Travis Gasper

I couldn't wait any longer, had to order a Double Plopper. I've had a lot of fun and success on the Whopper Plopper, hopefully this is just as good. The part that really sold it for me is that I can work this one through the weeds. The "I Know It" color is money.

I've heard lead bullet weights can fray braid, that's why people prefer the smooth painted tungsten. I have very little experience with weights. 1/4 tungsten is what I was using with 10lb braid.

Thanks for everybody's input. I think I'll keep using tungsten but maybe look at eBay for a deal. As stated before, bass and pike live side by side up here so it's just a risk I'm gonna have to take. Better than having my braid tore up by lead weights I suppose.

I've never used the 3" ones, but their 5" version is by far my #1 producing bait for bass. Watermelon Red Magic has caught me near 200 bass this year alone.

The crazy thing is, all the pike I encountered were shallow. I kept getting blow ups on my frog working it through lily pads, and they were pike! I had one well over 25" jump all the way out of the water for my frog. I've never seen that happen before. And this is a lake that I fish at least 2 or 3 times a year so I know it well. Very strange day of fishing it was.

Yesterday the bite was tough!! Wacky rig, whopper plopper, Ned rig, frog.... nothing was working. 5 hours went by with no bites, so I decided to try a Texas Rig with a pack of tungsten weights I bought the night before and a 7" ribbon tail Powerbait work. I have almost no experience Texas rigging, as I mostly just wacky rig 5" senkos as far as plastics go. First cast out, I saw my line twitch twice on the drop but felt no tug at all. I went to set the hook, and there was nothing! A pike had bit me off and there went a $2 weight. I was mad! Now I'm really contemplating if tungsten is worth it or just stick with lead. Thoughts?

My first time out with the 90 plopper I caught 10 bass in 30 minutes. It can be a very productive number and size bait! I just bought another 90 today. Have only tried my 130 once with no success yet. Congrats on a good outing!

Very interesting. I wonder how much bigger frame the 3000 NASCI is compared to the 2500 Symetre. Also, I see the NASCI doesn't have an anti-reverse switch. Kinda disappointing but not a deal breaker.

I'll be buying one Thursday at Cabela's if they have them in stock, and another 90 size regular plopper. As far as storage, why not just put it back in the box it came in? Then just throw that in a side pocket of your tackle bag.

For what it's worth, I love my Lew's Mach 1 baitcaster combo. I use it for spinner baits, crankbaits, and the whopper plopper.

Has anyone tried wacky rigging lizards and had success? I was going through my excess tackle cabinet and found a 3600 box full of lizards I forgot I bought 2 or 3 years ago. 75% of my bass fishing is done wacky rigging 5" senko-type worms, and thought maybe lizards will work too. Could be a fun experiment if nothing else.

Check out the Lew's Mach 1 baitcaster combo if you can. I got mine last month and love it. I'll definitely be buying Lew's again. So much smoother than my Abu Garcia Pro Max and they were around the same price.

Wacky rig and whopper plopper, I don't head out to the lake without them. Try dark colors in stained water, like black/blue flake or a red/black senko style worm. I've found when the bite gets tough, whopper plopper has produced for me. I use the 90 size and it's a bass magnet. Good luck!

I originally purchased the Mach 1 baitcaster combo last month to use for spinners and cranks. I started using it for the 90 size Whopper Plopper and haven't taken it off! I love this combo and will probably buy another one in the future.

I mainly twitch it through the pads at a fast enough rate to cause a disturbance. Sometimes I find going too slow will make no movement at all in the pads, and don't see to have much luck that way.

If money wasn't an issue, I'd recommend the Lew's Mach 1 baitcaster combo. I picked one up for $110 and it was well worth every penny. I started with an Abu Garcia Pro Max, and this Lew's is infinitely better in my opinion. Still use the Pro Max for froggin though. Nothing wrong with it.

Pflueger President combo. Can't go wrong for $75. I used it for 3 or 4 years before I got quite serious about bass fishing. I still use it occasionally, but that would be my loaner setup.

Does anybody have a picture comparing the old hooks to the new? I just got a 130 in the mail today and was planning to upgrade the hooks. I wasn't aware that they changed them up recently, so I don't know if mine are the good ones or not.

I wasn't even aware they made a silent version of the Plopper until I went to order a 130 size of the regular version the other day. I haven't heard or seen any reviews on it.

Yup, that's what I've heard too. I have the Symetre and I really like it. The NASCI felt very well balanced on the Avid when I was at the store. I would also really like to know this. I have the 2500-size Symetre but I want the faster gear ratio of the 3000 for the NASCI.

I was able to play around with one in the store and it feels amazing. Smooth as butter! I just wish I knew someone that has used one before I go ahead and buy it.

I saw the video from ICAST about the new Shimano NASCI and thought it looked awesome, especially for the $99 price. I think I'm going to put one on my new 7' medium St. Croix Avid rod for wacky rigging. Has anybody used the NASCI yet, and what are your thoughts on it?

If I'm ever worried about spooking a fish, I cast past my intended target and work the bait to the spot I wanted. On the ther hand, sometimes I think the sudden splash can cause strikes too. It's all what you're comfortable with. As far as the trebles on the Plopper, most of the bass I've caught on it had both sets hooked in. Usually the front set in the mouth, and the back set in the head or side of the face.

I didn't really do much of a hookset to be honest. I was doing a steady retrieve and they'd just come up and slam it. If they missed, I let it sit for a split second then popped it. Seemed to work really well for me, at least that day.

I found keeping the rod tip up helped get the best action out of it. I was using 17lb mono, but maybe braid would be better?