect hook up ratio, and lands like a grenade. Everyone buys a bunch, and then they move on to the next thing.

[tcbass]

1 minute ago, reason said:

 

No, no. The way Lure De Jour® works is we say this is the best thing ever! and ignore the fact that (in this particular case) it jams with a barely perceptible piece of grass, has suspect hook up ratio, and lands like a grenade. Everyone buys a bunch, and then they move on to the next thing.

 

Obviously you don't like it. That's ok. A lot of us have great success with it.

 

 

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

And on the next day, the results might be reversed.  Or the ribbontail worm.  Or the spinnerbait. Or the...ad infinitum.

 

 

Yep, what works today may not work tomorrow and may work again the day after that. But if you have the lure that is currently working today, then you're catching fish.

[J Francho]

4 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

Obviously you don't like it. That's ok. A lot of us have great success with it.

 

 

 

 

Yep, what works today may not work tomorrow and may work again the day after that. But if you have the lure that is currently working today, then you're catching fish.

 

It's of my opinion that you're on the fish that will bite that style of lure. I think most anglers don't move enough and also don't stick on biters long enough. Balance, find what's biting and why. It's usually tied to what cover is there, and what lure gets in their wheelhouse. Unlock that, and your game changes. 

[Deleted account]

Yeah, I find when fish are on a top water bite, you can get them to bite several lures, which is a reason I don't usually throw a frog in open water. Usually, if I can't get them to take a popper or buzz bait, I'm doing something else (after showing them a wake bait)

[tcbass]

12 minutes ago, reason said:

Yeah, I find when fish are on a top water bite, you can get them to bite several lures, which is a reason I don't usually throw a frog in open water. Usually, if I can't get them to take a popper or buzz bait, I'm doing something else (after showing them a wake bait)

 

 

What do you normally do?

[Bobby Uhrig]

Lost skirts HMMMMM send me your address and i will send you some replacement skirts- just tell me what color-- Sometimes if its hot out the bands become soft- and as you whip the bait out it could possibly come off- not to worry--

 

Again all baits have their time and place under various conditions.

I never mock any bait-or company -Use what is catching fish for you and what you have confidence in -

 

 

[Koz]

I just bought a few Whopper Ploppers (Bone and Munky Butt) today and if the weather hold out tonight I will give them a try. Dick's is having a buy one, get one 50% off sale so I went a little nuts on lures and soft baits today.

 

As for the Plopper, Dick's only had 90's and 130's in stock so I bought 90's. I really wanted the 110's. Those 130's are HUGE. Someday I may have to try one.

[SFL BassHunter]

So let me post my review on both.

 

Ain't caught a darn thing with either one. Review over lol  

[BassB8Caster]

4 minutes ago, Koz said:

I just bought a few Whopper Ploppers (Bone and Munky Butt) today and if the weather hold out tonight I will give them a try. Dick's is having a buy one, get one 50% off sale so I went a little nuts on lures and soft baits today.

 

As for the Plopper, Dick's only had 90's and 130's in stock so I bought 90's. I really wanted the 110's. Those 130's are HUGE. Someday I may have to try one.

 

I ordered my first whopper plopper yesterday with the sale at dicks. Bought a savage gear 3d line thru trout too. I bought the 130. it is 5" and ***/8 oz. My mh rods can handle that. I would not consider the 130 huge. I splurged for my first expensive lure, the spro bbz rat 40 that is 7.5" long total with tail. The fish love this thing. i would love to get the bigger one, but its a little too heavy for my rods and a rod upgrade isnt in the cards. 

[tcbass]

4 minutes ago, SFL BassHunter said:

So let me post my review on both.

 

Ain't caught a darn thing with either one. Review over lol  

 

 

Give it a few more tries. I didn't catch any fish the first couple of times I used a Zara Spook either.

[BassB8Caster]

I have not caught anything on a buzzbait. Have had hits/bites but nothing landed. But to be fair, i have not fished it much. Just go watch videos on buzzbaits, the fish blow those things up. And people catch some big fish with them. So the lure does work. I also agree on the tool analogy. No guarantees in fishing, except that if you dont fish, you wont catch anything. And if you do try, you just may catch the fish of a lifetime. 

[SFL BassHunter]

Haven't caught a fish on the double plopper either. lol

[tcbass]

26 minutes ago, SFL BassHunter said:

Haven't caught a fish on the double plopper either. lol

 

 

Yeah, I stayed away from that one. lol

[YoTone]

i prefer the buzzbait over the plopper.

the buzzbait is more versatile.

like someone mentioned you can fish it in messier situations.

 

 

[tcbass]

3 hours ago, YoTone said:

i prefer the buzzbait over the plopper.

the buzzbait is more versatile.

like someone mentioned you can fish it in messier situations.

 

 

 

 

How is the buzzbait more versatile? I agree it's a bit better in weeds, but not much.

 

 

The Whopper Plopper is similar to a buzzbait but can be stopped mid-retrieve, can just sit after splashdown and catch fish, can be fished very fast, very slow, or in between wherein the buzzbait has to be retrieved at a fairly constant speed. The WP also has two treble hooks so you don't need a stinger hook like you do with a buzzbait if they are striking short.

[RB 77]

The Whopper Plopper is legit!

[YoTone]

1 hour ago, tcbass said:

 

 

How is the buzzbait more versatile? I agree it's a bit better in weeds, but not much.

 

 

The Whopper Plopper is similar to a buzzbait but can be stopped mid-retrieve, can just sit after splashdown and catch fish, can be fished very fast, very slow, or in between wherein the buzzbait has to be retrieved at a fairly constant speed. The WP also has two treble hooks so you don't need a stinger hook like you do with a buzzbait if they are striking short.

 

i used the 130 almost exclusively for 4 months straight so i know its power.

just saying i prefer a buzz bait because i can fish in more situations where i wont get hung up on stuff like laydowns and sparse vegetation where i do fish a lot.

 

admittedly, if i had better aim i would fish it over the same situations but i find the buzz bait more forgiving.

 

[tcbass]

2 minutes ago, YoTone said:

 

i used the 130 almost exclusively for 4 months straight so i know its power.

just saying i prefer a buzz bait because i can fish in more situations where i wont get hung up on stuff like laydowns and sparse vegetation where i do fish a lot.

 

admittedly, if i had better aim i would fish it over the same situations but i find the buzz bait more forgiving.

 

 

Ic. You may want to try the Teckel Sprinker frog if it ends up being good. 

 

Sinilar to a WP/Buzzbait but weedless. Might be perfect for your area. 

[Bluebasser86]

I have lakes I fish a bunch where they kill a plopper but ignore a buzzbait and vice versa. No idea why, but I'm not wasting time throwing one when they're killing the other just because they should eat one if they're eating the other. 

 

I personally prefer the buzzbait, but I've got a couple dozen ploppers so I'm not against throwing them either. 

[tcbass]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have lakes I fish a bunch where they kill a plopper but ignore a buzzbait and vice versa. No idea why, but I'm not wasting time throwing one when they're killing the other just because they should eat one if they're eating the other. 

 

I personally prefer the buzzbait, but I've got a couple dozen ploppers so I'm not against throwing them either. 

 

 

Why do you favor the buzzbait?