STRAIGHT-RUNNIN’ TOPWATER
A NEW CROP OF TOPWATERS WILL REMIND YOU OF THE WHOPPER PLOPPER
By Curtis Niedermier
The River2Sea Whopper Plopper has been one of the hottest bass baits
going over the last few seasons, and, not to knock its design, the concept is
dirt simple: It’s a topwater bait that you cast out and wind back.
Obviously, that’s nothing new. Buzzbaits have worked that way for years.
Traditional prop baits can be wound straight in, too. And classics such as the
Jitterbug have features built in to create a nice weeble-wobble action.
What set the Whopper Plopper apart was a very smart design that com-
bined a floating body with a big-bait profile and that trademark tenor plop-
plop-plop sound and bubble trail.
The action is so special that in the last year or so about a half-dozen tackle
companies have built their own topwater contraptions based on the same
plopping, straight-retrieve concept. Better still, they’ve applied the concept not
only to hard baits, but to wire baits, soft baits, weedless baits and more, in all
sizes, profiles and “volumes,” to essentially create a new sub-class of lures.
River2Sea is even in the process of perfecting a “Plopper trailer” that can be
attached to the back of any frog to create a custom Plopper presentation.
Obviously, specific actions vary by design, but now you can pretty much “plop
up” a bass anywhere it lives, using some of these new straight-retrieve baits.
Two props are better than one in
this case because the legs help guard
the trailer hook. $8.99
Evolution GrassBurner PH Custom Lures Ploppin P Lunkerhunt Prop Fish
Greenfish Tackle Ploppin’
Toad Toter River2Sea Double Plopper 180 Teckel Sprinker Frog
It’s an in-line buzzbait with a float-
ing shad-shaped body that’s not quite
as “ploppy” as the others. $19.99
40
Lunkerhunt Prop Frog
It’s a ploppin’ buzzbait designed to
tote a toad. $5.89
The metal blade can be tweaked
to achieve subtle differences in
action. $19.99
It’s not entirely new, but now it’s
bigger and louder. $18.99
The Sunfish and Shad have a sin-
gle, soft prop and two weedless
hooks. $8.99
Instead of a prop, it has a boot tail,
but the end result is similar. $13.99
FLWFISHING.COM I JANUARY 2018