H2O Double Plopper, 10 pound fish, Chickamauga.

[Hook2Jaw]

I guess someone decided to take the sub 10 dollar hit and has been throwing the H2O Xpress Double Plopper from Academy.

 

Saw this on Facebook this morning, he also had a picture of the scale reporting 10 pounds, 8 ounces.

 

I may have to add a couple of these to the topwater box.  The man said he catches them all the time on that bait, and that he throws it more than his Whopper Ploppers.

[EWREX]

i'll stick to my whopper plopper. i've caught 100's of fish on them already, why change?

[Brew City Bass]

12 minutes ago, EWREX said:

i'll stick to my whopper plopper. i've caught 100's of fish on them already, why change?

To save $5-$8 per bait. If I can buy a cheaper bait that does the same thing as one that costs $5 more you're d**n right I'll throw the cheaper bait. 

 

If money isn't an issue to you, keep chucking the overpriced plopper. Most people can't justify spending double the price on the same bait just because it says "R2S" on it and not H20 or Berkley. 

[EWREX]

Just now, Brew City Bass said:

To save $5-$8 per bait. If I can buy a cheaper bait that does the same thing as one that costs $5 more you're d**n right I'll throw the cheaper bait. 

 

If money isn't an issue to you, keep chucking the overpriced plopper. Most people can't justify spending double the price on the same bait just because it says "R2S" on it and not H20 or Berkley. 

you can also catch fish on $15 walmart rod opposed to whatever rod you personally use. i can bet you don't have the $15 walmart rod though

[Glaucus]

4 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

To save $5-$8 per bait. If I can buy a cheaper bait that does the same thing as one that costs $5 more you're d**n right I'll throw the cheaper bait. 

 

If money isn't an issue to you, keep chucking the overpriced plopper. Most people can't justify spending double the price on the same bait just because it says "R2S" on it and not H20 or Berkley. 

Depends on if it performs the same or not. I'm just an average guy who cringes a little bit when I need more Senkos and the Dingers are right there for 1/3 of the price, but try as I might the Dingers just don't come close to performing like the Senkos so I keep buying Senkos.

 

I'm with you on the Plopper though. I lose them to trees more than I care to admit because I'm wreckless with them on the river, but those nasty places get the good Smallies. When I finally lose the remaining ones I have I will buy Choppos. A hard bait on top of the water making a ruckus is unlike a soft baits performance under the water.

[Hook2Jaw]

The Choppo is a good bait.   The only thing I own from R2S is S-Waver 168s, and they're probably the only thing I'll ever own from R2S when the Berkley Choppo already crushes fish for me.

[Armtx77]

I have tried the fueax Senko's and Keitechs...they made me invest in Mend-It glue. Especially for the Keitechs, but man, they just catch more fish for me.

[Cgolf]

3 hours ago, Brew City Bass said:

To save $5-$8 per bait. If I can buy a cheaper bait that does the same thing as one that costs $5 more you're d**n right I'll throw the cheaper bait. 

 

If money isn't an issue to you, keep chucking the overpriced plopper. Most people can't justify spending double the price on the same bait just because it says "R2S" on it and not H20 or Berkley. 

I will keep chucking my ploppers that I got on sale, and being a topwater, I tend not to lose many and fish them on a light leader to protect from pike and Musky. 

 

The H2O bait looks pretty interesting, because it has a plopper style head with a much different style of tail, that reminds me of a yo zuri topwater. Next order to Academy I will probably pick up a few. Wish they had the size and weight listed. 

 

As far as Berkeley goes someone gifted me 2 sizes of the Choppo I will try and see how it performs. I was just disappointed that their topwater line looked to be mostly copies of other baits at a cheaper price point. In the past they have tried to be innovative and come out with unique new lures. Never thought of them as a follower, maybe this is their future. I personally try to not support these lures unless the price difference is really big. Thanks to sales it hasn’t been so far. 

[Brew City Bass]

7 hours ago, EWREX said:

you can also catch fish on $15 walmart rod opposed to whatever rod you personally use. i can bet you don't have the $15 walmart rod though

I did have the $15 Wally rod, then it broke within a day. I've been using knock-off ploppers all season and not a single one has broke or failed. Why would I not use them? Ploppers are not superior to the knockoffs, no matter how much you would love to believe this.  

Sure I have some $400 combos, but I can only afford them because I don't spend $15+ on every over-priced bait to hit the market. 

7 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Depends on if it performs the same or not. I'm just an average guy who cringes a little bit when I need more Senkos and the Dingers are right there for 1/3 of the price, but try as I might the Dingers just don't come close to performing like the Senkos so I keep buying Senkos.

 

I'm with you on the Plopper though. I lose them to trees more than I care to admit because I'm wreckless with them on the river, but those nasty places get the good Smallies. When I finally lose the remaining ones I have I will buy Choppos. A hard bait on top of the water making a ruckus is unlike a soft baits performance under the water.

I only go cheap on what should be cheap. No plastic bait should cost $15+ unless it's a limited edition, hand painted, kissed by the lips of God type crap. I'd bet a signed dollar those guys at R2S aren't spending more than a buck or two to make the plopper. I've used em all last season, and I've used the knock-offs all this season. They perform the same, flat out. 

My buddy swears by the jackhammer, he spent over $200 filling a box with them. Guess who outfishes him every single time with a $5 regular old Z-man? Fisherman get caught more than the actual fish we target. I won't be one of them. 

[Bluebasser86]

No way a double plopper is the same as a regular plopper. It's going to sound different and act different, but we all know that baits that look similar can sound and act differently. That's why I have 1.5 sized cranks from different companies and why I have 110 size jerkbaits from several companies, similar walking baits, 5" stick worms from different companies. Different baits are going to appeal to the fish on different days, it's up to you to decide if it's worth it to own each for those subtle differences or not. 

[EWREX]

3 hours ago, Brew City Bass said:

I did have the $15 Wally rod, then it broke within a day. I've been using knock-off ploppers all season and not a single one has broke or failed. Why would I not use them? Ploppers are not superior to the knockoffs, no matter how much you would love to believe this.  

Sure I have some $400 combos, but I can only afford them because I don't spend $15+ on every over-priced bait to hit the market. 

I only go cheap on what should be cheap. No plastic bait should cost $15+ unless it's a limited edition, hand painted, kissed by the lips of God type crap. I'd bet a signed dollar those guys at R2S aren't spending more than a buck or two to make the plopper. I've used em all last season, and I've used the knock-offs all this season. They perform the same, flat out. 

My buddy swears by the jackhammer, he spent over $200 filling a box with them. Guess who outfishes him every single time with a $5 regular old Z-man? Fisherman get caught more than the actual fish we target. I won't be one of them. 

to each there own brother! i’m not knockin you for it at all. we all have the same common goal. tight lines!

[Brew City Bass]

20 minutes ago, EWREX said:

to each there own brother! i’m not knockin you for it at all. we all have the same common goal. tight lines!

Amen! Keep em tight!

[Hook2Jaw]

I just posted a nice bass caught on a cheap bait for folks like me, on the fence about it, or folks who didn't know about it.

 

Of course it's not going to sound like a WP, not even the Choppo does that, but I could see myself tying this on when the fish are more aggressive or in dingier water to help them find the bait.

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, Hook2Jaw said:

I just posted a nice bass caught on a cheap bait for folks like me, on the fence about it, or folks who didn't know about it.

 

Of course it's not going to sound like a WP, not even the Choppo does that, but I could see myself tying this on when the fish are more aggressive or in dingier water to help them find the bait.

That thing looks awesome. Price point aside it looks like the offspring of a Heddon Torpedo and a Whopper Plopper.

 

A unique lure in a now crowded category, that many probably won't know about because Academy isn't a well known store, at least up here in WI. Seeing the screws on the prop, maybe replacements are available in the future if it gets busted?

[Hook2Jaw]

23 minutes ago, cgolf said:

That thing looks awesome. Price point aside it looks like the offspring of a Heddon Torpedo and a Whopper Plopper.

 

A unique lure in a now crowded category, that many probably won't know about because Academy isn't a well known store, at least up here in WI. Seeing the screws on the prop, maybe replacements are available in the future if it gets busted?

the screws on the prop scare me.  I personally doubt they'll start selling replacement props and it looks like a great failure point.  I plan to grab one of these guys this weekend and fish it, and I'm gonna put a dab of locktite on the screws to make sure they don't back off and try not to throw the thing into seawalls.

 

I wish it was just a single, molded tail section like the R2S and Berkley offerings with two props.

 

Still, it's only 7 bucks and when Academy does their sales on their H2O line I bet they'll be listed at 4 bucks.

[Brew City Bass]

4 hours ago, cgolf said:

That thing looks awesome. Price point aside it looks like the offspring of a Heddon Torpedo and a Whopper Plopper.

 

A unique lure in a now crowded category, that many probably won't know about because Academy isn't a well known store, at least up here in WI. Seeing the screws on the prop, maybe replacements are available in the future if it gets busted?

Yeah, we're really lacking in good sports stores up here. Gander is 45 mins from me, Cabelas can go to hell, Dicks is bleh.. 

[Cgolf]

26 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

Yeah, we're really lacking in good sports stores up here. Gander is 45 mins from me, Cabelas can go to hell, Dicks is bleh.. 

I hear you, Dicks used to be pretty good, but I had a hard time spending my 10 bucks in rewards money last week. Sadly I mostly shop online now. It is sad that with all the lakes around us, that the shops suck and don't carry tackle that would suit those waters. You live near Dick Smith's livebait? Haven't been there yet, but their social media posts make it look ok.

 

We did visit the quad cities over memorial day and found an awesome little shop, but Rock Island IL is a long drive for us.

[Brew City Bass]

3 hours ago, cgolf said:

I hear you, Dicks used to be pretty good, but I had a hard time spending my 10 bucks in rewards money last week. Sadly I mostly shop online now. It is sad that with all the lakes around us, that the shops suck and don't carry tackle that would suit those waters. You live near Dick Smith's livebait? Haven't been there yet, but their social media posts make it look ok.

 

We did visit the quad cities over memorial day and found an awesome little shop, but Rock Island IL is a long drive for us.

Dick Smith's is just a bait shop really. Never found anything worth looking at gear-wise in there. And what I have seen, they're marked up 20%-40% over retail. 

[Smalls]

Guess it really depends on the hooks, all else equal. The whopper plopper hooks are hands down, one of the most dangerous hooks out on a sub $20 bait