First Time Throwing Whopper Plopper- Frustrating

[BuzzHudson19c]

I finally bought a whopper plopper. Got the 110. Went out on the river today and was very underwhelmed by the performance. I had numerous fish come up to it and at the last second turn back. They would not commit to the bait. I tried many different retrieves all with the same result. I'd get a good swell and a view of a smallmouth's back. So I switch to old faithful buzzbait and get clobbered the rest of the day. No problems committing to the buzz, they were inhaling it ( got a nice one in the 4lb range.)

 

Do you think the 110 is too much for most smallies? Should I switch to the 90 and use the 110 for Large mouth? These weren't small fish shying away from the plopper, they should have killed it.

[Jerryj33]

size wasn't necessarily the issue. I've seen 2 pound smallies caught on a 130... Some days all it takes is a very slight tweak to catch fish that have been following/short striking. In this case they just wanted something different.

[Angry John]

One time out with a lure is not a make or break for me.  A certain sound or action is what is called for on any given day and that will kill it.  Might be something to toss into a rotation and check back later on.

[NHBull]

That's silly.

If I gave up on a bait because I didn't have luck the first time out, I would only have a 1/3 of my tackle.

 

The 110 has been my best producer for numbers and size, but I too get Skunked from time to time.

 

Stay the course!

[WRB]

No lure is a panacea to catching bass, hero one day zero the next.

Tom

[MassYak85]

The 110 is fine for smallies. I catch smallies on the 130. I also wouldn't give up on a bait that quickly simply based on your success with it. If the lure is performing poorly action wise that's one thing but otherwise it might just be the conditions. No lure works 100% of the time in every situation. I've had days opposite of what you experienced. Where I caught 15 whopper plopper fish and they would barely even pay attention to a buzzbait. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

I appreciate the replies guys, but I never said I was "giving up on the bait." I was just asking if the 90 would be a better smallmouth lure?

 

Believe me I have caught dinks on big baits and big fish on crappie jigs. Just looking to see if anyone has prior experience finding the best fit for the particular species.

[NHBull]

3 minutes ago, BuzzHudson19c said:

I appreciate the replies guys, but I never said I was "giving up on the bait." I was just asking if the 90 would be a better smallmouth lure?

 

Believe me I have caught dinks on big baits and big fish on crappie jigs. Just looking to see if anyone has prior experience finding the best fit for the particular species.

The 110 has far surprised the 90 for me......so much, I no longer throw them

[IndianaOutdoors]

I have the same thing happen when I fish the 90.  Started burning it back and they started hitting it.

[JustJames]

I don't think 90 is worth the headache. 90 trend to dive down more and also easy to spin the whole body not the tail, also hardware on 90 is suck I lost the tail treble hook from snagging to some grass.

it is just on of those day bass don't want Big profile lure I guess. I was having trouble with 110 as well. I got pretty good bites when I first got it then nothing for the whole month and the trip before last I caught 3 on bone 110.

[Attila]

I can't speak for downsizing the Whopper Plopper as I haven't picked up any, but I can tell you that going from a Strike King Sexy Dawg to a Sexy Dawg Jr. did help me land more and bigger smallmouth.  It also made unhooking a lot easier as I didn't have to worry about getting a treble hook stuck in my hand from a flailing smallmouth.

[Russ E]

I use the 130 most often.  Occasionally use the 110.

haven't had much success with the 90. It seems to have a different action. 

a lot of the waters I fish have a mix of Smallmouth and Largemouth.

when they want the Whopper Plopper ,a Smallie will nail the 130. often times hooks are stuck all over its body.

 

[Rollincoal420]

2 hours ago, JustJames said:

I don't think 90 is worth the headache. 90 trend to dive down more and also easy to spin the whole body not the tail, also hardware on 90 is suck I lost the tail treble hook from snagging to some grass.

it is just on of those day bass don't want Big profile lure I guess. I was having trouble with 110 as well. I got pretty good bites when I first got it then nothing for the whole month and the trip before last I caught 3 on bone 110.

This happens with my 90 also.   It rolls sideways sometime,  and I also lost most of the rear treble hook 

[Ksam1234]

Idk about smallmouth but I can say large mouth love it.. I use the 90 and 130 in loon and absolutely crush them.. anywhere from half pound to 5 pounders. Maybe was just an off day

[38 Super Fan]

I've fished the WP for a few months now (110 size mostly), and I haven't had many days that a buzzbait won't be a better producer for me. Largemouth, Spots, or Smallmouth. Poor hookup ratio on the WP compared to a buzzbait as well.

 

I like the WP, and I've thrown it quite a bit, but it certainly hasn't been anything special for me.

[Bluebasser86]

I throw a 7" glide bait for smallies here, most of them are under 3 pounds. It wasn't the size of your bait that was the problem. A Plopper is one of my favorite baits for guide trips because it's so easy for people to fish and catch fish on even if they have very little experience. Biggest issue I see is people fishing them too fast. Day in and day out, the best retrieve for me has been to reel it just fast enough to get it plopping.

 

Maybe they just didn't want to break the surface for it. A buzzbait's body rides just below the surface while the 110 sits on top of the water. Sometimes little things like that can make a big difference. 

[TOXIC]

Old school thought is that when Bass follow and won't commit, it's time for a color change.  It isn't normally the action or retrieve if they are following it.  

[Bankbeater]

Maybe moving it was the problem.  I've had days where no matter how slow or fast I retrieved a jitterbug I just couldn't get a bite.  Then I started casting it out, and letting it sit for about 30 seconds.  After letting it sit I twitched the bait, and started getting good bites.

[Pro Logcatcher]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

Old school thought is that when Bass follow and won't commit, it's time for a color change.  It isn't normally the action or retrieve if they are following it.  

That's what I was thinking! There are times when I'll be getting skunked with a white trick worm and then start catching them on black.

[punch]

My #1 complaint with the plopper is hookup ratio. I get so many awesome bites that result in no hookups.. gets really frustrating. 

[TOXIC]

5 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Maybe moving it was the problem.  I've had days where no matter how slow or fast I retrieved a jitterbug I just couldn't get a bite.  Then I started casting it out, and letting it sit for about 30 seconds.  After letting it sit I twitched the bait, and started getting good bites.

Another old school thought.....You should always let the ripples from your lure hitting the water dissipate before you start to retrieve a floating topwater.

[BuzzHudson19c]

19 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Maybe they just didn't want to break the surface for it. A buzzbait's body rides just below the surface while the 110 sits on top of the water.

This is what I was leaning towards.

 

Either way I will be giving it another go on Sunday.Tuesday was a record high of 90 and today's high was 68. Smallies will be feeding hard for the next couple of weeks.

[Mumbly]

As others have said, small changes can drastically affect your results. Whether it is a change in size, color or profile. The fish will dictate what they want.

 

Give it another go and see what happens. I am curious tho....what color was the 110 and what color and size was the buzzbait?

[tcbass]

On 9/28/2017 at 11:40 AM, punch said:

My #1 complaint with the plopper is hookup ratio. I get so many awesome bites that result in no hookups.. gets really frustrating. 

 

 

So weird. 

 

 

It's my new favorite lure and one of the reasons is because if a fish hits it, almost 100% chance it is hooked and stays hooked. 

 

 

I was thinking OP could change color (but he'd need more than 1 for that) and that might work. Also, going from steady retrieve to stop and go. 

 

I caught 3 today on the WP. 2 were one a steady retrieve and the 3rd was when it landed I let it sit on the landing and the fish took it. 

[BuzzHudson19c]

On 9/28/2017 at 11:29 PM, Mumbly said:

 

Give it another go and see what happens. I am curious tho....what color was the 110 and what color and size was the buzzbait?

Not sure what they call the color. It's white on the bottom.

 

The buzz was a boo yah with the clacker removed (1/2 oz I think). That day I was using a reaction innovations beaver in "donkey punch" as a trailer and then a kvd rodent in "summer craw" (no skirt). Both got equally devoured.