Went out looking to see if I could catch some panfish yesterday. Not a bite all day… very different from my experience last summer but I'm guessing they're in deeper water from the winter still. I'll try again some time next month.
But while I was out I saw this lure shining at me from the mouth of a dead catfish washed up on the canal wall.
Grabbed the lure and found it floats on the surface and its tail spins around as it moves. (See video)
So… what's the purpose of this thing and what sort of fish are you meant to catch with it. Seems weird that a catfish had it – thought they stayed near the bottom snuffling through the mud to find food.
Posted by Mmm_Dawg_In_Me
21 Comments
Whopper plopper, typically a bass lure.
Bass, pike and apparently catfish..
A good topwater bite is one of the pure joys of fishing.
Very strange that a catfish would hit it. But I’ve seen catfish hit weird lures when they were super hungry, just never topwater like that.
Usually bass. You fish it primarily near sunrise and sunset for best results. While you can just straight retrieve it like that, its best to put some pauses in there and let it float for a few seconds.
Catch fish
I’ve heard of people catching catfish on whopper ploppers before, but it does seem to be rare.
It’s purpose is to catch fish that hit topwater/surface prey. In freshwater that often means bass, pike, musky, catfish, snakehead, bowfin, etc. In saltwater it can attract bites from numerous species of fish – a list too long to list here
It’s for plopping whoppers.
To catch fish
Imitates a dying bait fish splashing around on the surface, as others said bass and pike for sure, muskies
To raise your heart rate when it gets bit!
Spring bass will hit the hell out of that thing.
To catch fish.
Torpedo. Great top water bait
I recently found one of these hung up in the weeds at my local spot. Been throwing it but no luck yet. Might have been a little cold though.
Any tips on how to fish it? Just retrieve?
River smallmouth absolutely crush these things
I have one of these, but have yet to get a bite off it. Is it best to use it when the surface is calm?
This lure fishes well just like you were doing, enough of a retrieve to get low frequency thumps. While some can certainly buzz, a slow-medium constant retrieve performs best for me.
I like them early in the morning just before and after sunrise.
They are best known for targeting largemouth bass, but I also like them for spring pike and smallmouth up north in the upper Midwest and Ontario. Bigger ploppers were originally designed by Larry Dahlberg as a musky lures, and while they have caught muskies, I think that bigger WTD style lures like weagles catch more. Muskies really need a change in direction to trigger a bite much of the time IMO.
To catch fish. Hope this helps.
To arouse me for 2 seconds when I get a top water strike and miss after 3 hours of fishing it
To catch fishermen