Same. 100% hookup. I'm already crankin' anyway so it's like the fish ran into it and got well hooked. I'll revisit this issue if I ever drop below 50% which just might happen now since I just watched this vid and will be jinxed.
I don't miss many on the plopper but one trick I use is to wait till I feel the bass pulling before setting the hook. Too many times I'd jerk as soon as it blows up as miss. After waiting for them to pull on it, I then know to set the hook. Might not work for everyone, but does for me.
I have a fantastic hook up ratio with ploppers. I upgrade the Choppo hooks and split rings but R2S factory hooks are awesome. All of this is unnecessary in my opinion.
Hey david another tip that I add to my whopper plopper is that I add a small swivel to the front of the bait where you tie your line on. Instead on tying directly to the bait tie to the swivel. Reason for that is because when the prop is spinning in the water and you get plants in between the prop and the belly, the whole bait starts to spin, spinning your line up and tangling it. Helps keep you fishing more with out problems later on. Gotta love the plopper thanks for the tips!!!
Great vid brother. So many people saying it’s a waste but they can’t speak for everyone. At least you’re sharing helpful content and that worth more than the negative remarks from those who have nothing helpful to share.
Cool idea. I absolutely love the Whopper Plopper. It truly is a big fish bait. For some reason, the small size #90 attracts the bigger bass down here on the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 better than the 110. I keep & fish both a lot. I think it's the higher pitch "gurgle" of the smaller bait. I only use the 110 when the surface ripple or light chop becomes too much for the 90 to work well. Both catch big bass for me. But I do catch more big bass, especially in the 6 to 8 lb range on the 90 every year here. I even caught my 4th 12 lb bass on the 90. ( 2 of my previous 12's came on wild shiners, and my 1st on a plastic worm. Gotta love the Stick Marsh. ) My main issue with these lures, is the fact they spin like a helicopter while flying through the air during a long cast. I can literally count how many times I see it spinning up there in the air, lol. It twists the line like crazy. Of course sometimes they spin when grass gets hung in the prop tail also. So I use a split ring attached directly to the bait, with a quality barrel swivel (not too big ) with NO snap attached to the ring also. I keep the split ring & barrel swivel permanent on each of my Whopper Ploppers, and tie my line directly to the barrel swivel. NO MORE LINE TWIST. The lure can "helicopter" all it wants during the cast, but the barrel swivel really does its job. Doesn't affect the action of the lure either........so long as ya use the right size split rings & barrel swivels. TH-cam "TacticalBassin" out West figured this trick out too.
The 90 is the Killer size. You can catch the 1 or 2 pounders. The hooks are really sharp. I know it will catch you a PB. This bait is the Senko of topwater baits. Shawn.
@@shawnbeck2303 I am downright spoiled from fishing the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 over the years. I'm a trophy hunter. Over the years, I've caught four 12 lb'ers, thirteen 10's, eleven 9's, and I lost count on the 6 to 8 lb'ers out of here. Some I catch on lures & soft plastics, while most I catch on jumbo live wild shiners, but only from late November through April. After that, I use only lures & soft plastics. Like I said before, for some reason on this body of water, the higher pitched buzzing of the little #90 seems to call up the bigger bass here. The only downside, is if the surface gets a little too choppy, the 90 gets "drowned out". That's when I switch to a larger size.
@@whitelightningjj631 I'm now using that latest version, I think it's called the #70? It's about the size of the 90, only it's got a deeper belly & slightly heavier. Makes just a tad more noise vs the 90, and also runs through the water truer than the 90 during fast retrieves, which tend to lean to one side while reeling it in quickly. While it does attract big quality bass, it still seems like our big Stick Marsh bass are more attracted to the higher pitched buzzing of the 90.
Good tip. Personally, I up size the belly hook and remove the rear completely. I might miss 2 out of 10. In my experience that back hook (the stock hanging back hook) almost always ends up in the fish's eye, gill or head.
Brian Kissling where you live does have anything to do with what they are. Anybody anywhere can call them whatever they want but the real name is a split rings. O rings are made of rubber an are for making a seal the only time I personally have seen anyone use an o ring for fishing is on a wacky rig. But great video I actually watched it for the first time over a year ago an now have all my ploppers lighter with power swivels on them and heat shrink definitely improved the hook up ratio. 👍👍👍
No thumbs down or negativity, but I just ran across this video (2024). I just started using a plopper style bait this year. Started with the Choppo 90 and I have absolutely worn the bass out on it right out of the box. I have caught more fish on the Choppo this year than all other baits combined, and lost very few. The fish I “missed” were mostly clearly tail slaps or rolls, not actually bites. That or clearly tiny bass. I have lost a few when I used too stiff of a rod tip. They jumped and threw it because the rod unloaded during the jump. I now fish the Choppo with a medium fast rod that has a nice bendy top third section and rarely ever lose one. The only time I really see it come loose is if I bank flip them and they are thrashing on the ground, hitting the lure on the ground. I have had the front hook foul with the line, but a short, stiff heavier pound test mono or flouro leader to my 20 pound braid eliminates that issue. I’ve never had the hooks foul together.
I also use shrink tube to keep rear treblesfrom swinging, but bait harness rings are a super tough rubber band for rigging live bait without sticking the hook itself in the fish.Buy on Amazon and watch salt water bait rig videos on TH-cam. these rubber bands stretch just enough to slide on the body of the lure andhold the trebles in place against the body, but swing free with a bass attached. Just a little simpler than wire.
I love the video you showed us on how to modify the Whopper popper I love the Whopper popper I've caught a lot of baths and lots of moving some bluegill mostly bass but I've also missed a lot of baths I'm going to have to try this technique and see if it really works keep up the good work love the video
I'm glad I'm not the only one who find the "50%" hook up rate crazy. In two years I don't think I've ever missed even close to half of my plopper bites in a day.
Love the "hacks". Been fishing for a living in the Keys for the last 17 yrs but have in the last few years become a Bass nut as well and have a home in Traverse City Michigan where the Brown Bass is king but we do get nice green ones as well. So all these tips help me BIGTIME!!!! THANKS
I like the shrink tube and feathered treble in the aft position. I also like swapping the split rings and hooks out. But I’ll pass on the other modification. It probably works it just doesn’t out weigh the benefit /labor ratio. I’ll probably start doing the shrink wrap and feathered hook on the rear though. Thanks.
This is really smart. If I was on a plane and it went down and I was stuck on an abandoned island. It would be great if David Dudley was present so he could figure out how to get back to civilization using a green pumpkin senko and a can of baked beans.
One thing is for sure that the senko would be fished waky style. and the beans we would use to catch smaller fish to use as bait and catch big uns. we would not die I promise you.
I agree with David. I have missed a lot of fish on ploppers and choppos. I always change out the hooks for feathered trebles, but have never use the nose to add a hook or the shrink wrap thing.
I’ve got great hook up ration. Missed 2 out of 19 my last trip. But I think I will try it on my Chinese knock off ones that I don’t care about losing. I’ve got over 100 fish on my R2S factory hooks and split rings.
Fresh Fish Co dude same here up in CT here in New England a lmb over 6-7 lbs is a giant and I’ve landed over 100 fish from 13 lbs pike to 5-6 lbs lmb on ploppers mainly the 110 a lot of out water is clear honestly the I know it color has been killer for me it’s a sext shad color that and perch
The biggest problem I see causing people to not hook up a plopper is setting too early. After the strike I count "One Thousand One" then set. Very rarely do I miss. Setting right after the strike will pull the lure our of their mouth in many cases unless you get lucky with a foul hook. Delaying half to 1 second will allow the fish to get it in the mouth after the strike.
I remove the back treble, upgrade/upsize the front treble and call it a day. No more foul hooks in they gills or eyes and plenty of hook ups. But really cool idea I might try!
Only additional thing I've done to mine was add a spilt ring, swivel, split ring on the nose to tie to. If grass gets in the spinner the whole lure spins and then your line is a mess.
Try using the same hook replacement arrangement, but with 2 tiny rubber bands around the body, to hold the hooks up against it. No cast fouling and, much better hookups.
One tip I'll share that works well here on clear Table Rock... I always spray paint the last 1/2" of the propeller tip, both sides, with white paint no matter what color or size plopper I'm using. This adds a nice white color splash target to your lure. Very effective in Clear water. lakes w thread fin or gizzard shad
The Whopper Plopper is simply a copy of an older musky bait from years ago called a "Mud Puppy". What made the Mud Puppy an easier to work with lure was that it was made of wood and the back fin was metal, which allowed you to get the type of sound and action you wanted. Plus, the lure could take a beating - one in my tackle box was over 20 years old and although it was beaten up and chewed it still caught fish. I wish the company would have made the Whopper Plopper so that it was more easy to adjust and customize.
Actually, you can customize the tail of a whopper plopper. Just boil some water and dip the tail in until its at the softness you prefer. Then just start to shape it. It may take a few times. Once you get it to the shape you desire, dip it into COLD water. It should then hold its shape. I know its not the same as customizing it on the water while youre fishin, but it is an option to customize if you want ton Good luck fishin out there!
Thanks, Dave. I'm entertaining another trip into Ky./Tn. country to hunt bass and this modification can directly apply to a pair of my lures and their two backup buddies. Besides, I love a good hack.
Ok. So, I understand what is being done here, BUT, I bought this lure and fished it for a couple days and caught a number of big bass and didn't need to do all this. I would say the Professional fisherman may use this info, but, I fish a couple times a week and though I have missed a few fish, the original Whopper Plopper works just fine.
I agree with many that the hook up ratio with Ploppers is fairly high. Maybe that's because I dont throw the 130 much. What happens when you catch a fish and the rig falls apart? :(
I have a few poppers that like to foul the front hook (PopMax, etc.) and will do the wire trick, thanks. I've been doing the heat shrink tubing on big woodchopper prop baits for the Amazon for a few years and it works great. On big split rings and screw eyes the regular shrink tubing (2;1) is tough to slide over but they do make 4:1 so you can use a bigger size that shrinks down more.
I agree with the feather treble, but the front hook seems a little excessive as well as the extra additional tackle to prevent the hook from snagging themselves. These mods seem to make the bait stiff especially in the back where a feather should be more free to increase action.
Just a note: epoxy is much more difficult to work with than modern UV resins (like Loon or Deer Creek) used by fly tyers, which give you all the working time and control you could want but cure with a UV light in a matter of seconds. You can also use Bondic. These products are a little more expensive but much easier and quicker to work with than epoxy.
Appreciate these tips - You gave me another idea with your shrink tubing - I like to run a spook jr with a short “line” trailer treble with feather to land short strikes - the problem with it is even with the thin clear tubing they give you with this set up to stiffen the trailer line, the tubing is not effective enough to keep that trailer hook from fouling with the mid body hook - makes sense to me to try that heat shrink to keep the trailer hook and line stiffer - I also feel that that trailer does not need to swing completely free either - I am going to try this mod. Thanks again.
I have a black whopper plopper and never got a hit on it. I've painted it fire tiger now and will see if that helps. Casts a country mile, but seems to only work best on super flat water.
Just replace hooks with Mustad Triple Grips. Done! Back to fishing no more fish lost. Even the ones that short strike get stuck. You can even upgrade your hook size because of the short shank low profile.
Lures never good out of box. Hacks always a must. Yours are great. Gamakatsu's alone are worth the money. Stiff at the back... great idea. Sure that all of your suggestions make for a better killer bass lure.
I have the 90 Wopper Plopper. I am not messing with it. Just bought haven't try it yet. Didn't want a bigger top water bait. Also have a Zara Spook jr. Same length. Shawn
My thumb is living proof that the hooks on a Whopper Plopper are sharp as Hell! While trying to get the treble hooks out of a bass I caught. The hooks were stabbing me to death. Then one of the hooks stuck in my thumb. Still has not healed up 5 days later. Great lure. But beware! Fisherman the Hooks are very sharp! Learn from me and my sore thumb. Shawn.
i think these baits and bigger ones overall pop out the fish mouth because the baits are usually big and the hooks don't spin. so the angles cause the hook to pull free when you are fighting the fish. i don't do topwater i never got a largemouth like that.. but ya i would prob do split ring swivel then treble.. then the hook can spin freely from the bait. i would prob just do one hook on very bottom and then just add the tail by itself with no hook, though i like your tail idea. i would still prob do that one with a swivel if i did it. but i do like adding the hair.
I'm not saying your way does not work, DD. However, I had better luck using a rubber band instead of wire pieces to hold the hooks in a certain configuration to prevent hang ups with each other and with my fishing line. I tried both ways.
Don’t mess with the whopper plopper. Literally am 12/12 and fished twice with a perch 90. In fact, got caught on a tree and lost a hook on the back treble so it’s only a double but hasn’t slowed down production
I switched to a Dobyns sierra 734c with 50 pound braid mostly use a whopper plopper 90 for smallmouth and almost always land them . I had to stiff a tip on my Abu Garcia villain and would lose a bunch of fish.
I don't know what everyone is talking about. I have fish slap at the plopper all the time and not commit. This is good info that will increase hookups. Davids a problem solver. Like the time he whipped out a chainsaw to get to his fishing hole and won $1M. No you don't have to bring a chainsaw fishing with you but sometimes the extra effort pays!
Thank you daniel for being honest I am surprised at how many people act like they don't ever miss a fish! It's ok cause I am no forcing anyone to do it! Thanks for watching the vid!
I must be the only non pro here. I get slaps/misses. I am a disciple of the "keep the hook loose so the fish can't get a leveraged spit out on me" but a fouled cast is NO cast.
817 subs, i am on board. I like the tips although I experience an almost 80% hook up on the whopper plopper. It seems to never miss for me. Maybe I am just lucky but I will def keep this one in mind and check back for others.
Instead of the copper wire on the front and center hooks why not cut off one of the troubles on each one to keep from tangling. I have been doing it to crank baits for like 20 plus years.
Doesn't the wire lock the hook up after like 180 to 270°? I don't like when bait hooks don't free spin. Fish will lock the hook and can get enough leverage to pry hook loose. Also the heat and stiff tail will give a completely different action/wake/profile, and I don't agree it's better stiff. If it's straight back, and the fish never brakes the plane of the water, you may not even make contract with that hook. If it hangs down it's where the fish will strike. I know I hook myself harder because the swinging makes the momentum continue even if you don't want it to. You must control the hook to get it out. By locking the hook up, there's no twisting motion to make the hook sink nastier. My two sense. I agree with different hooks, I like the feathered at rear. Will rings actually change a nominal amount of weight? Thanks for the video.
If you like creating baits start from scratch. 50%bait?!? No way man. More like 50% fisherman...both these baits dominate the top water market for a reason, because they're damn good!!! No need to adjust or hack, tie it on and fish. Retrieval can be varied up in speed, popping, and crawling.
Ive had a bass hit my plopper before mouth closed to stun it and threw the plopper out of the water! Also pop that plopper like a frog at first cast before reeling.. Go get em DD!!
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the whopper plopper has the best hook up ratios i ever seen i aint messing with it
99.9% hook-up ratio with my 110 plopper - if the bass even looks at it, its getting hooked!!!
Same. 100% hookup. I'm already crankin' anyway so it's like the fish ran into it and got well hooked. I'll revisit this issue if I ever drop below 50% which just might happen now since I just watched this vid and will be jinxed.
No doubt
The hook up is good even on me
First time I used one got 4 bass in 2 hrs
I don't miss many on the plopper but one trick I use is to wait till I feel the bass pulling before setting the hook. Too many times I'd jerk as soon as it blows up as miss. After waiting for them to pull on it, I then know to set the hook. Might not work for everyone, but does for me.
Doing something different can be the difference between getting a check and not
I have a fantastic hook up ratio with ploppers. I upgrade the Choppo hooks and split rings but R2S factory hooks are awesome. All of this is unnecessary in my opinion.
Hey david another tip that I add to my whopper plopper is that I add a small swivel to the front of the bait where you tie your line on. Instead on tying directly to the bait tie to the swivel. Reason for that is because when the prop is spinning in the water and you get plants in between the prop and the belly, the whole bait starts to spin, spinning your line up and tangling it. Helps keep you fishing more with out problems later on. Gotta love the plopper thanks for the tips!!!
Great vid brother. So many people saying it’s a waste but they can’t speak for everyone. At least you’re sharing helpful content and that worth more than the negative remarks from those who have nothing helpful to share.
Thank you Too Fresh Fishing!
If you're gonna make a video about modifying a bait you should show it in action.
Cool idea. I absolutely love the Whopper Plopper. It truly is a big fish bait. For some reason, the small size #90 attracts the bigger bass down here on the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 better than the 110. I keep & fish both a lot. I think it's the higher pitch "gurgle" of the smaller bait. I only use the 110 when the surface ripple or light chop becomes too much for the 90 to work well. Both catch big bass for me. But I do catch more big bass, especially in the 6 to 8 lb range on the 90 every year here. I even caught my 4th 12 lb bass on the 90. ( 2 of my previous 12's came on wild shiners, and my 1st on a plastic worm. Gotta love the Stick Marsh. ) My main issue with these lures, is the fact they spin like a helicopter while flying through the air during a long cast. I can literally count how many times I see it spinning up there in the air, lol. It twists the line like crazy. Of course sometimes they spin when grass gets hung in the prop tail also. So I use a split ring attached directly to the bait, with a quality barrel swivel (not too big ) with NO snap attached to the ring also. I keep the split ring & barrel swivel permanent on each of my Whopper Ploppers, and tie my line directly to the barrel swivel. NO MORE LINE TWIST. The lure can "helicopter" all it wants during the cast, but the barrel swivel really does its job. Doesn't affect the action of the lure either........so long as ya use the right size split rings & barrel swivels. TH-cam "TacticalBassin" out West figured this trick out too.
😑😃😑
The 90 is the Killer size. You can catch the 1 or 2 pounders. The hooks are really sharp. I know it will catch you a PB. This bait is the Senko of topwater baits. Shawn.
@@shawnbeck2303 I am downright spoiled from fishing the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 over the years. I'm a trophy hunter. Over the years, I've caught four 12 lb'ers, thirteen 10's, eleven 9's, and I lost count on the 6 to 8 lb'ers out of here. Some I catch on lures & soft plastics, while most I catch on jumbo live wild shiners, but only from late November through April. After that, I use only lures & soft plastics. Like I said before, for some reason on this body of water, the higher pitched buzzing of the little #90 seems to call up the bigger bass here. The only downside, is if the surface gets a little too choppy, the 90 gets "drowned out". That's when I switch to a larger size.
Nice. I do better on the 110.
@@whitelightningjj631 I'm now using that latest version, I think it's called the #70? It's about the size of the 90, only it's got a deeper belly & slightly heavier. Makes just a tad more noise vs the 90, and also runs through the water truer than the 90 during fast retrieves, which tend to lean to one side while reeling it in quickly. While it does attract big quality bass, it still seems like our big Stick Marsh bass are more attracted to the higher pitched buzzing of the 90.
Good tip. Personally, I up size the belly hook and remove the rear completely. I might miss 2 out of 10.
In my experience that back hook (the stock hanging back hook) almost always ends up in the fish's eye, gill or head.
I agree!
I don’t really see how this is making the bait weigh less by adding more 🤷♂️
Brad Atwood it’s not lol!
What you're calling "O" rings are really split rings.
Everyone I know calls them "O" rings as well. Guess it depends on where ya live...
Brian Kissling where you live does have anything to do with what they are. Anybody anywhere can call them whatever they want but the real name is a split rings. O rings are made of rubber an are for making a seal the only time I personally have seen anyone use an o ring for fishing is on a wacky rig. But great video I actually watched it for the first time over a year ago an now have all my ploppers lighter with power swivels on them and heat shrink definitely improved the hook up ratio. 👍👍👍
@@wyattsouth2085 kool man. thx
Exactly! Was just at Cabela's getting some gear, asked an employee "hey, where are your "o rings" for wacky rigs?" Guy took me to the split rings...
Where you are has a LOT to do with what stuff is called....
What do you call coke? Soda..? Go down south and they call it pop 🤷♂️
Incredible advice from one of the best fishermen of all time. Thanks man!
Thank you Chris! Thanks for watching!
No thumbs down or negativity, but I just ran across this video (2024). I just started using a plopper style bait this year. Started with the Choppo 90 and I have absolutely worn the bass out on it right out of the box.
I have caught more fish on the Choppo this year than all other baits combined, and lost very few. The fish I “missed” were mostly clearly tail slaps or rolls, not actually bites. That or clearly tiny bass.
I have lost a few when I used too stiff of a rod tip. They jumped and threw it because the rod unloaded during the jump.
I now fish the Choppo with a medium fast rod that has a nice bendy top third section and rarely ever lose one. The only time I really see it come loose is if I bank flip them and they are thrashing on the ground, hitting the lure on the ground.
I have had the front hook foul with the line, but a short, stiff heavier pound test mono or flouro leader to my 20 pound braid eliminates that issue. I’ve never had the hooks foul together.
I also use shrink tube to keep rear treblesfrom swinging, but bait harness rings are a super tough rubber band for rigging live bait without sticking the hook itself in the fish.Buy on Amazon and watch salt water bait rig videos on TH-cam. these rubber bands stretch just enough to slide on the body of the lure andhold the trebles in place against the body, but swing free with a bass attached. Just a little simpler than wire.
I love the video you showed us on how to modify the Whopper popper I love the Whopper popper I've caught a lot of baths and lots of moving some bluegill mostly bass but I've also missed a lot of baths I'm going to have to try this technique and see if it really works keep up the good work love the video
Missing "Baths" sounds like a personal hygiene issue to me...lol!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who find the "50%" hook up rate crazy. In two years I don't think I've ever missed even close to half of my plopper bites in a day.
Thats a great tip David. "Stiff rigs" are something we use on our saltwater lures alot. Shrink tube is your friend!!! Love it. THANKS
Thank you Dave! Thanks for watching! Good luck
Love the "hacks". Been fishing for a living in the Keys for the last 17 yrs but have in the last few years become a Bass nut as well and have a home in Traverse City Michigan where the Brown Bass is king but we do get nice green ones as well. So all these tips help me BIGTIME!!!! THANKS
I like the shrink tube and feathered treble in the aft position. I also like swapping the split rings and hooks out. But I’ll pass on the other modification. It probably works it just doesn’t out weigh the benefit /labor ratio. I’ll probably start doing the shrink wrap and feathered hook on the rear though. Thanks.
Yea the feathered hook seem to entice the skeptical bass to commit Good luck and Thanks for watching!
I have both the plopper 110 and the big plopper .I am gonna try the feathered hook technique .thanks
I appreciate all that but I'm not going through all that trouble. Hats off to the people that do
This is really smart.
If I was on a plane and it went down and I was stuck on an abandoned island. It would be great if David Dudley was present so he could figure out how to get back to civilization using a green pumpkin senko and a can of baked beans.
One thing is for sure that the senko would be fished waky style. and the beans we would use to catch smaller fish to use as bait and catch big uns. we would not die I promise you.
Sounds like y’all will be eating... but not sounding to good on the civilization part a??
I agree with David. I have missed a lot of fish on ploppers and choppos. I always change out the hooks for feathered trebles, but have never use the nose to add a hook or the shrink wrap thing.
I’ve got great hook up ration. Missed 2 out of 19 my last trip. But I think I will try it on my Chinese knock off ones that I don’t care about losing. I’ve got over 100 fish on my R2S factory hooks and split rings.
Fresh Fish Co dude same here up in CT here in New England a lmb over 6-7 lbs is a giant and I’ve landed over 100 fish from 13 lbs pike to 5-6 lbs lmb on ploppers mainly the 110 a lot of out water is clear honestly the I know it color has been killer for me it’s a sext shad color that and perch
Great tip David, It will give me something to do while I wait for the lakes to thaw out.
The biggest problem I see causing people to not hook up a plopper is setting too early. After the strike I count "One Thousand One" then set. Very rarely do I miss. Setting right after the strike will pull the lure our of their mouth in many cases unless you get lucky with a foul hook. Delaying half to 1 second will allow the fish to get it in the mouth after the strike.
You mean split rings, "O rings" are rubber an used for sealing something Aka gasket.
I remove the back treble, upgrade/upsize the front treble and call it a day. No more foul hooks in they gills or eyes and plenty of hook ups. But really cool idea I might try!
It's worth the effort!
I like to change out the back hook for a feathered treble or just a larger (like a 3) size treble but other that it hooks everything around!
Only additional thing I've done to mine was add a spilt ring, swivel, split ring on the nose to tie to. If grass gets in the spinner the whole lure spins and then your line is a mess.
tumbleweed265 I want to do that as well, what type of swivel did you use?
I just ordered some from Tackle Warehouse. Can't remember the size and can't find the package of them. I will when I'm not looking for them. Lol
Try using the same hook replacement arrangement, but with 2 tiny rubber bands around the body, to hold the hooks up against it.
No cast fouling and, much better hookups.
One tip I'll share that works well here on clear Table Rock... I always spray paint the last 1/2" of the propeller tip, both sides, with white paint no matter what color or size plopper I'm using. This adds a nice white color splash target to your lure. Very effective in Clear water. lakes w thread fin or gizzard shad
I never miss them anymore using a med/heavy rod
That’s interesting, I use them for stripers and miss most of the hits , stripers go for the front of the bait so the front hook might help.
Good Lord !..Can't believe you shared such a fabulous tip..I'll take my chances with the factory design over this convoluted redesign.
Brilliant... 1st of your videos that i have watched... HOOKED
Can we see a close-up of the modified lure? I'd like to see a better view after the epoxy is applied.
That is great idea!!...I have some whopper Plopper. I plan to get few things for whopper plopper.Thanks Dude.I'm gonna try this. Thumb up.
Lol I hook 9 out of 10 bites I get on all my plopper! (Stock hardware) What are you doing?!
Yea i have no issues with my ploppers right out of the package ,no need to modify them.
Same. In my experience the bass hit them so hard that a lot of time the rear treble gets imbedded in the head of the fish
Dave, you're a damned genius.
Thank you Bruce and thanks for watching!
The Whopper Plopper is simply a copy of an older musky bait from years ago called a "Mud Puppy". What made the Mud Puppy an easier to work with lure was that it was made of wood and the back fin was metal, which allowed you to get the type of sound and action you wanted. Plus, the lure could take a beating - one in my tackle box was over 20 years old and although it was beaten up and chewed it still caught fish. I wish the company would have made the Whopper Plopper so that it was more easy to adjust and customize.
Yea I agree Think Civil! That was cool history you shared! Thanks for watching!
Actually, you can customize the tail of a whopper plopper. Just boil some water and dip the tail in until its at the softness you prefer. Then just start to shape it. It may take a few times. Once you get it to the shape you desire, dip it into COLD water. It should then hold its shape.
I know its not the same as customizing it on the water while youre fishin, but it is an option to customize if you want ton
Good luck fishin out there!
There are still versions available built the way you describe but they are garage baits.
Like others have said, missing for me on the plopper is super rare
Thanks, Dave. I'm entertaining another trip into Ky./Tn. country to hunt bass and this modification can directly apply to a pair of my lures and their two backup buddies. Besides, I love a good hack.
Good luck Roger Thank you for watching!
Great info David! The shrink wrap trick got me thinking about the other applications 🤫
Man these videos are awesome. Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Thank you Matthew
Ok. So, I understand what is being done here, BUT, I bought this lure and fished it for a couple days and caught a number of big bass and didn't need to do all this. I would say the Professional fisherman may use this info, but, I fish a couple times a week and though I have missed a few fish, the original Whopper Plopper works just fine.
very nice, I get a lot of misses on all top water baits. I'll be rigging a couple of these over the winter
Thanks for the tip Dudley
Glad to have found your channel. Subscribed. I like the feathered treble on the back. Thanks for sharing with us!
U R welcome and thank you for watching
I agree with many that the hook up ratio with Ploppers is fairly high. Maybe that's because I dont throw the 130 much. What happens when you catch a fish and the rig falls apart? :(
I don't know why I said O ring! It's very obvious I meant to say split ring! Which won't fall apart!
Very cool thx. Got me thinking to do this on my blade bait hooks to prevent tangling.
I have a few poppers that like to foul the front hook (PopMax, etc.) and will do the wire trick, thanks. I've been doing the heat shrink tubing on big woodchopper prop baits for the Amazon for a few years and it works great. On big split rings and screw eyes the regular shrink tubing (2;1) is tough to slide over but they do make 4:1 so you can use a bigger size that shrinks down more.
I agree with the feather treble, but the front hook seems a little excessive as well as the extra additional tackle to prevent the hook from snagging themselves. These mods seem to make the bait stiff especially in the back where a feather should be more free to increase action.
Thanks for the tips and secrets. Great video
Oh Yeah, Let's Get Shakey Widdit 😜💯👏👏👏👏 I would love your Shakeyhead fishing Tips👍🎣
Coming soon!
the el choppo comes stock w berkley fusion hooks, those hooks are legit mane
Drinking game: Take a drink every time "'O' ring" is said in this video.
Man I skipped out on mardi gras so it's too early to get drunk.
Or "actually"
Just a note: epoxy is much more difficult to work with than modern UV resins (like Loon or Deer Creek) used by fly tyers, which give you all the working time and control you could want but cure with a UV light in a matter of seconds. You can also use Bondic. These products are a little more expensive but much easier and quicker to work with than epoxy.
Thank you for the tip!
Appreciate these tips - You gave me another idea with your shrink tubing - I like to run a spook jr with a short “line” trailer treble with feather to land short strikes - the problem with it is even with the thin clear tubing they give you with this set up to stiffen the trailer line, the tubing is not effective enough to keep that trailer hook from fouling with the mid body hook - makes sense to me to try that heat shrink to keep the trailer hook and line stiffer - I also feel that that trailer does not need to swing completely free either - I am going to try this mod.
Thanks again.
Wow! 🤯 I love tinkering with lures but man! This is on a whole other level 👊
yea this hack is special i didn't like missing all those Bass
@@DavidDudley I figured you'd had a run-in that left a firewood sized chip on your shoulder. I've met a few trout like that.
I have a black whopper plopper and never got a hit on it. I've painted it fire tiger now and will see if that helps. Casts a country mile, but seems to only work best on super flat water.
Just replace hooks with Mustad Triple Grips. Done! Back to fishing no more fish lost. Even the ones that short strike get stuck. You can even upgrade your hook size because of the short shank low profile.
we missed some good fish this year on that plopper will be pimping ours out thank you
You won't be disappointed James good luck! Thank you for watching vids
I thought I was rebuilding a pcp airgun with all these o-rings LOL
They are called stainless steel split rings. O-rings go on a hydraulic hose.
I have not missed a set on a plopper so far and caught PB small mouth and pike with it!
Lures never good out of box. Hacks always a must. Yours are great. Gamakatsu's alone are worth the money. Stiff at the back... great idea. Sure that all of your suggestions make for a better killer bass lure.
I have the 90 Wopper Plopper. I am not messing with it. Just bought haven't try it yet. Didn't want a bigger top water bait. Also have a Zara Spook jr. Same length. Shawn
Really cool idea
Thank you Carl
New subscriber to your channel, looking forward to checking out more👍🏻
My thumb is living proof that the hooks on a Whopper Plopper are sharp as Hell! While trying to get the treble hooks out of a bass I caught. The hooks were stabbing me to death. Then one of the hooks stuck in my thumb. Still has not healed up 5 days later. Great lure. But beware! Fisherman the Hooks are very sharp! Learn from me and my sore thumb. Shawn.
Hooks are sharp...? 🤯
I've got some wopperplopers coming soon. Gonna have to give this a try
Good luck!
i think these baits and bigger ones overall pop out the fish mouth because the baits are usually big and the hooks don't spin. so the angles cause the hook to pull free when you are fighting the fish. i don't do topwater i never got a largemouth like that.. but ya i would prob do split ring swivel then treble.. then the hook can spin freely from the bait. i would prob just do one hook on very bottom and then just add the tail by itself with no hook, though i like your tail idea. i would still prob do that one with a swivel if i did it. but i do like adding the hair.
Interesting jdogg661420
Thank you David, looking forward to more tips!!
The heat shrink rear treble also helps to not have the fish get hooked in the gills from the free swinging treble
This is the most intense riggin video for a bass lure ever
I agree formatr6 it's worth it though!
got a whopper plopper yesterday, went out this morning and caught 7 but 5 got off...im definitely doing this!
This is wild. You should make your own top water plopping bait with these mods built in.
sorry about all of the negative comments when youre taking your time to share your little tricks with us! dont let them ruin it for the rest of us!
Thank you Chase for the encouraging words! Thanks for watching!
Excellent video!
I have been missing quiet few and was looking rig up the hooks differently. I shall give it a try and see if my percentage improves..thanks
I'm not saying your way does not work, DD. However, I had better luck using a rubber band instead of wire pieces to hold the hooks in a certain configuration to prevent hang ups with each other and with my fishing line. I tried both ways.
thank god now I can finally start catching fish with this thing!
Don't think I've missed but a handful of fish with the WP, it's one of the best hookup ratio topwaters I throw.
Joe bucher top raider plopper musky bait,been around for along time,rear hook has the shrink wrap
Don’t mess with the whopper plopper. Literally am 12/12 and fished twice with a perch 90. In fact, got caught on a tree and lost a hook on the back treble so it’s only a double but hasn’t slowed down production
I know you're the pro but you're on crack with this one, I don't know that I've ever once out of hundreds of fish missed one on the plopper
I switched to a Dobyns sierra 734c with 50 pound braid mostly use a whopper plopper 90 for smallmouth and almost always land them . I had to stiff a tip on my Abu Garcia villain and would lose a bunch of fish.
I don't know what everyone is talking about. I have fish slap at the plopper all the time and not commit. This is good info that will increase hookups. Davids a problem solver. Like the time he whipped out a chainsaw to get to his fishing hole and won $1M. No you don't have to bring a chainsaw fishing with you but sometimes the extra effort pays!
Thank you daniel for being honest I am surprised at how many people act like they don't ever miss a fish! It's ok cause I am no forcing anyone to do it! Thanks for watching the vid!
I must be the only non pro here. I get slaps/misses. I am a disciple of the "keep the hook loose so the fish can't get a leveraged spit out on me" but a fouled cast is NO cast.
I like your hack. You basically made a small Joe Bucher Top Raider which is one of my favorite Muskie baits.
817 subs, i am on board. I like the tips although I experience an almost 80% hook up on the whopper plopper. It seems to never miss for me. Maybe I am just lucky but I will def keep this one in mind and check back for others.
Thank you Joe I will have some more coming soon!
Great tips David!
Dream wall. These are my garage goals.
If I gave this much thought to positive hook-up, I most likely wouldn’t have an “ex” wife.
I have never missed a fish with one and I have my PB on it
I rarely miss fish on the plopper but nice tips
Yeah, my hook up ratio is north of 95% unless it's a dink smacking it.
I feel the same way. I feel I’m better than 90% on my hook up ratios. Interesting info though
Instead of the copper wire on the front and center hooks why not cut off one of the troubles on each one to keep from tangling. I have been doing it to crank baits for like 20 plus years.
Because the more hooks that are o the bait the better chance of not missing the bite. That is the purpose of the wire to allow more hooks.
Awesome thanks have a good week and god bless
Your welcome Danny you have a good week also!
awesome video from a awesome angler
Thank you for the kind words! Hope you catch a big one.
David Dudley I caught a couple 3 pounders on the Sabine today,good luck this coming season man,I will be watching you
Doesn't the wire lock the hook up after like 180 to 270°? I don't like when bait hooks don't free spin. Fish will lock the hook and can get enough leverage to pry hook loose.
Also the heat and stiff tail will give a completely different action/wake/profile, and I don't agree it's better stiff. If it's straight back, and the fish never brakes the plane of the water, you may not even make contract with that hook. If it hangs down it's where the fish will strike.
I know I hook myself harder because the swinging makes the momentum continue even if you don't want it to. You must control the hook to get it out.
By locking the hook up, there's no twisting motion to make the hook sink nastier.
My two sense. I agree with different hooks, I like the feathered at rear. Will rings actually change a nominal amount of weight?
Thanks for the video.
If you like creating baits start from scratch. 50%bait?!? No way man. More like 50% fisherman...both these baits dominate the top water market for a reason, because they're damn good!!! No need to adjust or hack, tie it on and fish. Retrieval can be varied up in speed, popping, and crawling.
Cool idea
Thanks Gary and thanks for watching!
Love the hack. Anything else you want to put on a video I'd love to see a Shakey heads hack. Great video content. 😎🤙☮️
I shared some info about screw Locks with shakeyhead heads you should watch!
@@DavidDudleyI will definitely watch!!! Thanks Dave 😎
I love repeatedly repeating myself! (-:
I am such a rookie youtuber! Thanks for watching!
Ive had a bass hit my plopper before mouth closed to stun it and threw the plopper out of the water! Also pop that plopper like a frog at first cast before reeling.. Go get em DD!!