Whopper Plopper Woes

[SlingandWind]

I fished a club tournament the other day. It was a rainy day and threw the plopper. Out of 11 hook ups I on got 2 to the boat. It was really frustrating. I had many more missed blow ups which is more to be expected. Anyone know of any mods I can do to keep fish from coming unbuttoned? It took 18 lbs to win and it was won on the plopper. I lost enough fish to win that twice. They were 3 to 5 pounders! I never had a day when I lost that many fish.

[Catt]

A lot of guys will discuss rods, reels, line, hooks, retrieves but I believe top bite has a lot to do the bass's attitude.

 

Some days they not fully committed to actually eating the top water lure. 

 

I know the winning sack was caught on a Plopper but his fish could have been more aggressive.

[BoatSquirrel]

Assuming when you say hookups, you had the fish on, a few possible factors come to mind.  I recently fished with a friend who is new to the sport.  I started throwing one of his rods and had a fish hit a topwater.  His drag was so loose, I could not turn the fish so make sure your drag is set.  Get that fish in the net!  Too often I see guys wanting to play fish too gently.  Spool your topwater rod with some 50lb braid and crank their butts to the boat!  

Next, nothing will unbutton a good fish faster than too stiff of a rod with treble hook baits.  Gotta have some bend in the rod when throwing a plopper.  Hope that helps man.

[jmz313]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

A lot of guys will discuss rods, reels, line, hooks, retrieves but I believe top bite has a lot to do the bass's attitude.

 

Some days they not fully committed to actually eating the top water lure. 

 

I know the winning sack was caught on a Plopper but his fish could have been more aggressive.

that makes sense.  i have days where i get every top water hit landed... then days i'm 1 for 7.  its either hot or cold. 

[Harold Scoggins]

It's fall, try using this one.

[primetime]

I have had the exact same problem on the whopper Plopper as well. I have also had the same problem at times on loud knocking topwater walking baits. I often assume its speed, size, maybe color....But my best theory is similar to the one above....Sometimes they are not always striking the bait to kill and eat it...Sometimes with loud and big lures, I often think its a territorial, predatory response to just smash it out of being annoyed...I have downsized at times and that has helped, but the same thing happens at times when I fish a floating jerkbait with 3 treble hooks. I will miss way too many strikes, hook them for a few seconds, miss it, etc....I think at times they just want to get it out of the way..

 

Then again, Its fishing...It could be the treble hooks, rod, line...but from my experiences, when a fish really commits to a topwater with treble hooks, once they are hooked they stay buttoned....But it is amazing how a fish can crush a plug with 3 treble hooks and not get hooked solid. If you get a barb through the lip and keep tension the rest of the way, Not sure there is much else you can do....They usually hook themselves, I try not to pull the bait away as best as I can but with topwater its easy to get startled/Excited when chucking and winding over and over.

[TheRodFather]

When you say hook ups, you mean you felt the weight of the fish and then they got off right?  

 

Sounds like a hook, or hook set problem to me.  Too light and it won't be up to the barb and he can shake it out.  Too hard and the hole is big enough that he can shake it out.

[5by3]

I’ve found that the plopper for me has one of the highest hookup and landing ratios than any other top water baits I throw (except maybe a buzzbait).

 

Maybe the fish weren’t aggressive enough that day. Some days they’ll just slap at the bait and you get lucky and hook a few. Other days they’ll choke it.

 

Could also try swapping out your hooks. The stock hooks are okay, but I usually swap them out for owners and feel that my hookup percentage goes way up.

 

 

[Deleted account]

8 hours ago, SlingandWind said:

Anyone know of any mods I can do to keep fish from coming unbuttoned? 

Cut it off and tie on a buzzbait?...

[Dirtyeggroll]

What size plopper? I have lost some of the big ones because the hooks tore a big hole in the mouth.

[Catt]

6 hours ago, Harold Scoggins said:

It's fall, try using this one.

 

Definitely would fail ?

[Bluebasser86]

The right gear makes a huge difference for me in the ratio of hooked fish landed with a plopper. It's possible something wasn't quite right and they weren't completely committing to the bait. There's also the chance you did everything right and it just wasn't your day.

[Rodney Smith]

I agree with the post that mentions swapping out to Owner hooks. I lose less fish with those. I find I catch the ones that just slap at it and lose far fish overall less than with the stock hooks. Call me crazy, but I use a feathered treble Owner hook on the back and I feel like I get more bites than before.

[SlingandWind]

On 10/18/2019 at 5:51 PM, TheRodFather said:

When you say hook ups, you mean you felt the weight of the fish and then they got off right?  

 

Sounds like a hook, or hook set problem to me.  Too light and it won't be up to the barb and he can shake it out.  Too hard and the hole is big enough that he can shake it out.

They pulled off about half way or closer to boat

[Koz]

I don't think I've ever had hookup problems with a 110 or 130 Whopper Plopper. Off the top of my head, the only time I remember one not getting hooked was during the post spawn when a male would grab it in the middle, carry it off, and then let go. But I got him on the third try!

[frogflogger]

For myself - fiberglass rod

[FishingGeekTX]

Some things it might be:

1. The lure

2. hookset

3. The lack of "give" in your rod/line

4. keeping tension yourself as you fight the fish

5. bad luck

 

I don't fish a lot of topwater trebles, but when I do they can get thrown more than a lot of other lures once the hook is set (buzzbait, frog, etc.).  Seems like the whopper is a large/long, heavy lure..probably a lot of weight/leverage on a shake, to work those hooks out.  You may try a strike king or cavitron buzzbait, no trailer, but you could include a trailer hook if you feel confident with it.  It's basically a skirt hiding a large single hook, so if you get a good hit, it's as close to fool-proof as it gets.  They have the added benefit of being able to work through light weed cover.

Others have commented on hookset (too hard/too soft.

Lots of people swear by having stretch in their system...either in the line or the rod action (med) or both.

And lastly of course, keeping tension on the fish the entire time, and trying to ensure they can't jump-shake.

 

I feel after 3 lost from reeling them in, I'd try a different lure.

 

Good luck!

 

 

[ChrisD46]

On 10/18/2019 at 10:58 AM, SlingandWind said:

I fished a club tournament the other day. It was a rainy day and threw the plopper. Out of 11 hook ups I on got 2 to the boat. It was really frustrating. I had many more missed blow ups which is more to be expected. Anyone know of any mods I can do to keep fish from coming unbuttoned? It took 18 lbs to win and it was won on the plopper. I lost enough fish to win that twice. They were 3 to 5 pounders! I never had a day when I lost that many fish.

*I would upgrade hooks to some sticky sharp Trokar , Owner , etc. trebles - you can't expect stock hooks to be the best , especially after they have been used awhile .

[the reel ess]

I had a big ol' gal come all the way out of the water to knock a topwater up in the air with her mouth closed. I cast it back across that path and didn't get a bite. I threw a couple more baits around there then moved on. Sometimes they just want to kill the bait, not eat it. A lot of times, and this usually happens to me when I've been successful with the topwater early, they'll nip at the back hook then shy away. If they aren't striking the middle of the bait and they're just getting one barb of the rear treble it's a lot easier to lose them. The Plopper is a heavy bait, which gives them good leverage to throw the hook when they do the head shake.