River2Sea Whopper Plopper

The latest craze in bass fishing is the Whopper Plopper by River2Sea. If you fish in the West odds are you know exactly what it is, how to fish it, and how deadly it can be. If you fish East of the rockies, you're probably just hearing about how deadly this "new" topwater bait really is.

To the surprise of many, the Whopper Plopper isn't a new bait. Its been catching giant bass and winning tournaments on trophy bass fisheries like Clearlake and the California Delta for years!

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When the buzzbait, spook, and frog, stop producing the Whopper Plopper just keeps on catching! Like the Basstrix and A-rig's before it, the "plopper"  is taking the industry by storm and changing the way that many anglers think bass can be caught.

Now garnering national attention with recent tournament wins, anglers everywhere are recognizing the fish catching potential of this unique bait.

In this video Tim explains the different sizes that are available, popular colors like "Loon" and "Monkey Butt", and the gear you'll need to fish them. See the bait in the water and how to retrieve it as well!

Whether you're chasing smallmouth and spotted bass with the 90 size or chasing GIANT largemouth in the South with the big 190, the Whopper Plopper is a topwater bait that every angler should add to their arsenal.

Top 5 Baits for Fall Bass Fishing

I love fall fishing! After a long summer the lake finally feels alive again. The baitfish are schooling, the bass are feeding, and the fishermen are wrapping up their tournament seasons. Whether you want to catch more bass, win the AOY race, or win a new boat, these 5 baits will get you headed in the right direction.

Its never easy to limit yourself to just 5 baits but if I had to choose one season to do it, it would be the fall. As the bass group up and feed they become much simpler to target than they were throughout the summer. In no particular order, my top 5 baits are as follows:

Fall is a great time to catch giant bass! From topwater to jigs and cranks, learn about the best baits to use so you can catch those big bass while they are feeding.

1) The jig: The bass are gorging before winter and one of their favorite meals is a crawdad. Stick to a simple craw profile and you'll succeed. There are a lot of great jigs out there including a plethora of colors, head designs, and colors but if I could only choose one it would be the Dirty Jigs 3/4 oz Pitchin' Jig in "Molting Craw". That color, coupled with either a Sweet Beaver-style trailer or a Twin Tail Grub-style trailer creates a phenomenal crawdad imitation.

2) The Spook: Walking-style topwater baits work great through all the summer months but their effectiveness peaks during the early fall. Bass are gorging on baitfish and baits like the super spook (see our video on the top 5 walking baits for ideas) are a perfect imitation. Choose a color you have confidence in but you can never go wrong with whites, silvers, or even a little chartreuse to draw the bass away from the 1000's of other easy meals swimming around. Try The Super Spook in "Okie Shad" or the Rover in "sooner" if you need a place to start.

3) The Glide Bait: Glide baits have taken the industry by storm the last couple years. If you aren't throwing one this fall, you're missing opportunities for great fishing! I'm particularly partial to the S-waver in the 168 and 200 sizes in "Warden" or "Light Trout" (See our S-Waver Video and S-Waver 200 Video to see why) The S-waver is easy to use and won't break the bank but is by no means your only option. Check out the Gan Craft Jointed Claw, The Slide Swimmer, or if you're in to the custom baits, the Hinkle Shad is hard to pass up. These are all baits that we've seen success with over and over again. They're big, but they get bit and fall is a great time to build your confidence!

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4) The Deep Crank: Whether you're throwing a big 10XD, a Rapala DT-Series (because Ike says so), a slim profile like the Deep Six, or my old standby DD-22 you can't go wrong with a deep crank. We throw a lot of the shad patterns including those with lavender, chartreuse, or brown backs. We even branch in to the craws a bit. Whatever it is you choose, the deep crank will let you cast farther and reach deeper to catch those fish other anglers are overlooking.

5) The Lipless Crank: Who could possibly overlook this crank? Whether you're burning through the fading grass, fanning flats, or ripping off the bottom around docks and cover, the lipless is probably the most versatile bait during the fall. Again, stick to the shad patterns. If I could only choose one lipless it would be the Lucky Craft LV-500. Like many Western anglers I've discovered the benefits of the fast sinking, loud rattling bait. Try Chartreuse Shad, Ghost Minnow, Wakin if the fish are really active, or even Crack if the water has some stain to it.

What "Top 5" list would be complete without fudging and including some extras? Because 5 baits really is tough to do, the rest of the baits that really should have made the cut are the Swim Jig (California Swim Jig to be exact), the spoon (both Jigging Spoon and Flutter Spoon, The Jerkbait (ripbait if you live on the west coast), and the paddle tail swimbait (I'd go with the 6" basstrix or 4.8 Keitech on a Dirty Jigs Swimbait head).

Put these baits to work for you and have a great fall. Good luck out there!

Is your favorite bait on the list? Did I miss something? Let's hear what's on your top 5 list.

Texas Rigs: When to Peg the Weight, When to Leave it Free

This week Tim compares the benefits of fishing a Texas Rig with a pegged weight to fishing it with a free sliding weight. We as anglers typically latch on to one method or the other. We all have our favorites and that's okay but when it comes to putting bass in the boat, we need to stay open-minded.  

Understanding when to fish each method can be the difference between a banner day and just putting a few fish in the boat. Pegging the weight on a Texas Rig is a great method in and around cover but if you're fishing an open bottom or around docks and wood, you can't beat the slow falling action of an unpegged rig.

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For a pegged rig Tim recommends using bobber stops, his favorite at the moment is the Paycheck baits. He typically pairs this with a tungsten weight. If you prefer your weight have an insert, you can't beat the Reins or River2Sea. If you prefer no insert, we've had great luck with Vike Tungsten lately.

Whether you're throwing an Ol' Monster, a Brush Hog, or a Keitech Crazy Flapper, the next time you're on the water and your fish stop responding to the bait, trying mixing it up, change the weight, and see if it makes a difference. Good luck out there!

Giants Eating Frogs: Full Video

When River2Sea approached us about their new and improved frog called a Bully Wa 2 we weren't sure what to expect. The Spittin' Wa is such an amazing frog how could it possibly get any better? (If you haven't seen the Spittin' Wa Video, see it here) Well much to our surprise, it got better!

The Bully Wa 2 is a fast-walking frog with a tall body that pushes a tremendous amount of water with ease. The hook comes with a unique bend that is ready to fish out of the package resulting in a great hookup ratio. Open the packaging, trim the legs to your desired length, and you're ready to fish!

For us, there were 3 colors that stood out the most. The first is called "Little Allen" and yes that name came from Tim (Little) and Matt (Allen). We were so excited when they decided to include this color scheme in their lineup because day in and day out, its both of our favorite! The other two are "Ghost" and "Yellow Head".

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This frog fishes great in slop but its specialty is open water. Walk it along docks, over cover, or even for suspended fish, and you're going to love the result! You can see by the video that the bass had no problem coming up from the depths to explode in the open. The days of only throwing a frog around cheese or pads are over!

Do yourself a favor and check out the River2Sea Bully Wa 2!

Note: If the video won't play its because you need to watch it from a desktop. Unfortunately its not mobile-friendly.