RHuff

Threw my Whopper Plopper 90 for the 6th different time today and finally caught a LMB. It was a little dink less than a pound and he hit right infront of the lure, almost like he missed it then hit it again and was money on the second hit. I've not really been impressed with it yet. I've done about every type of presentation possible and I've thrown it of a morning, midday, and at dark with both calm and choppy water. I've also tried it in shallow water around structure, over grass beds in 6-8 ft and also over open water toward the deep. My best topwater right now is a Boyd Duckett Walk the Dog Popper.

I've always thrown any walk the dog lure on a swivel. It makes it much easier to work the bait. Plus, if you swivel it, it won't matter if the eyelet is crooked.

About worst thing that could have happened. On a positive note, you don't know for a fact that it was 4 pounds. Maybe it was 3.10?

I may have mis-stated what I meant. Everything works on the finder like it is supposed to, I just don't know how to use it to benefit from it. The only thing I know how to interpret on it is the water temp, depth, and battery power level. I don't know how to recognize structure or anything else to help me catch more fish.

This fish finder came factory installed on my 2007 Triton VT 17 Tournament Sport Aluminum bass boat. The only thing I really get out of it is the water temperature and battery power. Can someone who may be familiar with this particular model help me make it beneficial. I plan on upgrading to a better set of electronics in the spring but as far as being able to use this thing to assist with fishing, I don't really get anything out of it.

I've thrown my 90 on 4 different times and not even anything remotely close to a bite. I've reeled it slow, fast, in between, stop and go, and popped it. Notta.

The intent was to share a different method to try if your not getting bit on the traditional retrieve most commonly associated with popping lures, regardless of the body of water your on.

Haha because I'm trying to force myself to catch fish using this type of method.

Awesome story. KVD is the man. You are lucky to get that draw and to get to follow him for a day. Shows the kind of guy he is to take the time to talk to you and to treat you like someone other than push you off. Those photos are something for you to keep!

How do you guys go about practicing for a tournament? My father and I are thinking of joining a buddy trail system next year maybe in the Bass Nation for our local area to fish for a season to see what happens. We are planning on going fishing today so here is what I am thinking of doing. If we can get to the Lake by 5 after work and get the boat launched, we are gonna fill up the live well and fish hard until 9:30 or 10. We are gonna try to catch a 5 fish limit and cull out any smaller fish if we catch more than 5. We are gonna weigh each fish and add up our total weight. I'm gonna check out a few of the local tournament websites and look at past Buddy team results and see how we fair. Now, I know it is apples to oranges because it's a different day, different water, different conditions, but I figure it's at least a start to answer some of the curiosity. Anyone else practice like this?

Well I tried one out yesterday evening Texas rig style. Dipped the bottom half of it in chartreuse garlic dip. Flipped it over the lillies and dragged it over the top and let it fall in the gaps. Caught one fish with it about a pound or so he drilled it while it was falling. Never got another bite on it. Fished one area of heavy laydows thought for sure I'd get a strike but didn't. Personally, I think the Brush Hog was too big of a profile for the gaps in the Lilly Pads. It had a hard time reaching the bottom because it would get stuck on the way down. I stopped at Walmart on the way home last night and bought a pack of Baby Brush Hogs in the same color pattern and went with a 3/8 Tungsten bullet weight instead of my 1/4 lead. I think the heavier weight and the smaller profile will fall a little better. Gonna give it another try on the same water after work this evening. I can see where this bait takes practice but can be a deadly thing to use when the timing is right. My Dad threw a spinner bait all evening and kicked my butt.

I've notice when a bass hits it during this type of retrieve they absolutely smash it.

Anybody tried these things on a shaky head?

This things sure are fun to fish, especially when the bite is on. I used to always fish them by going pop pop pause.....pop pop pop pause......pop pop pause.... and repeat.... I switched up to a different method and my strike ratio has really gone up. Pop (count one-one thousand two one-thousand) POP (one one-thousand two one-thousand three one-thousand) Pop.... Basically switching between a 2 second pause and a 3 second pause between every pop...... Seems a lot more finesse than aggressive. Caught a lot more bass that way.

This is the route I was thinking. Do you use the garlic/chartreuse dip too?

Picked up a pack in watermelon with red flake to try around the lillies and downed trees at my home lake. Never really fished creature baits or many soft baits before. My wheelhouse is cranking, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits. I usually do well on topwater when the time is right. Looking at expanding my capabilites into Soft Plastics and Jigs. Someone explain to me how to be successful with these Brush Hogs around this type of cover.

My fault, I was referring to the tracker boat. I have a 2007 Triton Aluminum and I'd say my livewell is probably very similar to the 2005 Tracker that was mentioned.

In waters of West Virginia it is hard to beat any type of crawfish pattern.

Your boat sounds like my 2007 Triton. You simply put the drain plug in the bottom drain of the livewell and turn on the pump to fill it. It has an automatic overflow drain in the top which keeps it from overfilling. You simply run the pump constantly to hold fish. As the overflow drain flows out and the fresh water is pumped in it oxygenates the water keeping it rich for the fish. There should be no type of aerator switch that will bubble the water. It is a recirculating livewell rather than an aerated livewell. If your pump has a hard time starting to pump water, simply turn on your pump and run the boat in reverse for a second or two, it will begin to fill and should work after that. It took me a few days to figure this out. I used the word simply too much.

I caught my PB a couple weeks ago on that pattern except it was the 8-10ft KVD instead of the squarebill.

It definately brought out the fist pump!

Thanks AJ!!

Had a 5-10 minute spell of a hard drizzle of rain. Soon as it stopped this guy crushed a kvd crainkbait in chartruese/black. He hit it as soon as it hit the water right on the edgeline of lilly pads. When he turned sideways I knew he was a long framed fish and had potential. I didn't have a good scale with me to weigh him but my guess is right at 20". I'm gonna guess he weighed between 4.5 and 5lbs. He was hard to hold and take a selfie at the same time.

We always say smoked it on a hard bite.

Thanks! Isn't it amazing how that one 30 seconds of a big strike and catch overshadows the hours and hours of frustration and aggravation.