Do you still find the whopper plopper to be the most consistently effective topwater bait for river smallmouth or do you consider it a “dead” lure?

[Ohioguy25]

In my river it is not nearly as effective as it was even a year or two ago, but still produces consistently enough to keep it tied on in the summer. 
 

I’m wondering if it’s worth leaving my comfort zone and learning to walk the dog or mixing Ricos into my rotation or if the plopper still gets bit way more?

[MediumMouthBass]

The plopper seems to not have the same effectiveness it once had in most lakes and ponds, that being said theres alot of people catching smallies/pike on them in rivers. On youtube almost every person fishing a river who isnt fishing a ned rig is destroying both species on ploppers (or choppos).

You should try getting some other topwaters as well but i think you should rotate between the 2 and let the fish tell you what they want that day.

But how effective it is in your river now could just be its the not size or color they are wanting for that time or year or day.

[galyonj]

I don't remember the last time I caught on a plopper.

[Bird]

Been having better luck this year on a Devils horse......by a large margin.

[roadwarrior]

The WP is not effective for me. My preference is a PopMax. Second and third

would be a Sammy or Spook. 

[gim]

30 minutes ago, galyonj said:

I don't remember the last time I caught on a plopper.

Me neither.

[galyonj]

@gimruis honestly that's fine with me, too. Narrows my focus.

[JediAmoeba]

42 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

In my river it is not nearly as effective as it was even a year or two ago, but still produces consistently enough to keep it tied on in the summer. 
 

I’m wondering if it’s worth leaving my comfort zone and learning to walk the dog or mixing Ricos into my rotation or if the plopper still gets bit way more?

Yellow Magic or PopMax is way better than a Rico IMO

[Pat Brown]

I'll tell ya what.  The bass in my pond are wise to just about every presentation known to man but if they're around and mad/hungry, they'll hit a frog.  You'd think they up and left on vacation and then you walk a frog through an area and get lit up.  Definitely my favorite topwater for getting them to commit to the bait when they don't want to bite.

[TnRiver46]

Never been effective for me 

[Bankbeater]

When they first came out I saw a lot of anglers fishing with them.  These days I never see anyone fishing with them.

[T-Billy]

I throw a 110 in loon once in a while at night when fish are busting up top. Never been a numbers bait for me, but when I do get one to bite it's usually a good one.

[Aaron_H]

34 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I throw a 110 in loon once in a while at night when fish are busting up top. Never been a numbers bait for me, but when I do get one to bite it's usually a good one.

 

Yup! I can't speak for SMB but the 110 in loon can still trigger some big LMB bites for me down here.

[Kirtley Howe]

Still works for both Smallmouth and Largemouth where I fish on the Susquehanna River. Sometimes a Choppo is more effective, sometimes the WP. If neither work, a popper or frog usually does. And sometimes the only thing that will trigger a topwater strike is a walking bait. 

[T-Billy]

5 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Yup! I can't speak for SMB but the 110 in loon can still trigger some big LMB bites for me down here.

Smalljaws like it too. I retrieve it just fast enough to get a soft plopping sound, and stop it a few times during the retrieve for just a second. Bites often happen right when it starts back up. I've never had much luck with it during daylight hours.

[flyfisher]

never bought one

[king fisher]

Most of the bass I fish for are not pressured and have never seen most lures.  Many have never even seen any lures.  I have had some success with Whopper Ploppers, but have yet to have a day when they work as well or better than other top water baits.  So far my experience has been, buzz baits, spooks, and poppers out fish them by a large margin.  Every day is different and I'm sure there will be a time when the Whopper Plopper bite is on, so I will keep giving them some playing time, but right now other surface lures are in the starting line up.

[PaulVE64]

The Choppo/WP 135, 110 & 75 still working on my river smallies. But I'm finding as good is a spook jr. on calm days.

[Cbump]

7 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I’m wondering if it’s worth leaving my comfort zone and learning to walk the dog or mixing Ricos into my rotation or if the plopper still gets bit way more?

Would be hard for us to know how it’ll go in your river. Try It and see. Not much to learning to walk the dog. 

[fin]

My theory is if a fish will bite a WP, it's already been caught and either got eaten or won't bite one again.

 

The topwater bite used to be good in my lake before WPs got popular, now it's really tough to get a bite on topwater with any kind of bait.

 

I know one guy that still uses them in an area of the lake that's hard to get to and nobody fishes, and that's the one place he catches them. He fishes them almost exclusively. Hardly ever catches anything, but occasionally still catches a nice one.

 

I've got over 10 of them I've found, never bought a single one. I never use them.

[Woody B]

(Not river smallmouth)

 

I couldn't help but get a wp due to @ol'crickety catching a million bass a day on one.   All it done for me was spook fish and twist my line.   A BUNCH of people where I fish throw WP's.   I'd estimate that 90% of my topwater bites come on a Devils Horse.   (including a 3 1/2 pound Largemouth today and a 5 pounder last Sunday)

 

I suspect where you fish, how others fish and the confidence you have in a lure is what determines what works and what doesn't.   

 

 

[jbrew73]

I bought 2 WPs and didn’t get a bite all season so I gave them away .    I’m sure it gets bites for a million people but it just didn’t work for me.    Spooks and PopR are my best topwater options.  

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Woody B said:

(Not river smallmouth)

 

I couldn't help but get a wp due to @ol'crickety catching a million bass a day on one.   All it done for me was spook fish and twist my line.   A BUNCH of people where I fish throw WP's.   I'd estimate that 90% of my topwater bites come on a Devils Horse.   (including a 3 1/2 pound Largemouth today and a 5 pounder last Sunday)

 

I suspect where you fish, how others fish and the confidence you have in a lure is what determines what works and what doesn't.   

 

 

 

I'm halfway through the summer of 2023 and have yet to catch two bass at once on a WP. I did that four times in 2022, although I didn't start fishing until late August. I think this is because of me casting a WP so many times. So, I do think they learn pretty quickly not to hit them, but I've still caught some of my biggest bass this year on WPs:

 

 

I don't think there's a better lure for finding active bass. It's so noisy that I think it draws them to it and it's so big (I mostly cast the 130.) that I can throw it a long ways. Plus, it's great for trolling (Thanks, @Dwight Hottle.) when I paddle from one spot to another. However, at lakes where it's been cast a thousand times, I think I'd throw something else.

[Aaron_H]

4 hours ago, Woody B said:

(Not river smallmouth)

 

I couldn't help but get a wp due to @ol'crickety catching a million bass a day on one.   All it done for me was spook fish and twist my line.   A BUNCH of people where I fish throw WP's.   I'd estimate that 90% of my topwater bites come on a Devils Horse.   (including a 3 1/2 pound Largemouth today and a 5 pounder last Sunday)

 

I suspect where you fish, how others fish and the confidence you have in a lure is what determines what works and what doesn't.   

 

 

 

Attach a small barrel swivel to the line tie split ring and tie to the swivel. Your line twist issues will disappear and the small swivels (I use Spro power swivels) won't be heavy enough to interfere with the lure.

[Bluebasser86]

I caught a dink on a Choppo Saturday, first fish I can remember catching on a plopper style bait this year and I couldn't tell you the last one before that. 

 

I've been having much better luck with walking baits than ploppers.