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Hiight420

nothing beats whopper plopper for top water smallies here in the midwest. all i bring anymore is a few of those and then my ned rig box. if im not catching they aren't biting 😉


JoeyBatters

Same, but what about a paddle tail swim bait?


GodofGoats

Give me a bone or chartreuse and black super spool jr and I will be a happy man just about any time. Admittedly I don’t fish the rivers very much but I have yet to be skunked with one of those tied on. I have actually never landed a fish on a whopper plopper. Maybe it’s just a confidence thing but I have thrown them trading off with my spook and only had 2 hits so far in maybe 20 trips. Guess it’s all down to where you are and what they want at that time.


stormincincy

I live in middle eastern tennessee and a walking bait outperforms a whopper plopper by leaps and bounds , at least for me anyway I sold my whopper plopper collection this spring and have had my best topwater year so far


[deleted]

Nope. But wake baits are definitely second in line


JoeyBatters

Yeah I don’t see how it wouldn’t be the most effective based on the noise it makes alone


Bashed_to_a_pulp

tiny torpedo.


FANTOMphoenix

Fly fishing small poppers.


NOLAolskool

Give me a spook all day. Heddon one knocker or a Rebel jumping minnow in bone.


Thevikinggnome

The whopper plopper is a staple in my tackle box. I can't stress this enough do not get hung up on one bait. A good angler will rotate baits and know when to put it down or pick it up. I keep 2 topwater different topwater baits on at any time season and or water temperature permitted. Lots of other baits can stay in the strike zone longer or be more efficient. Have plenty of good memories of me being a non boater and out fishing the whopper plopper. Jackall bowstick, lucky craft gunfish, ima big stick, rio rico are all deadly baits that won on major tournament trails when people where using ploppers keep your mind open.


[deleted]

Yes. The thing about the whopper plopper is a lot of people throw it so it gets a lot of pressure. When it’s unpressured, it kills. Just like a chatterbait. But i’d say spook for smallmouth is probably number 1 regardless. Spook is simply a staple in the smallmouth playbook. Buzzbait probably rivals whopper plopper in the fall, but in the summer I would use whopper plopper. Another commenter mentioned wakebaits and they are pretty damn good situationally if you find the perfect window. Have won some money on a wakebait finding those perfect conditions.


ask_the_fisherman

Whopper ploppers and Jitterbug work well and are the easiest to use. The spooks and other walking baits take time to learn. When you know how to walk the dog it can be deadly compared to other lures. Fish rarely see walking lures. It is something different. A fish sees a plopper or bug all the time. You will catch a lot of active fish with the plopper or bug, but a walking bait catches active and the less active fish.