Anyone else experience this with the Whopper Plopper?

[Sword of the Lord]

Quiet a few of my WP fish manage to get hooked right in the nostrils and not the mouth at all. I use 12lb mono for it. I would probably be losing them on braid since it would likely rip it right out.

[Ksam1234]

Never had this happen but I do know a lot of the times I get a whopper fish it's head hooked, gut hooked or whatever else. A lot of times they just swipe at it but those hooks are the stickiest hooks ever made! So if anything touches it , it gets hooked , that might be it

[Sword of the Lord]

3 hours ago, Ksam1234 said:

Never had this happen but I do know a lot of the times I get a whopper fish it's head hooked, gut hooked or whatever else. A lot of times they just swipe at it but those hooks are the stickiest hooks ever made! So if anything touches it , it gets hooked , that might be it

Even people. I was hooked twice by it this evening unhooking bass.

[Dtrombly]

9 minutes ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Even people. I was hooked twice by it this evening unhooking bass.

Yeah.. I'm on a fishing report page on FB and I've seen atleast 10 people post about hooking themselves with the whopper plopper 

[evilcatfish]

5 hours ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Quiet a few of my WP fish manage to get hooked right in the nostrils and not the mouth at all. I use 12lb mono for it. I would probably be losing them on braid since it would likely rip it right out.

Yes I've had a lot of fish hooked like this or in the head, especially smallmouth.  Seems brown bass aren't super accurate with a slow moving top water bait, and much less so a fast mover such as the plopper. 

[Sword of the Lord]

So like I said I was fishing the WP earlier. I was on the river. There was a group of 2 girls and 2 guys just relaxing, not fishing. I was a 6 pack in when what would have been my best bass all year smacked it. I mean just annihilated it like I've never had happen before. Huge mama flying out of the water. Then it unbuttoned. I didn't even give a crap. That hit was unreal. I was shouting, y'all see that?! d**n!!! One of the girls let out a reactionary yelp when it happened. That's just the joy of fishing man. I've never been so excited to not land a fish. Top water is so cool.

37 minutes ago, evilcatfish said:

Yes I've had a lot of fish hooked like this or in the head, especially smallmouth.  Seems brown bass aren't super accurate with a slow moving top water bait, and much less so a fast mover such as the plopper. 

That's so odd. I'm usually after LMB and they are the ones messing up lol

[IndianaOutdoors]

Most of the smallies I caught on the plopper 90 had all 3 points of the front hook pinned inside the mouth.  These were not all large fish either.  Makes it difficult to remove the hook when it's pinned the mouth shoot

[38 Super Fan]

 

3 hours ago, evilcatfish said:

Yes I've had a lot of fish hooked like this or in the head, especially smallmouth.  Seems brown bass aren't super accurate with a slow moving top water bait, and much less so a fast mover such as the plopper. 

Yep, sometimes they just headbutt lures with their mouths closed too, I guess they're trying to stun their prey. I had about a 3 pound Smallie come totally out of the water on a WP a few trips ago, I don't think she even touched the lure.

[tcbass]

It's the most regular and foul-hooked lure at the same time I've ever used, meaning one hook will be in the mouth like normal and another will be in the gut, head, gill plate; I think it has to do with the sharpness of the hooks which are super sharp. 

 

I'm talking largemouth only. 

[MickD]

I have not used the WP very much, no experience with what you mention.  With many other lures, especially spinnerbaits, smallies will many times just whack it with their heads.  I notice this by getting a lot of hits without hookups, then I'll get one in that's foul hooked.  It means that they are not fully committed.  Something is not quite right, like skirt color, spinner blade color, etc.  If I experience that with the WP I'll change to another type surface lure, probably a Chug Bug and work it slower. I don't think color is that big of a deal with surface lures.

[tcbass]

33 minutes ago, MickD said:

I have not used the WP very much, no experience with what you mention.  With many other lures, especially spinnerbaits, smallies will many times just whack it with their heads.  I notice this by getting a lot of hits without hookups, then I'll get one in that's foul hooked.  It means that they are not fully committed.  Something is not quite right, like skirt color, spinner blade color, etc.  If I experience that with the WP I'll change to another type surface lure, probably a Chug Bug and work it slower. I don't think color is that big of a deal with surface lures.

 

 

Have you caught fish on the Whopper Plopper?

[MickD]

2 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

 

Have you caught fish on the Whopper Plopper?

Yes, a few.  I have not used it under really good conditions for a surface lure, however.  A good friend who fishes similar waters says it's a killer.

[MassYak85]

14 hours ago, 38 Super Fan said:

 

Yep, sometimes they just headbutt lures with their mouths closed too, I guess they're trying to stun their prey. I had about a 3 pound Smallie come totally out of the water on a WP a few trips ago, I don't think she even touched the lure.

I was fishing a rocky point that was shallow with a 130, and a 3lb smallie just torpedoed the thing, I watched it since the water was clear, the first time it didn't even open it's mouth it just seemed ticked off lol. 

[J Francho]

This is a situation where I find smaller topwater to throw.  If fish are that aggressive, it isn't the bait, it's the location and the timing, and the specific just probably won't matter.

[tcbass]

19 minutes ago, J Francho said:

This is a situation where I find smaller topwater to throw.  If fish are that aggressive, it isn't the bait, it's the location and the timing, and the specific just probably won't matter.

 

 

How does a smaller lure help? Easier to hook fish?

[Bluebasser86]

I fish my Ploppers on braid and just reel into the fish. They will come back multiple times if they miss the bait and I'll usually end up with them pinned very well. I swap the hooks out on mine and smash the barbs down. Lots of trial and error to find the combinations that I like.

[SWVABass]

Won't lie, my fish love to swirl on it nip at it and miss it. Makes an awesome locator then follow up with something. The fish that have hooked up ate it deep, except whites but they manage to foul hook on a dropshot too smh..

[J Francho]

16 hours ago, tcbass said:

 

 

How does a smaller lure help? Easier to hook fish?

I fits in their mouth.

[NYWayfarer]

2 hours ago, Swbass15 said:

Won't lie, my fish love to swirl on it nip at it and miss it. Makes an awesome locator then follow up with something. The fish that have hooked up ate it deep, except whites but they manage to foul hook on a dropshot too smh..

 

When I do catch a fish on the WP it usually has a face and mouth full of hooks. They are razor sharp and I often get hooked when trying to unhook a fish.

 

I do have a lot of swirls and misses so it has become a great locator like @Swbass15 mentioned. I have a second rod ready with a wacky rigged Dinger to throw at those fish. I have been successful with the follow up bait on a number of occasions.

[Pro Logcatcher]

On 9/18/2017 at 9:27 PM, Dtrombly said:

Yeah.. I'm on a fishing report page on FB and I've seen atleast 10 people post about hooking themselves with the whopper plopper 

My first time using a WP a four pounder hooked me completely through the finger!

[jonkevin]

When I catch fish on the WP110, usually the front hook is in their mouth and the back hook is hooked on the body somewhere from it trying to shake loose, then hooking itself... Also, I ALWAYS use a fish grip to grab the fish and use pliers to remove the hooks so I don't hook myself if the fish shakes.  

[Mumbly]

Most of the smallmouth that I have caught on the 90 plopper look like a live bait rig, with one treble either in mouth or top of head and the 2nd either on back or belly.

 

As @Bluebasser86said, I just reel into them.

[Bulletman20XD]

You're apt to hook fish outside the mouth with any lure w/trebles. These are more reactionary baits that invoke a fast moving strike/swipe--Unlike a slow moving worm or jig where they can accurately pick up the bait with their mouths.

[tcbass]

35 minutes ago, Bulletman20XD said:

You're apt to hook fish outside the mouth with any lure w/trebles. These are more reactionary baits that invoke a fast moving strike/swipe--Unlike a slow moving worm or jig where they can accurately pick up the bait with their mouths.

 

 

Yeah, but I've never had one hook a fish in the mouth and somewhere else on the body at the same time as the Whopper Plopper. I think it has to do with the hooks being so sharp.

 

 

I used a KVD Sexydawg for nearly a decade, it's a similar length lure also with treble hooks, and it almost never foul hooked fish at the same time as mouth hooking them.

[Bulletman20XD]

I have it happen all the time with many different multi-treble baits.