Whopper Plopper hooks

[Jeremy M]

I just started fishing with the Whopper Plopper (size 110). Yesterday at a local pond I caught 4 LMB on it but lost 3. Of course I was happy to catch multiple fish but also disappointed with the landing rate. This was not a case of a missed hook up -- all three I set the hook and had them on but they shook off. So I'm wondering if I need to change out the treble hooks? My searches have resulted in most comments that are positive about the hooks but a couple that say the hooks are no good. But I'm also thinking I did something wrong reeling them in. These lures are heavy and I'm thinking perhaps I was pulling too hard and yanking them out? The last two that I did land, I was going easy on the reel-in. Any advice on the hooks or on landing techniques with this lure would be much appreciated!

[BrianMDTX]

My WP has some of the sharpest hooks I’ve encountered. Don’t yank it, sweep it. 

[MN Fisher]

Nothing wrong with the hooks on my WP-60, 90 or 110...very sharp out of the box.

 

As Brian says, set it more with a sweep than a 'heave'.

[Dwight Hottle]

The ones I have used have mostly had really sharp stock hooks but some of the earlier models did not. Double check what you have to determine if they need changed.  

[Deleted account]

I've got some recent WP 110s and the hooks while sharp, are unnecessarily heavy gauge wire. I replaced them with some the same size of lighter wire, as I fish it with mono, and get bites on a long cast sometimes. I can see how bad technique can cost fish. Steady with a bent rod keeps them pinned.

[Bass Rutten]

The stock 4x hooks are complete overkill. Owner st-41’s work great on ploppers.

[WRB]

Set the hooks like you do with a crankbait, not a frog.

Tom

[the reel ess]

The hooks on the WP are so sharp the bass usually hook themselves. I use a MH-Mod Fast 7' rod and braid for Whopper Ploppers. It's supposed to be a big, deep cranking rod, but it's my favorite. So I set my drag pretty loose. If the bass don't head for cover I just play them. If they do I just apply the thumb as needed. The WP is a heavy lure and that gives bass leverage to shake it. Sometimes bass don't get all of a topwater or they get hooked in the head or side with just one point. That's the problem with trebles. I once landed a good bass on a Chug Bug that was hooked with one point in the nostril. 

[Bluebasser86]

Ploppers are heavy baits, so you have to keep their heads down or they'll have a lot of leverage to toss the baits if they get to jumping and thrashing around. Smallmouth are really bad about it. I swap my hooks to short shank EWG Gamakatsu hooks that are lighter wire that let my bait float higher and seem to hold better because they don't let the bait move as much when the fish shakes. 

[Jeremy M]

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Ploppers are heavy baits, so you have to keep their heads down or they'll have a lot of leverage to toss the baits if they get to jumping and thrashing around. Smallmouth are really bad about it. I swap my hooks to short shank EWG Gamakatsu hooks that are lighter wire that let my bait float higher and seem to hold better because they don't let the bait move as much when the fish shakes. 

 

I was thinking this might be the issue because of the heaviness of the lure. I will try the hooks you mentioned. Forgive my noviceness, but how do you keep their heads down? (Yes I know noviceness is not a real word  )

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I was definitely setting the hook too hard and reeling in too fast with too much pressure. I will use the sweep and ease up on the reel in. Much appreciated! 

[the reel ess]

20 minutes ago, Jeremy M said:

 

I was thinking this might be the issue because of the heaviness of the lure. I will try the hooks you mentioned. Forgive my noviceness, but how do you keep their heads down? (Yes I know noviceness is not a real word  )

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I was definitely setting the hook too hard and reeling in too fast with too much pressure. I will use the sweep and ease up on the reel in. Much appreciated! 

When the bass surfaces with its mouth wide open, turn your rod to the side and keep the same pressure on it. If he is going left, apply pressure to the right and vice versa. That makes it more difficult for the bass to jump and will cut down on the thrashing. Don't do what Bill Dance does. He wants them to jump for the camera and edits out the lost fish. We want the fish to stay down until it's ready to give up.

[Deleted account]

39 minutes ago, Jeremy M said:

how do you keep their heads down?

Fish will only pull if you pull, and they will pull opposite the direction that you are pulling. Fish coming to the surface and possibly breaking the surface are only doing so because they cannot overcome the force the angler is applying, and thus the resulting direction of the vector created has a larger up component.

[Biglittle8]

On 6/29/2021 at 11:52 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Ploppers are heavy baits, so you have to keep their heads down or they'll have a lot of leverage to toss the baits if they get to jumping and thrashing around. Smallmouth are really bad about it. I swap my hooks to short shank EWG Gamakatsu hooks that are lighter wire that let my bait float higher and seem to hold better because they don't let the bait move as much when the fish shakes. 

I find the hooks to be some of sharpest I've seen on a lure. The size and weight of the lure gives it a lot of inertia for a shaking fish to use as Bluebasser86 stated. I have this issue with the Lucky Craft Gunfish also.