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Posts: 186
| For those of you that have tried different brands of these out..
I bought 2 of the 190 size whopper plopper and I have to say I'm not completely satisfied with them. I don't like how they sit tail down. They seem to catch alot of weeds when running above them. Do all the other brands function the same? When I'm working shallow water with weeds I got alot of wasted casts which I'm believing is also scaring off fish. Do any other brands actually float instead of sitting vertically at a 90 degree angle when at rest? |
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Posts: 2306
Location: SE, WI. | A lot of good tail rotating top waters out there. Get the ones that Are straight on shaft. No joints. Lake X, twisted sister, pacemakers, night walkers,or if you can get one of Wicks tail rotating. Will pay an arm and leg but good quality. IMO, the front rotating top waters have better hook up ratio. They will also cut weeds, floaters, at times , with a quick snap of rod tip. Tail rotating top waters, hard to shake weeds in mid retrieve;( Thus the reason why I starting making the Headbanger, back in the early 90’s. Simply don’t throw top waters if you have floating Weeds!!! JD |
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Posts: 270
Location: Central Pennsylvania | Little sister sits flat. I imagine the bigger sizes do too. |
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Posts: 426
Location: Perryville, MO | Muskyrookie - 5/22/2021 6:03 PM
When I'm working shallow water with weeds I got alot of wasted casts which I'm believing is also scaring off fish.
I doubt you are scarring off fish as much as you think, for what it's worth. I do understand your concern, but Muskie aren't like bass or panfish. They don't get spooked easily if you're not on top of them. It is more of a frustration and time waste then a concern of moving fish out of the area. I have had fish strike and even put pins in fish with a monster weedball surrounding my bait.
I like Lee's Chopper. |
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Posts: 1149
Location: Minnesota. | jdsplasher - 5/23/2021 6:33 AM
Simply don’t throw top waters if you have floating Weeds!!! JD
That's about it..... |
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Posts: 2370
Location: Chisholm, MN | Whopper plopper is a muskie catcher, but tail rotating topwaters are not meant to be thrown in floating weeds. Throw a spinnerbait or double blade bucktail. |
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Posts: 186
| Thanks for the replies, I'm not talking about floating weeds. I'm talking about shallow water that has weeds grown up just under the surface. When I toss walk the dog style lures which have the same or bigger hook hanging down profile I don't have many issues at all. It seems like the tail spins them and wraps them around the spinner as soon as it starts in some cases. If you put a whopper plopper in water and leave it you will see it standing straight up and down with just the line tie sticking out of the water, sometimes it's completely under water. Was looking for some that actually float level at rest. Was looking at the lake x in different sizes but those are hard to come by. |
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Posts: 59
| Pa Tigers n trout - 5/23/2021 6:43 AM
Little sister sits flat. I imagine the bigger sizes do too.
+1 for the Big Mama baits. I almost exclusively throw that brand when I feel like using a top water.
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Posts: 186
| Rob C - 6/1/2021 8:38 AM
Pa Tigers n trout - 5/23/2021 6:43 AM
Little sister sits flat. I imagine the bigger sizes do too.
+1 for the Big Mama baits. I almost exclusively throw that brand when I feel like using a top water.
Those are what I have for walk the dog style, big momma and bubba. The bubba seems to be more versatile of the 2. Last year I found a deal where they were like $8 a piece and bought 5 of them.. Cast them things like 70 yards! 2 weeks ago at sunset when my whopper plopper was dragging weeds I switched to a bubba and had either a massive bass or nice sized muskie come out of the water and completely miss it. Excited and heartbroken at the same time. Tried for 2 more hours to get that fish to no avail. That particular cast was directly inline with the setting sun and sun glare on flat water so I couldn't get a great look at it, but what I did see was about 2 feet worth of fish out of the water with more below. Like I said, excited and heartbroken at the same time.
I have since put in an order for a lake x cannonball Jr northern lights version. Can't wait to toss that around at sunrise, sunset, and night under a lit up moon. |
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Posts: 424
Location: MN | The CBJ and Psycho Sister are both brutes that are less sensitive to weeds. If you do catch some weeds don't be afraid to snap the rod a few times to try get them off - no need to give up on the cast. |
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Posts: 356
| Ditto on what jdsplasher said. The Headbanger walks through cabbage toppers very well. Go time when the toppers show up. |
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| Something else to consider if the weeds are really thick is a musky sized buzz bait like a Klack bait. Keep it moving it will run over the thickest cover. The only down side I have found is that while they move fish, that single upward facing hook hasn't had a great hookup rate for me. I think sometimes the fish are hitting the blade up front. |
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