Have Whopper Ploppers made buzz baits obsolete?

[Brew City Bass]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

I've fished buzzbait with success for 30 + years.I havnt bought a whopper plopper yet , and probably won't. Between these two, I'll stick with buzzbaits.

I definitely wouldn't rule out a whopper plopper man. I didn't buy one until this summer because I thought it couldn't possibly be any better than a buzzbait. I was wrong. I found one on sale for $10 and said what the hell. Later that day I went to the lake and threw a buzzbait for 2 hours. Didn't get a hit. Said screw it and threw on the plopper and went 12 for 15 on it. Would have never caught a top water fish on many days this summer if it wasn't for a plopper. It's a totally different bait. Different noise, different action, different profile. No reason not to have this tool in the tool box. 

[Bluebasser86]

Some of the lakes I fish they'll eat a plopper and ignore a buzzbait, others they kill a buzzbait and the plopper goes untouched. No idea why, but I've seen it time and time again, it's not just that it happened once or twice. I love fishing a buzzbait through cover where a plopper would be a nightmare. 

[YoTone]

im more fearless with a buzzbait therefore i catch more on them as well.

 

[Ratherbfishing]

I'm with BuzzHudson above.  Between the line twist and trebles snagging vegetation, they just don't really "do it" for me.  Maybe with braid it'd be okay.  But no, they will not replace buzzbaits.  They aren't the same, regardless.

[J Francho]

Totally different tools.  Neither cancels the other out.

[Fishingmickey]

The only time I have had issues with line twist is with the WP is the 90 size and below. 110 and 130 sizes no issues. Different tools for different applications. The buzz bait has it's place.

 

FM

[AO2point4]

Buzz baits have no place in my box.  Can’t be paused, can’t be casted as far, and can’t be retrieved as slowly as a whopper plopper.  The whopper plopper is just a more versatile bait.

 

Any place with vegetation where I couldn’t get a plopper through, I’d reach for a Sprinker frog.  

[crypt]

would rather throw a buzzbait over a Plopper any day. just seems to work for me.

[craww]

Absolutely not. The whopper plopper is sort of the rattle trap of topwater for me. I fish it more to semi blindly cover water. But have found a cool niche for using them in current to present it in a way that stays in the strike zone. They catch fish and are growing on me. That said I would drop them in an instant if Could only have the WP or a buzz bait.

 

-Buzz baits land much more subtly. WP’s will spook fish in shallow, calmer water.

-I’ve got a ton of big fish on buzz baits in open water, Yet can also cast them in just about any cover. Added bonus for whatever reason I seem to be more accurate with a buzz bait than most Lures.

-  despite being heavy Lures that feel like they should cast to the moon the 110’s and 90’s don’t cast THAT much farther for me then my heavier 5/8 oz buzz baits. The WPs arent terrible casters; but I can get an E7 Curado down to the backing with a sammy 100/115. The 110 WP is dramatically shorter due to  the way it slightly grabs air and a seeming lack of weight transfer system.

- after two years of using the WP (90/110) I just seem to catch more big fish on buzz baits. 

 

-The WP will occasionally hook fish in a manner that may injure them.  When I hook a fish on a top water plug I fight them pretty hard. Rod tip down, in or near the water  with constant pressure so they can’t shake their head and throw the bait.  The plopper has hooked about half a dozen bass on the outside of The gill plate  for me and I’ve seen others say the same thing. It’s a fairly large diameter hook- so if you were using braid or horsing the fish in it could be problematic.

[islandbass]

23 hours ago, KHL12 said:

I'm just an old retired guy stumbling along the bank.  I fished buzz baits for years.  Never caught a fish.  First time out with my Whopper Plopper 130 in Loon, I caught a 3 and a 4 and missed three other blowups.  I realize there are many places with pads and other surface vegitation where neither Whopper Ploppers or buzz baits can be fished.  In areas like this, we all throw hollow body frogs with success. 

 

Since Whopper Ploppers and buzz baits are both best is mostly open water, why carry buzz baits.  

 

Or am I wrong...And I have been wrong before.

 

  

They are tools. Just to let you know, I was in the exact same boat as you with regard to buzzbaits and spinner baits. I went through 14 years of trying both and couldn’t even beg for a strike. 

This season, I decided to give them a try, a heck of a lot more focused and did my homework. I have now caught bass on both and on multiple occasions. I went 5 for 7 on A $1 Walmart spinnerbait in 15 minute fishing stint. I was shocked and stunned. 14 years and now I can’t keep them off and I have 15 minutes to get to work? Irony. One miss was a short strike. The other miss was my rod and line got stuck in an overhanging tree during the hookset and I couldn’t set the hook. 

 

Do do some research on what blade type or combinations might be suited to your waters. For example, those bass I caught were tuned to a single willow blade. A willow and Colorado combination did not appeal to them... at all. 

 

So keep at. No need to worry about them not working until you go through a 14 year spell as I did. ?

[scaleface]

I dont own a Whopper Plopper  but dont see how they can even be fished in the same areas I throw a buzz-bait .  

[dday07]

When i need a flutter sound i go with the plopper..But the times i need that clanking sound like at nite..Certain buzzbaits get the call

[the reel ess]

Not until I start catching something on them. LOL. I tried one again last night to no avail. It's 0 for 4 with me.

[fishballer06]

As a co-angler who still hasn't bought a WP, I can honestly say that I have yet to see anyone out fish me with a WP while I'm throwing my trust old Cavitron's. Three things have kept me from purchasing a Whopper Plopper. 

 

• Treble hooks - they cannot be fished with vegetation on the surface
• Thrown baits - large heavy lures are more prone to being tossed during a jump when compared to a 1/4oz buzzbait with a single hook
• Still haven't seen anyone outfish me with my buzzbait