The whopper plopper is taking the fishing world by storm and for good reason. For my money, it’s the best topwater lure on the market right now.
But what is it about this mostly simple lure that makes it so much better than anything else? Let’s discuss 4 reasons why the whopper plopper is the best topwater bait.
1. The whopper plopper is the easiest topwater lure to use
There are many reasons to use a whopper plopper, but the first is that it is maybe the easiest bait you can possibly use.
Topwater baits are generally lures you need to work. A spook or frog is walked, a popper is popped, every topwater bait needs you to make it have it’s action. And if you aren’t doing it properly, you aren’t going to get bites.
A whopper plopper is great because all you have to do is reel. Literally.
A whopper plopper’s action is created by its tail, which is loose and hangs, spinning in the water to create noise and movement in the water. To make it do this, you just reel the bait and it automatically starts spinning.
Plus, if you reel it very quickly it will work fine. Reel it very slowly, it will still work fine. It is not even speed dependent like some baits.
About the only thing that will cause a whopper plopper to not work is if you’re fishing it in grass or anything else that sits on the top of the water. If it gets hung up in anything, it will stop working.
But if you’re in open water (which most of the time you are), then a whopper plopper is going to give you a great action every time with very little effort. And this simplicity makes it a great topwater bait.
2. A whopper plopper is loud enough it brings fish into the area
The whopper plopper is not only easy to use, but extremely effective at bringing fish into the area and getting their attention.
This is because a whopper plopper is one of the loudest baits that you can find. The spinning action of it’s tail is easy to make, but is also extremely loud. Chances are anyone near you is going to be able to hear it’s action.
So if the fisherman can hear it – you can be sure that fish hear it too.
Topwaters especially need to be noisy to get a bass’s attention. Fish don’t naturally look above them in most cases. If anything, they look down. So getting something noisy is a great way to get their attention and peak their interest.
If you’re trying to find fish, you also don’t want to have to cast every few feet to see if there is a fish there. While fish normally see well underwater, their vision beyond several feet isn’t great.
So having noise that travels beyond their sight line is really important to be able to fish an area quickly if you’re just trying to find where the fish are located.
A whopper plopper is easy to use, makes tons of noise, and that’s not even the best part!
3. Most fish have never seen anything like a whopper plopper before
A lot of fisherman will tell you the secret to catching fish in high pressured areas is giving them something they haven’t seen before.
This is why a bubblegum worm can work in small farm ponds. It’s a completely unnatural color that a bass has likely never seen. The interest of something different makes them open their mouths to bite it.
A whopper plopper, being only a few years old, is very similar. Chances are a good amount of fish in your fishery haven’t seen it before.
Bass have seen so many rubber worms, crankbaits, and the like that they won’t give them much attention. They look like food, but there isn’t something unusual that makes them want to inspect it further. That’s where a whopper plopper is deadly.
Most people have only started using whopper ploppers recently and even then, not everyone is buying into the hype. If you’re one of the first to throw it at your fishery, you’ll take every bass by surprise. And you could be in for bites all day long.
And this is because it isn’t just a new variation of an old bait. It’s completely unique and something a bass hasn’t really experienced.
There are no animals that naturally create the action a whopper plopper does. It’s so interesting to a bass they just have to bite it!
4. You can change up whopper plopper models to target different species or size fish
Finally, the whopper plopper is deadly because you can also change up the size to target whatever species you’re after. Or whatever size is in your fishery.
If you’re fishing a smaller farm pond then you can fish the Whopper Plopper size 75 and you’re likely to catch a ton of fish. And even a big one will be interested enough to inhale it from time to time.
Or if you’re on a big lake that you know has giants – tie on a Whopper Plopper 170 and you’ll get the attention of big bass looking for a big meal. Or even a good size pike, striper, or other predatory fish will likely take a swipe.
Many baits target just one size of fish and one type of species. A squarebill crankbait might come in 2 to 3 sizes at most and is usually based on depth rating more than size profile. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits may get heavier and slightly bigger, but are generally always the same size.
So having the ability to pick different sizes in a hard bait to target certain fish is a unique thing that the whopper plopper provides. And that’s mostly because the size of the bait doesn’t affect it’s action too much.
All size whopper ploppers will have a tail that spins and creates movement and sound in the water. A larger whopper plopper will make more noise and movement, but all create a good bit of it.
So no matter what size you’re using, you aren’t giving up a ton of action to get the size profile correct for your target species. That’s a unique characteristic of whopper ploppers that makes them deadly.
Conclusion
There are the 4 main reasons that whopper ploppers are so great. They work easily, they make a ton of noise, they’re unique, and they come in many sizes. But to make this list a nice even five I’ll throw one personal anecdote in too.
They flat out just catch fish better than any other topwater bait on the market for me personally. So go buy one – you’ll be glad you did! Or read this article to keep learning about whopper ploppers and which you should buy.
