Whopper Plopper, Used As Prop Lure?

[ghost]

Any of you use your WP as Prop lure? What I mean is, prop lures with one or two props, would be jerked and paused technique, to draw a commotion. 

 

I've tried thai with my WP's but no luck. Have you tried this and caught bass? Or any other fish?

[Black Hawk Basser]

I have tried this, sort of using it like a popper.  I haven't had any luck this way.  All of my strikes have come from a steady retrieve, with some little hitches or pauses added in occasionally.  Sometimes just the steady retrieve works fine.

[EWREX]

i've had some success while fishing it slow with pauses, but have definitely had more success with a straight retrieve

[FCPhil]

I have had success on the using it like a prop bait. I mainly have seen that work well when fishing it next to cover like stumps or logs.

[MIbassyaker]

Yes. When I fish the 90 I do it with rips and pauses most of the time. I think it's easier to fish the 90 this way than a straight retrieve, given it has a smaller prop than either the 75 or the larger versions. 

 

There's also a time and a place. Slow topwaters worked with pauses and rips are also a famously-effective post-spawn presentation.  And the ability to move the bait a precise distance at a time, pause to let the fish find it, and change directions and angles to avoid snags, can make it more feasible at times than a straight retrieve for working a trebled bait through scattered emergent vegetation, or following an irregular line of cover. The fish below was caught by finessing a WP 90 carefully through the pads in the background, but getting as close as possible to the denser spots, using a retrieve with short rips, frequent pauses, and changes of direction:

 

[RB 77]

I have and do it more with the smaller versions. I do prefer a straight retrieve the majority of the time for all sizes though.

[Dens228]

I haven't had a ton of success with the WP but would guess that about 1/4 of my strikes have been on a pause or right at the start after a pause.   

 

I like to run it past ambush points like timber, rocks, blowdowns.  After a few casts I do it again but pause right before it, then start up again.  

[tcbass]

Tried both, straight retrieve gets 'em almost 99% of the time.

[Heartland]

long pause with a couple of rips if it makes it that long

[the reel ess]

The first time I used the 90 I had a hard time keeping it from spinning at the end of a cast. So I'd fish it like a Devil's Horse until I got it close enough for a steady retrieve. Got a total of 1 bite that way and missed it. But I'll admit I fished the 130 several times before getting any action on it. Prespawn this year was the best it has produced for me.

[GreenPig]

Yes and catch some nice bass over deeper underwater weedlines in the bright midday sun. I believe the bass get tucked back in the weeds and don't have time to get to the straight retrieved lures. Working it with short snatches and pauses up to 20 seconds gives them time to get out of the weeds. We do have 5' to 6' visibility on the lake this is effective on. Not so much on our murky lakes.